The Three Brothers: Black Clover x Male OC(Harem)

by EternalOG

Blake didn't have magic for most of his life, but he tried his best to not let it get under his skin. His family at the Hage Church helped keep him upbeat and positive. At 15, he attains a powerful grimoire, with some sort of unknown entity attached to it. At 19, he takes the exam with his brothers, Asta and Yuno. What goes from there?

18. Page 17 - Feelings Unraveled

Black Clover - The Three Brothers

"[Copy Magic: Sol Linea]"

A focused beam of black fire shot straight at Blake's target, a rather large abandoned building similar to those Midnight Sun bastards had been in when the Wizard King dealt with them back then. Blake's current threat, however, wasn't as dangerous—simply another gang of bandits that were terrorizing and extorting one of the bigger villages in the Common Realm.

His beam of fire pierced through the building and a moment later caused an explosion to blast the building apart. Normally, that would be the end—seeing how almost any bandit group wouldn't have the magic power to defend against a spell with that much firepower properly. However, one thing made this gathering of bandits different and Blake was reminded of that as he found himself dodging a magic attack that even outclassed Sol Linea's destructive power from whatever was left of the building, eviscerating the forest area behind him.

"Alright, what unlucky bastard decided to play hero today?!" A voice called out, one of the few still left conscious after that, pushing off the rubble of the building. He was a tall man with a shaved head and a notable scar, running diagonally from his nose to his jaw—the leader. Brown robes obscured his well-built physique.

What was the most important, however, was the object he had strapped ahold to his right forearm. A shield colored gold on the edges and within the center displayed something similar to the face of an enraged man, howling in rage from the way his mouth was agape.

Yeah, that's gotta be it. The magic item. It looks like only a third of them are left now.

From what Yami said, after the clearing of a discovered dungeon, it was found that one of the magic items scavaged from it had "gone missing" in one way or another. Still, with recent reports of this bandit problem and what they appeared to have, it's more likely it had been taken and sold through the black market off to these guys.

"Was it you, pretty boy?! Answer me before I beat your ass!" The leader called out, while four of the other bandits were recovering from what occurred, one of them using Recovery magic to heal the others, albeit slowly.

"Just to make sure, let's try this again," Blake mumbled to himself before casting another Flame Magic spell, his Inferno Fire Blast.

The large sphere of black and blue flames shot toward the bandits' leader, who shouted at his men to get behind as he brought the shield in front of his body. Suddenly, the eyes of the man in the shield glowed red. Disturbingly, the face became animate as it unhinged its jaw and the sound of an exaggerated inhale of breath could be heard in the area as it took the ball of fire and absorbed it into the shield.

That...That is fucking nightmare fuel—

What was even worse was that the jaw unhinged again as it fired back out blasts of magic power Blake had to dodge. They were much faster and stronger than he had expected; he needed to put some effort into his movement to dodge the attacks, moving through the area sporadically and landing atop a high-up tree branch as it finally stopped.

Guess I didn't give that shield enough credit, no wonder everyone in that village was scared of these guys.

"Quite the find, huh?" The leader said, "This bad boy right here can absorb attack spells sent its way and fire back out blasts of magic at double the power!"

Blake drops from the tree to dodge the next barrage of magic attacks. He jumped to the side to dodge one of the bandits' close-ranged attacks, the bandit's arms were coated in large shards of rock as it slammed into the ground—Blake figured it was some kind of Earth Creation Magic.

He used the surrounding coverage from the trees to help defend against the ranged Wind Magic attack by one of the other bandits. He was doing this at leisure, as his attention was more focused on what the leader and his bandits were doing.

Looks like they're using their magic attacks on the shield to fuel it up on more magic blasts. What a pain. ...Alright, I should actually do something about them now.

It was good timing, as the Wind Magic bandit aimed another ranged attack at him, while the other closed in, aiming an attack straight at Blake.

"[Copy Magic: Ignis Columna]"

A pillar of black flames rose to defend Blake, nullifying the Wind Magic attack and incinerating the bandit's arm of rock, for it had been in the way of the pillar's rise. The man howled out in pain as he clutched onto the stub of what was left of his right arm, everything below the elbow seared off by the intense flames.

"I-It's gone...! My arm is gone!" He cried out, the pain of the cautery being so overwhelming he almost passed out on the spot.

...He did pass out but that was from him getting whacked into the ground by Blake using the man's burnt-off appendage against him so that's a different story.

"Shut up. You whine like a bitch." Blake muttered, whacking the man again and again with his limb.

Did he care? No. The guy's a bandit, he should've been prepared for this to happen. But for having lost the arm, maybe he can live.

The other bandits stared in horror as they watched Blake beat the already unconscious bandit with his severed limb, before tossing it off to the side and glancing at the other bandit that was sent against him, gazing at the man with his usual apathy toward scumbags.

The bandit had no time to cast his next spell, for once he could even bring himself to break out of his state of fear, Blake closed the distance with his enhanced speed from Reinforcement Magic and delivered a left and right into the man before slamming a kick into his side, knocking him into a nearby tree, finishing him by gripping the man's head and slamming it halfway into the tree itself. Blake had to shake the bark of the tree and the gunks of whatever was left of the man off his hand.

Blake immediately twisted himself back around to sprint again. The leader tried to bring up the shield to launch another blast of magic, but he was disorientated as he felt a hardslap across his face, before getting lifted and thrown off elsewhere like he was a lightweight. While their leader was recovering, the other two bandits were busy getting their faces slammed onto the rubble of the building. For good measure, Blake lifted them and slammed their cracked skulls into each other, making sure they stayed down.

He could sense various signatures of magic fading to nothing underneath all the rubble, so it looked like the leader was the only one left. Good.

"You bastard...this isn't over!" The leader said as he recovered from the bitch-slap and raised his shield to attack, but couldn't as he was suddenly bombarded by a multitude of attacks that the shield was forced to absorb. "W-What the hell?! WHY ARE THERE FIVE OF YOU?!"

Blake had created four Solid Mist Clones and cast his Raiden's Thunderbolt alongside the rest, crackling beams of black lightning converging onto the shield that had to handle the firepower being thrown at it.

"I gotta wonder...does that shield have a limit?" A question said by all of the Blakes with a challenging smirk.

Lightning Magic?!

The leader tried to hold it back, but he could see cracks on the shield beginning to form, a bright glow of light beaming out from where pieces of it broke from, and a stiff fear took hold of him as he couldn't bring himself to remove the shield unless he wanted to get burnt to a crisp. But if it's absorbing all this magic power, when it becomes too much it will—!

Yet, only moments later, all that resulted was a blunt clunking sound. The shield was shattered, broken into pieces—but that was it, no big explosion of magic power that threatened to eradicate the surrounding area anywhere to be found.

The sad man looked down, seeing his only hope of defense—that he used up all their plunged earnings to get—now broken before him. "...Uh—"

It's safe to say he quickly got beaten down by Blake and his clones.

"What kinda garbage is that?! I was expecting a big boom and you give me that sad sight?!"

A sentiment echoed by Blake and his mist clones as they relentlessly stomped the leader of the bandits—who was going over every decision he made in his life as he was kicked into unconsciousness.

It felt strange the next time he opened his eyes, though just barely. He felt...free, yet like something was keeping him tugged down to something.

Oh, it was making more sense the more he opened his eyes. He was just in the sky is all.

...

"WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING UP HERE?!" He screamed out in utter terror, attempting for a moment to swing himself out of the rope-like vines he was tied up with, before quickly realizing that doing so at this height...wouldn't be a good idea.

"I knew that'd get you up, sleepyhead!"

The bandit whipped his head up and behind him, seeing that the only thing keeping him from plummeting a hundred feet or two to the ground was Blake holding onto his Vine Magic, while also holding a smirk that looked rather deranged from the bandit's point of view. Blake was leaning part of his body out of his spatial portal, the part unshown being the other vine he created secured to a tree—so the bandit's weight didn't drag him.

"You—how are you—what the fuck even are you, man?!" The bandit questioned, his mind focusing on the fact that this guy was using multiple types of magic so that it wouldn't focus on the height he was at. "F-Fucking monster! Freak!"

"Oh no, such hurtful words—man, shut up and take a look down," Blake ordered, blasé in his reaction.

"What?! No way man, screw you—!" His retaliation quickly ended as Blake shook the man up and down and up and down like he was a yo-yo.

"Tiring out my arm isn't a good way to survive this, you know," Blake said with a yawn, I think I should start doing more curls.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it, just stop doing...this!"

Blake settled the movement of his arm, allowing the bandit a clear sight of what was below him. "That...That town?"

"Tarrin, you prick. The town's name is Tarrin." Blake said. Now, the playful tone from before was gone. "A nice little village, isn't it? Surely didn't deserve to get terrorized by scumbags like you and those pals of yours, taking all that they had and demanding more. Hurting people who got in the way."

The bandit, unsurprisingly, didn't like where this seemed to be going. Nor did he like the fact he was getting treated like a yo-yo again!

"But, as always, jerks like you have to go and ruin things for everyone else!" Blake grunted from the slight effort he put forth in toying with the guy.

The bandit wasn't sure how much more he could take of this situation and pleaded, "Look man, I get it! We...We fucked up! Take us in, throw us in a cell—but please, put me back through that gate of yours or whatever, fuck!"

"The thing is...the people in that village have a few things they want to say to you. You're already so close," Blake began. Without hesitation, he let go of the vines that held the man in the air and was left to hear the man's scream of unfiltered terror as he fell through the air.

"You may as well drop in."

He gave it a few moments before he decided to drop through the air as well, readying his Wind Magic.

---

Vanessa adjusted herself in the chair she requested as her gloved fingers worked through the child's bright locks, pulling them away from the girl's face—something she was hesitant to allow—and overlapping the thick strands of hair into a braid. "Your hair is so pretty, you know."

Anna gasps softly. "Really?"

Vanessa hums with a nod. "It's so vibrant and full of life, like sunshine." It reminded her of Luck a bit. "I'm sure you'll be beautiful when you grow up."

The young girl grew silent a moment, slowly moving her hand to cup her cheek—where the dark scar from burnt skin had been left on her, having occurred as what the bandits labeled as "Collateral Damage" when they used that strange shield of theirs to hurt their town. She had just been partially caught in the attack, grazed by it even, yet she had been lucky even to survive that. It had already been too late for Recovery Magic to do anything to make the mark go away.

"...Beautiful." The girl whispered to herself, seeming to doubt the validity of the word applying to her.

The movement in Vanessa's fingers slowed momentarily, pursed lips turning into a small frown.

When Blake and Vanessa first arrived at the village for information on the bandits, she could see the girl poking her head out behind one of the adults—not a parent as she later found out, the girl had neither. Her bright and hopeful emerald eyes were bearing a pain they shouldn't have, just as her left cheek shouldn't be bearing what lay on it.

She had pointed it out to Blake and had witnessed that familiar expression take hold of him, that gaze of anger he barely tries to keep subtle when he saw others hurt for no reason. She had seen it before, amid their pillow talk back that day the capital had been attacked— how Noelle's family had treated her and the way he...confronted them, to say the least.

The village chief gave them some information, about where the bandits' base likely was, and Blake decided to head out on his own to deal with them. He told her some of what he was planning, so while she waited for the signal she took it upon herself to introduce herself to the girl.

The braiding was an attempt for the girl to forget, for just a moment even, what happened. Though maybe, Vanessa wondered, maybe she could do something different instead.

The gentle movement of Vanessa's fingers returned as she said, "Some jerks might say differently, but I think scars can be beautiful as well."

Vanessa adjusted her hold on the strands of hair as the girl tilted her head back to look at the woman with some innocent confusion, making her giggle before she continued. "Scars show strength, they show that whatever tried to hurt you can't keep you down. You stand proud and live on despite it.

"...Someone I care about has quite a few, but what they truly show is how much he wants to protect others. It's one of the reasons why...I find myself falling for him." Vanessa danced around words, one in particular, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to say.

What she did instead was put the finishing touches to Anna's braid, guiding it to hang over her right shoulder as its almost golden tones contrasted against the mark on her left side. Something the girl could see for herself with the handheld mirror Vanessa gave her from her bag, looking at herself in wonder.

"Display it proudly, everything about you is beautiful," Vanessa said, hoping to alleviate that unfair hurt that settled in the girl's green eyes. It seemed to do that and more, with Anna throwing herself into a hug with Vanessa, a feeling of uncontrolled giddiness coming over her, that Vanessa would never mind returning.

Anna looked up and gave Vanessa such a bright smile that it could've very well been mistaken for sunlight, before saying, "You're really beautiful too, Miss Vanessa! How come you don't have any scars?" She asked with innocence only a child could have with such a question.

It made Vanessa giggle for a moment again. Yet, when she was going to answer, she stopped—as memories of being stuck within that cage suddenly resurfaced because something in her wondered...if her Captain had never arrived when he did, would she have found the strength to break free herself? To run away?

"Because..." Vanessa mumbled, confusing the girl.

I'm not strong enough to bear scars of my own.

Vanessa couldn't bring those words to life, as her attention—as well as Annabelle's and practically everyone else in the town—turned to the sky where a high-pitched scream was heard from, and they all saw someone tied up in the air, with a black and blue portal just above him as well.

The sight was enough to pull Vanessa out of her previous train of thought, now looking somewhat incredulous at what her partner had in mind. "That's certainly one way to go about it." She chuckled to herself.

Anna bounced on the balls of her feet as she pointed at the sight above them. "Him! Him! That's the bad guy! The baddest of those bad guys!" She said.

She has quite the eyesight. Vanessa thought as she stood from her chair. She took the girl's hand in hers, wanting to bring her away from the center area of the small village they were at. She beckoned the other civilians to do the same as she began to create her threads of magic, dozens upon dozens being set along the ground and up the sides of the houses and other buildings.

If he's going to do what I think he'll do...

The man began to fall through the air, the high-pitched screaming coming back.

Thought so!

She weaved her thread magic with impressive precision, causing the strings to move and work together exactly as she needed them to. She made dozens of them take position beneath the bandit leader, slowing his descent just a bit so the whiplash wouldn't be too bad for him. When that was taken care of, she ricocheted more of her threads off the buildings allowing them to bend and curve around their target. With one last twisting motion of her hands, the threads ensnared the bandit leader while more helped to suspend him in the air upside down, leaving him looking like he was trapped in a spider's web.

Many of the villagers were in awe of such a unique display of magic, the young ones even finding it an exciting spectacle that they couldn't help but clap to. It only felt right for Vanessa to take a bow at the applause.

"So, what do I need to do for an encore?"

Vanessa lifted her head, smiling at Blake who kept himself in the air with the gentle streams of black wind, letting himself float upside down. She tapped a finger against her chin as she hummed playfully. "I think you know what I'd want."

Blake let himself touch the ground and mimicked Vanessa's action, having a playful hum of his own, before snapping his fingers. "Clover's Specialty Merlot. 1617 vintage. Straight from Enoteca's Dining."

Vanessa's eyes went wide, just a bit, with how specific Blake had made it, though when she thought about how often she left all those bottles around the couch maybe it wasn't too surprising. But still, "Good boy. You've earned an encore and more~" She said, tapping her gloved hand against his cheek.

He looked at her amused, playfully swatting away her hand. "Oh, so now I'm just a boy?"

Vanessa looked away, placing a hand over her lips to hide her devious smile. Oh no, he was definitely a man.

The pair would leave it there for the moment, as Blake turned back to walk toward the threaded-up bandit leader, questioning how this happened to him. "People of Tarrin, it's my pleasure to announce that these bandits have been dealt with!" He spoke out to the villagers. It took some time, but he was getting more used to having people's attention on him—especially when it was like this, being able to see the relieved expression on their faces.

"Now, I should already be getting this guy and rest hauled off," Blake began, looking at the bandit who was getting light-headed from the blood going to his head. "But before I did that, I wanted to give you all an opportunity." He said, turning back and palming his fist a few times to get his point across.

"If anyone is up to give this jerk a piece of their mind, feel free to come forward and give him a good socking!"

All the bandit could say was, "...Oh fuck."

It didn't take long for many of the villagers to take up that offer—they practically lined up as they waited to get a turn in. Blake moved himself off to the side, leaning back against the wall of a building with a satisfied smirk.

"You're making that guy go through hell," Vanessa said, taking a spot next to Blake.

"They deserve to get some personal payback, guys like him shouldn't be feared," Blake said, digging an arm into the cotton cloud he's often used for storage, such as a fresh helping of popcorn! "Want some? Freshly buttered."

Vanessa didn't bother to question why he had that of all things on standby, just deciding to take a handful. A few moments of them watching the bandit get his head rocked by man, woman, and child alike before Vanessa brought something up. "You know we were supposed to get that shield back in one piece, right?"

Blake's chewing slowed and his eyes widened as he began to remember that part of Yami's briefing, making Vanessa giggle. In the end, he just shrugged. "It's better this way, now it can't fall into the wrong hands again."

"Oh? Not a bad excuse, he might let you live then." Vanessa replied.

"Give me some credit!" Blake replied, making her laugh again. He was ready to go over all the ways he could give Yami a tough fight but was interrupted by a tug on his coat before he could. Looking down at his left, his eyes meet Anna's, looking at him with excitement in her green eyes.

He greeted her openly, offering the girl some popcorn as well. But the girl pushed the popcorn aside, instead intensely pointing at the red bandages that adorn his arms. It didn't take Blake long to understand it, so he set the popcorn aside and pulled them off, quickly but carefully. The ones along his forearms were light and rather faded, having had years to heal, while the ones farther up were still dark in color, red and purple, needing more time to recover.

Blake wouldn't have thought they were something to be looked at in awe, but that was how the young girl with one of her own appeared to doing. So, he flashed a cheery grin at the young girl as he flexed them, "Pretty badass, right?"

Anna nodded furiously and rolled up her sleeves to mimic him, but pouted when she realized she didn't have muscles of her own to display.

The sight got a chuckle out of Blake, who affectionately patted the girl's head. "It can take some time to build up that kinda thing, but you're pretty young, so if you start training now you get some cool muscles of your own!" He said, encouraging the girl, while Vanessa looked on fondly at the two.

Anna slowly nodded in understanding, before she looked over to where the bandit was—currently getting smacked around by three other kids—and grew a determined look in her eyes, one Blake easily noticed—which is why he decided to sweep her up onto his shoulder and walk her over to man barely holding onto whatever consciousness he had left.

"Please make way! She deserves the finishing blow!" Blake requested and the children listened, stepping away while offering words of encouragement to Anna as Blake brought her down.

"Huh...Huh...Go on you weak little brat...Do your worst..." The bandit said with a chuckle in his drowsy sorry state as he looked the girl in the eyes—Vanessa had adjusted the height of her threads to do so, pulling his body up.

"I'm not scared of you," Anna declared, curling her hands into fists and pulling her head back before unloading what had to be the mother of all headbutts right into the man's face. "YOU BIG FAT JERK!"

The onlookers had to visibly recoil from the very audible crack that came from the busting of the bandit's face.

"Good Lord!" Blake drew out, taking a step back in surprise. He ran up, wanting to see the damage, and a gasp and laugh mixed as he saw the guy's messed up face, blood flooding down his nostrils. "I don't even think this guy's got a nose anymore! Not too bad, lil' lady!"

---

Some thanks and farewells later, the pair were heading back to the base. Though Blake was ready to make a portal and be done with it, just as he did with throwing the bandit leader through one to the headquarters, Vanessa had suggested not to be in such a hurry. So for now, the two were traversing atop Blake's Heavenly Wind Ark at a lax speed, sitting beside each other as they overlooked all the greenery from above in silence, fingers intertwined in the casual affection they easily shared for each other.

The tilt in Vanessa's hat prevented Blake from seeing the fond look she had for him, specifically for how he acted with Anna, his thoroughly positive actions, and words for the young girl.

"How can you be so encouraging?" She seemed to ask with genuine curiosity as she scooted herself closer and leaned into Blake, resting her head on his shoulder, her hair grazing his neck.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh come on, it's like your defining trait. The number of times I've seen someone get uplifted and motivated by something you or Asta said is honestly staggering. You don't just forget the words that come out of your mouth, do you?"

"I..." Blake couldn't help but chuckle sheepishly. "I guess I never really realized how often I did it."

She stayed quiet, giving Blake a moment to gather his thoughts. "Growing up, Asta and I didn't have much of it. The people who took care of us all did their best, but sometimes I could feel like they didn't always mean what they said. I guess...it's not they said they didn't believe in what we wanted to do, it's that they never really said they did...does that make sense?"

"They didn't discourage you but they never encouraged you?" Vanessa remarked.

"Yeah, that! You're so smart." He said cheerfully, setting a hand along Vanessa's shoulder and bringing her closer.

There he goes again. Vanessa thought with a small smile.

"And...besides our family at the church, everybody else in Hage didn't care about any of it. I doubt any of them believed my brothers had a shot of becoming the Wizard King." Blake says, then releases a deep sigh. "So, maybe that had something to do with it. ...Yeah, I want people I care about to know someone believes in them, that they're not on their own." He said out loud, mostly for himself as he began to understand it more.

With those words said, he thinks back to the deadly shy girl in their brigade. Things had been pretty hectic since the attack on the Capital last month so the attempts at breaking through Grey's shyness weren't as frequent.

She was still doing her best and improving at a good rate. She could talk to Nero and Blake longer than she could before and her ability to hold eye contact was getting better as well. If he could just get her to finally reveal herself to the rest of the brigade then—

Blake yelped as he felt Vanessa softly bite and suck the skin between his neck and shoulder, scooting back in shock as he covered the spot with a hand. "The hell, Vanessa?!" Blake said, trying to make sure he didn't lose control over the wind ark.

Vanessa covered her mouth, attempting to stifle her giggles as she saw Blake turn into a blushing mess. "Sorry, sorry! It's your fault though—if you weren't so sweet, I wouldn't want to take a bite out of you~" She said, bringing herself closer to Blake in a crawl.

"I—you—uh—stop talking like Charmy!" Blake said and pointed an accusatory finger at the woman, moving away so he wasn't devoured.

Vanessa cocked her head, "Oh? Has Charmy told you that before?"

"...What?! Of course not!"

"Besides, you're not exactly scared of providing some love marks of your own, you know," Vanessa says, ready to pull away a bit of her clothing to show off her hickeys—

"Alright! Alright! I get it! Don't do that!" Blake blurted out as he went forward and tackled Vanessa into a hug, wrapping his arms around her figure from behind. "No stripping out in the open!"

Vanessa couldn't help her torrent of giggles, Blake couldn't help joining in from how contagious they were, and it all soon became muffled as the two gleefully kissed atop the ark.

---

"Cigarette-puffing, hour-long bathroom break having, musty smelling captain who doesn't look his age," Blake muttered to himself as he stepped through a portal into his room. He could barely kick his shoes off next to his bed before immediately getting pelted in the back of the head with the mallet that's used on that gong they still have apparently.

"I was saying that with love, you asshole!" Blake shouted, shoving his head back through the portal and throwing the mallet back at Yami.

Somehow, even with Yami having his back turned as he discussed something with Asta and Noelle, he still easily caught ahold of the projectile. "And that throw of mine was filled with love, so is this one!" Yami says as he chucks it right back at Blake with a dangerous amount of force.

Blake yelps and ducks as he closes the portal and though it thankfully didn't hit his room, he could hear one of the walls down in the living room having gotten broken apart by it.

"Jeeeeeez, crazy bastard," Blake said with a smile, pulling himself up to his bed and lying down with his eyes closed, hair splayed about.

The reason for Blake's muttering was that Yami ordered him to take a break from taking on missions. He was "doing too much" apparently and should take time to rest and recover.

Blegh, what does Captain know? 3-4 missions a day every day for the past month hasn't been that bad...right?

...I did beat a guy with his severed arm...and I might have gone a bit far with those other guys.

Blake sighed and sifted through his coat pocket, grabbing hold and activating the communication device. A call later and plans were made to return to the family church tomorrow. I guess on second thought...maybe a break would serve me well, to get away from it all for a bit. Hm, maybe Yami knows where Yuno's brigade base is, I should get around to asking him that.

Amid all his thinking, he felt a peck on his leg. It was Nero, of course.

"Hey, little one. Looking for some attention?" He teased, earning him the bird's wrath as it bit and pulled on his cheek. "Hey! Stop that! Bad bird! Bad bird!" He said, trying to pull Nero off and successfully doing so, only because Nero allowed him.

He sighed and held Nero in his palm, who seemed content now that he was petting their head with a finger. He never thought he'd enjoy conversing with a bird of all things, but Nero was smart and rather fun in its deadpan and super serious way of conducting itself. Not to mention that the bird was...good at keeping their talks private.

"Nero, do you think..." He groaned to himself as he even asked it, dragging a hand across his face. "...Grey or...Charmy... has feelings for me?"

Nero looked up at him with their naturally unamused stare.

"Look I know I might just be seeing stuff that isn't there! But..." But then Blake resigns himself to another conclusion. "...Or maybe I'm just projecting." He said, getting off his bed and setting Nero in the little nest that was made for them on his desk, prettied up with some decorations thanks to Noelle and Vanessa's handiwork.

Blake began to pace around his room. He couldn't deny that certain unfair feelings of his had grown for the two over the few months he's been with the brigade and how quickly the feelings grew stronger recently, even with how much he tried not to let his mind think about it—trying to do that might've been part of the reason he kept himself so busy with missions.

Was it inevitable that having such private and personal moments of spending time with Grey was going to lead to him feeling like this? It wasn't like he could willingly put a stop to them; Grey hadn't done anything wrong, she allowed herself to be vulnerable enough to let someone in who she hoped could help her get some confidence in herself. Blake was the one who was making this become a complicated mess. Doing so would just hurt her and Blake would feel so angry at himself for doing that.

The time they spent together was just supposed to help peel her shyness away, but that same demeanor alongside her genuine want to improve and put herself out there...he found it just so cute and sweet. Some of the stuff he let slip about her when he first saw her real appearance wasn't helping either.

And even if he could get that out of his head, it just sets off another can of worms in Blake's mind. When he bothered to think about it, he had noticed some change in Charmy's behavior. She's been rather affectionate recently and she always seemed to be ready with whatever he had been craving at the moment. He had to wonder if she could read his mind or something.

Blake did find it...nice to always have something ready to eat whenever he needed it—being the oldest sibling left him as the designated helper when it came to preparing meals with Pops and Sister Lily and while he didn't mind it that much, not having to do that felt nice. Refreshing. Even besides that, the adorable food gremlin was a joy to be around, like a ball of energy that could be plenty smug when she wanted to be, and that somehow only made it worse—in ways both good and bad.

Relaying this all to his bird friend felt relaxing, letting it all out of his system, and agitating because it just brought the situation further into reality. "Ugh...this sucks, it isn't right! I'm with Vanessa and I'm plenty happy with it! She's so fun to be around and she's so warm to everyone in the brigade—she adores Asta and Noelle like nothing else!—and she's...she's so fucking hot."

Blake felt like steam was gonna start coming out his head if let his train of words continue any further, so instead he whines to the bird unfortunate enough to deal with it. "I'm with an awesome woman and my stupid heart's gotta have me feeling things for other awesome women! Why?! What the hell do I do?!"

After the bird could allow itself a moment of silence, Nero went on to act out of a series of gestures that would be its answer to Blake's conundrum.

Its answer left Blake baffled, bewildered, and confused.

"Look, I don't know what kinda weird mating stuff you anti-birds get up to but that suggestion is likely to get me killed more than anything!" He reprimanded as he poked the bird's white fluff repeatedly.

Yet again, Blake earned Nero's wrath—who pecked at the man with a ferocity unseen by anyone, leaving him to apologize again and again as he ran and jumped around his room to try and escape the bird's attacks but it ended as pitifully as it began with him tripping over one of his boots and slamming into the hard ground.

"Bested by a bird of all things, how did I even get this far...?" He mumbled as he hit his palm against his temple to get his coordinated vision back. Once he did, he saw Nero sitting on his chest, looking up and away from him—clearly not happy with Blake's manners. Blake heaves a sigh, "I'm sorry, Nero. I won't say that kinda stuff again, alright? Forgive me?"

The bird gives no response initially, then it opens one of its eyes to look at Blake's pleading pout, before giving him a nod, accepting it. It flies to Blake's side and begins to tap its beak on his grimoire, secured in its case. Blake hums as he undoes the latch and looks at the book in the way he has done so many times before. He lifts himself off the ground and crosses the small room to take a seat at his desk, setting his grimoire in front of him.

"You've gotten curious about this thing too?" Blake asks, cocking his head at Nero, before remembering something. "You anti-birds are supposed to flock away in the presence of strong magic, so either you're the strongest anti-bird ever or something about this is more intriguing than it is scary." He wondered but scoffed as Nero blinked at him. "Fine then, keep your secrets, little birdy."

Every once in a while, Blake would try and see if he could get...anything to happen with his grimoire, specifically something involving those two voices he heard when he first acquired it. He didn't try it often as it wasn't something he was bothered by not knowing about and it didn't ever do anything anyway, but with recent events that have occurred, it's giving him a bit more of an urge to figure out what was up with it. Though he tried to crack the code for quite some time, it was all for naught, as he just couldn't figure out any way for this to do anything. He's thankful nobody walked into the sight of whatever he tried to do to trigger something with his grimoire else they might think he's insane or something.

Well...I am doing this to try to get a reaction out of voices in my head so...crap, I might not be too far off.

"Nero, you got any suggestions on how to do this before I become crazy enough to believe I'm not crazy?" Blake asked as he lay on the floor like a starfish, more comfortably this time.

Nero rubbed the top of its head with its wing, mostly to try and rid itself of the ridiculous stuff Blake tried out but also to try and help out a bit, it supposed. Nero flew to Blake and tapped his chest before flying back to the desk, one wing still in Blake's direction, then using that same wing to tap on the grimoire. Admittedly, Blake had a hard time understanding it at first but as he replayed Nero's motions in his mind, he finally drew the conclusion.

"The string! What I do when I use my Magic Amplification technique!"

Now it made sense to Blake! The technique he had discovered in his first fight against Luck was the closest he seemed to get to drawing out the true power of the magic he received, even if it was to his detriment when he pushed it too far. It had been pointed out to him that when he does so, his appearance changes for a moment—something about having black hair and blue eyes if he remembered correctly?—and he also remembered Asta and Noelle telling him that again when he asked about what he did in the dungeon on their way back from that mission.

If I can create—or maybe just find—that connection as I do with my spells...I might be able to make something happen!

Blake kicked himself back up to his feet and hopped over his chair before sitting on it with excitement clear in his expression.

"Nero, you damn bird genius, I could kiss you! Butyou'reabirdandwouldprobablyhatethat—but still, thanks!" He exclaimed, causing Nero to quickly nod its head before turning it away, whether because it was disgusted or another reason...who knows?

Now that he had an actual idea of what he needed to do, Blake would pour all his focus into it as he closed his eyes. As he did when he was in the process of applying his Magic Amplification to his spells, he focused on the magic within himself first, and then through intense concentration...he found it! Though it was likely always there, he could now actually feel the connection shared between his body's magic and what made up...imbued...dwelled within his grimoire. Now all he needed to do was to find a way to capitalize on it.

Normally, he had to pour his magic into what he was using his Magic Amplification on, but this wasn't a situation like that. It would have to be more like...he needed to push himself through that connection to get what he wanted to accomplish? Blake thought it sounded pretty ridiculous himself but...fuck it, what else was he going to do?

And yet, however ridiculous it sounded to him, he poured all of his focus into reaching as deeply within himself to find what he needed and...he could feel it. He could feel the...the essence of himself bringing itself closer and closer to what he felt with his grimoire.

What did it accomplish? That was answered the next time Blake could bring himself to open his eyes, which widened and almost bulged as he realized where he was. Some type of...space? Everywhere Blake looked, it was nothing except a white void. Though he could register he was floating in the middle of it all, it wasn't something he was bothered about.

Is this what the inside of a grimoire looks like? Freaky...

"How...are you here?"

That soft yet so very distorted voice caused Blake to freeze momentarily, both mentally and physically. The tone that it asked that question in seemed so innocent and puzzled, yet something about it also caused Blake to feel such utter helplessness in some way, even when he was faced away from it. Once Blake could finally make his body move, he forced himself to look at whatever asked the question.

The being towered over him, its head tilted—curious; It had a humanoid shape but no distinguishing features, and its size eclipsed much of the white void that had been so glaring before, replaced by something that looked so similar to what was witnessed by the Captains of Crimson Lion Kings and Silver Eagles. Yet, not exactly, for this being's shape instead composed and rippled of black and red mana that felt so...strange.

"You seem...scared."

A fair assumption, Blake could barely bring himself to speak. Here he was with something that could give him some answers and yet what he's been presented with, the shock was something that could destroy him if let it overtake his mind. However, Blake was strong, and he did his best to pull himself back together as he finally could form a coherent thought.

This...This must be one of the beings who's the reason for me having this magic. I...I can barely move my mouth to ask it anything.

"Well, obviously he's scared, you're the first thing he's met with in this place."

A...Another voice?!

In front of the first being, appearing as if he was created from the white of this void itself, emerged a being that was much more...palatable for Blake to see; The ethereal light that he was made out of had such distinguishing outlines, it appeared as if he was wearing thick but loose-fitting robes and a long scarf wrapped across his neck that was long enough to reach his feet.

The scarf swayed as this being glided closer to Blake, his arms crossed and concealed within his robe's sleeves, allowing him to see the ghost of this man's features—most notably his medium-length hair that spiked down and outward, his calm yet playful smile, and what appeared to make up the color in his eyes, a faint and dull blue.

Aside from the glaring brightness he was made from, he seemed so human yet...something more. He was about the same size as Blake and maybe this was just Blake's mind going crazy, but the man looked rather similar to himself.

"Though I can't lie, I'm rather surprised you were able to make this happen as well." He said, moving a hand out of his robe and holding his chin in a pondered look, before looking off elsewhere and smiling, as if he reminisced on something. "Then again, she was always a smart one, not surprised she gave you the right idea." He mumbled to himself.

Blake couldn't bother to wrap his head around what that sentence even meant as he was still trying to say something.

"You...You two are—"

"Uh! Uh! Uh!" The being in front of Blake shut him up with a wiggle of his finger. He stopped before having a small chuckle to himself. "A bit rude of me...not sorry though," With a sigh, he continues. "I'm sure you'd love to know whatever is up with all...this."—He says with a flippant wave of his hand to their surroundings—"But that won't be happening anytime soon. Not yet anyway."

The being scratched their head, somehow, before readying that same hand in the position of a flick to Blake's forehead. "Word of advice? Stop killing yourself with this magic you got, none of us like it when you go overboard."

With that, the being flicked Blake away with his middle finger, removing him from their space.

"Hm, funny. I thought he was never supposed to know of my presence." He said, before looking back at the other being with a smile. "An interesting guy to latch onto!"

"...Indeed."

---

One second Blake was in that space that he had to assume was the inside of his grimoire, the next his body was flung across his room and he could feel all the air in his lungs get knocked right out of him as he collided with the wall.

"That...That sunuva bitch!" He says without much breath, dropping to the floor on his back. "That asshole flicked me out of my own damn grimore! I want answers, damn it!" He says as he shakes his fist in the air, before dropping it down limply. He thought he was seeing stars for a minute before realizing that it was just Nero, flying around in a circle over his body. "I ain't...I ain't dead yet, Nero."

Once he could finally get ahold of himself and deal with the ache in his back, Blake was able to make a few observations. He'd been at this long enough that it's gone from afternoon to evening from how dark it was outside. He felt exhausted—he supposed forcing himself into a grimoire took a lot of energy?—and in need of a lot of sleep. The last thing felt the most peculiar; As he brought himself up to stand, using the wall for support, he bumped his fist against his chest over his heart because there was a feeling that something more was there, within him somewhere now.

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. He glares daggers into the grimoire that laid innocently on his desk, pointing at it hard. "I'll figure out you weirdos sooner or later, just wait," He says before slowly stepping over to his bed, letting out a massive yawn. "But for now, I'll think I'll just catch some—"

A series of knocks arrive at Blake's door—three consecutive knocks, a pause, then two more.

Ah geez, talk about bad timing. But Blake wouldn't let that stop him, so he gave himself a couple of slaps on the face to jolt a bit of energy through him. Suck it up! This is important.

He moves from beside his bed to the door, opening it and greeting Grey in her usual form. "Yoooo, Grey. Up for another talk?" He asks, unintentionally dragging some of the syllables in his words.

Grey nods, with some hesitance. After Blake invites her in, she lets herself return to her true appearance.

Blake seems really tired. Grey thought, taking note of how much Blake was rubbing his eyes and trying to push down the yawns coming from him.

"P-Please don't let me be a bother! I...I can wait if this is a bad time for you..."

"Grey, it's okay, really." Blake said gently, turning back to her with a smile and gesturing with a wave of his hand that it wasn't a big deal.

Grey's hands were clenched and held close to her chest, she'd gotten better at managing her urge to hide her face rather well—when it came to Blake...and Nero, a little bit. "I just...don't want to feel like I'm being a burden to you." She said softly, eyes glancing down.

"You...what?" The notion of something like that was so incredulous to Blake that he really couldn't help but want to laugh, yet that didn't feel right to do, not to Grey. Instead, he takes himself a step closer to her, leaning forward slightly. "Could you look at me for just a sec, Grey, please?"

Slowly, she did so, letting her bright grays look into Blake's dark and deeply warm reds. She tried to ignore it but she could feel the pound of her heartbeat becoming faster and faster as she did.

"You're not a burden, Grey. Never have been and never will be. Not to me at least."

Grey could feel the lump in her throat, stopping her from making any attempt to speak, though she wasn't sure what she'd even be able to say. Blake's presence alone had given her such a strong sense of comfort and safety, but when he spoke to her that way it overwhelmed her with a surge of warm feelings attacking her heart, like a trail of fire running through her body.

Maybe if she didn't have this lump in her throat, she may have given in and allowed these feelings inside her to pour out and leave her tongue—but the moment Blake breaks away from their eye contact, she's brought out of that state of mind and remembers that it's just not possible. It wouldn't be right to do that to Vanessa or Blake and even if they weren't together, would Blake even feel the same for her?

Blake had to force himself to look away from Grey. He needed to keep some distance between them or else he might do something that he'd end up regretting.

He sits on his bed. Grey does as well, across from him. He offers her one of the smaller pillows to hold onto and she holds it in her arms, bringing her knees up to it. Blake holds one too, sitting criss-cross. She tells him of what's happened on recent missions and the ridiculous stuff that went on in this base of theirs that she had become endeared to and the people alongside it.

Blake nodded along and, even through his exhaustion, made sure he heard everything that Grey told him. As she did so, an idea came to him. "Ya know, I don't think you've ever told me what you think of everyone in this brigade. I think it'd be nice to hear what you like about them since you're always "observing" and stuff." He says.

"Oh! ...Yes, okay! Uhm, let's see..."

There was so much to admire about her teammates. Captain Yami was strong and unapologetically did whatever he thought was best. Vanessa could always liven up a room and was so inviting to everyone. Gordon always meant well, even if it was hard to understand him. Finral tried his best to mediate between them all. Charmy's meals were always the best. Though he didn't always show it, Grey knew Gauche had a softer side to him. Magna and Luck's quarrels were always exciting and entertaining...

Grey's enthusiasm slowly rose as she continued to speak but her eye contact with Blake had long since broken, yet he didn't want to correct her and break her flow. However, when the only thing to keep him focused was her rarely excitable voice that still contained her gentleness, it turned into something of a serenade, bringing him into the realm of sleep.

"And Asta's hard-working and determined attitude is so motivating and I really envy how much confidence Noelle has in herself and...!"

Grey then noticed Blake's state, slumped forward onto the pillow he was holding as he slept, the smile he held as he listened to her still present on his lips.

"...And I admire you, Blake, for making me feel so...important to someone," Grey said, gently pushing Blake onto his back to make him more comfortable in his sleep. "For helping me feel like being myself had its worth and that being seen by others was something I could...find joy in."

Grey pulled the blanket up to Blake but froze as he moved around in his sleep, turning onto his side slightly and bringing an arm over his torso, his hand landing on the back of Grey's. Rough and weary atop delicate. Her breath caught in her throat, thankfully stopping her from squealing. Her heartbeat became erratic, her ears burned warmly, and she could barely keep track of what she was doing. When she could bring herself to her senses, she realized just how closely she had moved herself to Blake.

So badly she wanted to interlock her fingers with his or to cup his face in her hands or...or to melt into him with a kiss.

But she wouldn't. She couldn't let herself do that because none of it would be right. So, painfully, she pulls away and whispers goodnight to Blake and Nero before leaving his room in a hurry, transforming into her usual form. Grey pumped her fists as she blew out smoke; She can do it, she'll reveal her true self to someone else in the brigade.

That person being Vanessa was both the easiest and hardest choice for her to make.

---

I can do this! I can do this...! I can do this...

It all lined up rather well; Most of her teammates were on missions, Blake and Asta had taken another trip back out to see their family in Hage, and Vanessa was allowed to relax from missions for today.

Blake's been so patient with me in reaching this step...so with this chance, I know I need to take it! I can't keep him as my crutch forever.

With all the progress she's made, Grey, in her true appearance, quietly walked through the hallway of the girl's living quarters. The rooms that were being used were marked by name plates designed beautifully by Vanessa in her spare time and within a few more steps, Grey was in front of the Witch's door. Last night was one of the few times she had made it to her own room to sleep instead of on the couch, most commonly, or in Blake's, which had become rather often as well...

Having always blended herself more into the background as an observer, Grey had become quite aware of her teammates' common routines over the years she's spent with them all, and on a day when Vanessa didn't need to worry about taking any missions, she'd sleep in till around now, noon-ish.

Grey slowly nodded to herself, trying to keep hold of her assuredness. Deep breath in...deep breath out. She raises her fist and softly knocks on the door.

"Just a sec..." Vanessa called out from inside, her tone whiny and likely meaning she was just beginning to wake up.

And with that, starting slowly but rapidly increasing, Grey's mind began to crumble as she tried to keep it together, the waiting unsettling it. I can do this, She'd repeat to herself again and again, even while the light taps against the floor as Vanessa made her way over to her door sounded more like harsh stompings that could destroy her eardrums. Even while her legs were screaming at her to run away. Even while her eyes begged for her to close them like they would scorched by the light of the sun if she didn't before that door opened.

Icandothis. Icandothis. Icandothis. Icandothis.

Vanessa twists the doorknob and pulls it open...

"Oh, Blake? Good morning..." Vanessa said, drawing out a long yawn. Appearing to only be wearing a black bra and panties, as usual.

"Y-Yo, Vanessa..." "Blake" awkwardly said.

WHAT. AM. I. DOING?!

As much as she tried to fight it, Grey's instincts fell back to what they knew would make her safe, to give her comfort—and in the time that's passed since meeting Blake, he had become what that meant to her.

It was certainly backfiring on her at the moment and she was too clammed up to really think through what she should do next.

"This is a bit surprising, there's supposed to be a bunch of traps and things set up to prevent any guys from getting over here..." Vanessa pondered to herself, still half-asleep even after freshening herself up a little.

Then, as Grey tried to put together anything that resembled an answer or explanation, she saw that type of smile form on Vanessa's lips.

Is she...? Oh no.

"Naughty boy~"

Vanessa had unknowingly rattled Grey's mind even more; She barely had time to comprehend how Vanessa pulled her into her room and pushed her onto the bed, leaving her to lay atop the comfortable assortment of blankets. "Blake's" arms were out in either direction, pushing down into the bed so she could lift herself. It was Blake's voice that was going to call out Vanessa's name, maybe to tell her to wait, but it couldn't as Vanessa had quickly connected their lips, completely unaware of who she actually kissed.

Everything stops for Grey at that moment. She's...being kissed. Its...It's her first kiss. It's with...Vanessa? Vanessa's fierce yet tender kiss.

Now, a complete mess of feelings and sensations was swirling within the complete mess that was Grey—but if she said this wasn't nice...she'd be lying just a little.

She's brought out of this sudden discovery of herself as she gasps, feeling Vanessa put some pressure in between "Blake's" legs with her knee as she firmly grips "Blake's" shoulders and pushes him onto his back, breaking the kiss and allowing some semblance of reasoning to return to Grey.

"V-Vanessa..." "Blake" heaves airlessly, hands reaching out to grab Vanessa's wrists, but the vixen turned it on him, grabbing "Blake's" wrists in return and holding them to the bed, making him yelp.

"Sorry, darling, but you can't pass by here whenever you want. I need to make sure you understand that." Vanessa teased, her eyes feeding on the sight beneath her, taking a long strand of that white hair and playing with it as she whispered, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle as I can be~"

Everything Vanessa was unknowingly doing to the girl underneath the Blake facade was making Grey experience things inside herself she never could've dreamed of feeling. As it continued, a part of Grey itched at her subconscious, the same that had urged her on last night as she looked over Blake, was now telling her to let this play out and see where it went. And she...she almost went along with it. However...

"Nng...No!" "Blake" cried out, using the strength his body naturally had to push Vanessa away—not at all roughly, just enough to be free and sit up.

Vanessa then realized that the way "Blake" acted wasn't just to play along with the mood, it was an actual resistance, and she immediately put an end to it, trying to apologize. "Blake? I'm sorry, did I misunderstand your—"

"No. No. No. It's...you...you didn't do anything wrong." Grey said, still in Blake's form with her hands over her eyes, feeling tears begin to prick her eyes. "I did."

Blake and Vanessa are together. This...She only expects to do this with him, and here I am betraying that intimacy by masquerading as him because I panicked...because I couldn't be as brave as I thought I could be...that I wanted him to see me as.

Memories she didn't want to remember were clawing back into her mind—lying on the ground of her family home, her clothing stained with ash, brought to the point of tears while her stepsisters stood over her. 'An ugly little wretch who's only good for menial labor and barely at that' is one of the many hurtful things they'd say to her that day.

Is...Is there really a value to just being myself?

"Blake, are you...?" Vanessa went to move closer but was stopped by "Blake" putting out a hand and she accepted, waiting for whatever would happen next.

That being a poof of smoke that vanished to reveal a girl she'd never seen before, with short blue hair and bright gray eyes muddled by tears at the moment? No, she didn't expect that at all.

"It's not Blake. It was me. Just...me." Grey said through her tears, looking at Vanessa with an earnestly apologetic expression, hands close together and resting against her torso.

"This...Is this what you really look like, Grey?" Vanessa said softly in surprise.

Grey nodded, wiping tears away with an arm only for more to fall in their place. "I'm so...so sorry, Vanessa. I didn't mean to turn into Blake. I didn't mean to betray your trust like this. But I just...I just...I'm just so dumb and useless and I can't do anything right. P-Please believe me...I'm so so so sorry—"

Grey's plead for forgiveness faded to silence as she felt a blanket wrapped tightly around her, as well as the tight embrace of Vanessa over it.

"V-Vanessa?" Grey questions, her tears dripping onto Vanessa's shoulder while the witch isn't even bothered about it

"Everything's going to be okay, sweetie. You shouldn't say things like that about yourself. Don't worry about anything, just let yourself relax and let it all be free. We can talk about everything afterward, okay?" Vanessa said as softly as she could.

She didn't quite understand it all at the moment, but, as she said, that could be resolved later. Right now, Grey—a comrade and friend she's known since the mystery person first joined their squad—was vulnerable and clearly hurting right in front of her, so she'll bring it upon herself to help ease whatever burden the girl has with her.

Grey couldn't respond to Vanessa with words, instead just leaning into the woman's embrace and wrapping her blanket-covered arms around her tightly, allowing all the tears bottled up within to flow and pour out without restraint. Vanessa and Blake...they deserve each other so much.

However long Vanessa embraced and consoled Grey, it didn't matter to her, she'd give her as much time as she needed. It seemed to come to an end as even Grey's sniffles had stopped and she released her hold around Vanessa, signaling to her it was okay to let go. Vanessa slowly pulled away, sitting seiza-style, moving her hold to where Grey's arms would be underneath the blanket and looking at the girl.

"I got to say, Grey, I wasn't expecting you to be so petite!" Vanessa says sweetly, trying to lighten up the mood but only getting Grey to look down, a growing blush on her face. She apologizes, "Sorry, bad timing...", before using her thumbs to wipe away the wet spots on Grey's cheeks. "When you feel okay to talk, could you tell me what...brought this all about?"

Grey spent a few moments just to get a grasp on her voice, "I...It's a long story. Just...please don't be mad?" She asks, finally looking Vanessa in the eyes, so intensely meek.

She looked at Grey with some confusion, unsure of what she could even be mad about, but just smiled and fixed Grey's hair with some light touches. "I promise."

"I...I never wanted others to see me because I never thought I could handle someone's acknowledgment or their...their..." Beratement. Harsh words. Abuse.

"It's okay, Grey." Vanessa offers, softly tapping the girl's shoulder, bringing her back. "Say what you're comfortable with telling me, it's all up to you."

Grey felt more and more thankful that she was speaking to Vanessa about this, and was able to bring herself to continue onto something else.

"A...A few days after Blake, Asta, and Noelle first joined, I went with Blake on his first mission. He...He realized that what I showed wasn't who I really was, but it didn't matter to him, he just hoped that one day I'd be okay being myself around everyone...and we continued."

So Blake's known about this for some time? Vanessa begins to have an inkling of a feeling where this may be heading but still resigns to just letting Grey continue as she nods.

"Then because something happened, I lost my transformation. Blake saw the real me and he told me I didn't need to hide as someone else...I was cool for who I was." Grey said with a deep smile on her lips that wholeheartedly reached her eyes.

Vanessa smiled to herself, not surprised for that to be Blake's reaction, while also taking note of what feelings were shown to her through this smile of Grey's, such uninhibited warmness and so very heartfelt.

"I realized that...I really wanted to change. I wanted to stop feeling so embarrassed about myself and finally be able to spend time with the rest of you guys as the real me. So I...asked Blake to help me and he accepted..."

Vanessa nodded as she made a soft 'oh' sound. "I see, all those times Blake said he needed to have some time to himself are making more sense now." She had just taken it as he wanted to have some independent training time.

She was just glad he didn't feel a need to pleasure himself when she was always here and willing, with a mild exception for when her hangovers were really bad.

Come on, Vanessa. She thought, remembering Grey was right in front of her and that it probably wasn't the time to be thinking about stuff like that. Food for thought later.

"So, Blake's been helping you get through this challenge of yours for the past couple months on his own, not having anyone else know?" She inquires.

Grey seemed a bit sheepish in answering that. "Y-Yes, It'd be too much to handle if anyone else knew so I asked him to keep it a secret until...I felt ready" She says, having understood for a while the tricky situation that put Blake in, before making a quick correction. "N-Nero knew too!"

The unexpectedness of that statement made Vanessa giggle. "Really? Was the little guy a good helper?"

Grey nodded with a bit of intensity. "They were always really patient with me and also very sweet!"

"Is that so? Maybe being around Blake has had an influence." Vanessa pondered momentarily before moving on to what she was most wondering. "So, why is it you came to me? You said turning into Blake was just an accident so...you were planning to see me in your true appearance?"

Grey slowly nods, having moved the blanket off of her just a bit. "Blake thought you'd be best. You were one of the most accepting and social of our teammates...and, honestly, I always did admire how unafraid you were to be yourself."

Aww! Vanessa wasn't used to someone complimenting the way she expressed herself, not in the way that Gray had, and couldn't help but bring the girl in for a side hug. "You are such a sweet little soul, you know? You guys should've told me sooner, I'd be happy to help you show yourself off!"

Though years had passed since then, Vanessa can remember a time when she was still a bit reclusive to the world, when the restraint of living much of her life in that bird cage had still been fresh in her mind, ensnaring her in hesitance even after escaping the Witches Forest and when she initially joined the Black Bulls. By the time most of the others had joined the brigade, she had already been able to break away from all of that and enjoy the freedom she dreamed of having every night in that cold, distant place—But looking at the girl in her arms, it brought back those moments briefly and makes her want to help even more.

"Though," Vanessa then looks down at her barely-clothed self, "Probably not how I do it, but in your own way!"

"Oh god." Grey gasped with a small giggle, hands over her face. "I might actually die if I tried to do that."

Did she just crack a joke?

"It's certainly not for the faint of heart." Vanessa chuckled, before falling silent for a moment and remembering how this had even started. "...I still want to say sorry about earlier, Grey. I know you said it wasn't my fault and, reasonably, I couldn't have known you weren't actually Blake...but still, I didn't like seeing you in that state and I'm sorry for that." Vanessa says before looking away guiltfully. "I doubt you were comfortable with how all over you I was, anyways."

"Please don't apologize, Vanessa!"

Grey spoke out, startling Vanessa briefly, letting her go, and even herself as she tried to stutter out something after, "Sorry, I just—It wasn't—You didn't—!", before letting out a closed-mouth scream and giving up for a moment, cutely pouting.

Vanessa was...confused? Surprised? Intrigued?

"Did you...like it, Grey?" Vanessa asked as plainly as she could, without her usual tone of seduction or implication—not the time for that, she understood.

She saw Grey's eyes widen for a moment, before seeing her expression become shaky and bashful—fingers intertwined and twiddling, Vanessa could see partially under the blanket.

"M-Maybe a little bit...?" She brought herself to admit with a blush.

"Okay," Vanessa said simply, with a nod and without an ounce of judgment. "I'd ask, but, it's pretty clear this is all new to you."

Grey nodded. "Yeah, It's...It's all been a lot to take in. This and..." Grey quickly trails off her sentence, not intending to finish it and quickly trying to find something else to say to cover it up, though she's having a hard time piecing words together.

However, Vanessa was sure she knew what Grey was going to let slip out, something that was honestly rather blatant since they began their talk even while Grey tried to evade bringing it up. But, evading the topic wouldn't do anyone any good, it should just be out in the air for them to talk through and figure out.

"That and the feelings you have for Blake, right?"

She brought the words to life and in return, Grey's voice stopped. Vanessa has to see Grey hold that melancholic and guilty look on her face, but that isn't what she wants.

"Grey, it's okay, I'm not mad!" Vanessa says, trying to wave the girl's fears away. "Look, you guys didn't do anything..."intimate" behind my back, did you?"

"H-Huh?! No, no way! I could never do that to you, neither would Blake!" Grey said, furiously shaking her head in refusal, only being stopped by Vanessa leaning forward and putting her hands on either side of Grey's head, stopping her from doing that again.

"I know you wouldn't, that's why I'm not angry," Vanessa reassured with a smile, ruffling Grey's hair, before changing her seating position and swinging her legs over to the side of the bed with one resting over the other. "I have plenty of trust that he knows not to go too far and vice versa. It's why I haven't felt a need to confront Charmy about it." She says with a shrug of her arm.

Grey found herself comforted so much by Vanessa's reassurance. Since developing these feelings, she had been scared of letting them be known to Vanessa, her mind making her think the worst possible scenario might happen and Vanessa would hate her, driving a wedge between her and the others. The tension in her shoulders ceases and they drop as she sighs with no more worry in her heart.

But...hold on...

"Charmy likes Blake too?" Grey says almost with a gasp.

"Oh, she definitely does! Have you seen the way she looks at him? It's like he's a juicy piece of meat she's trying not to feast on down to the bone!" She says with a giggle. "It's kinda funny if I'm being honest, I can actually see the restraint in her eyes." She says with another.

Thinking of the visual, Grey also can't help but titter a little as well.

"You know, I think she's been trying to butter me up for something recently." Vanessa says off-handed, continuing when Grey looks at her wondering what she means. "Just in some little stuff she's done. She's been bringing back a bunch of wine with her food and ingredients without me even asking, or handing me a plate of dinner first, I'm pretty sure I saw her fluffing up the pillows before I laid down on the couch once." She lists off.

Grey nods along. She knew Charmy was a generally nice person, but specific acts like that, especially something that didn't involve food, were uncommon for her.

"But why?"

"That's the big question." Vanessa remarks, before letting a playful smile grace her lips. "I might have an idea..." She ponders to herself before looking at Grey. "Is she here at the moment? While I'm asking, what about Blake?"

Grey thinks for a moment, before shaking her head. "She's still out on a mission with Luck at the moment and Asta went with Blake back to Hage to spend some time with their family."

Vanessa nods, before standing up from the bed and stretching out with a yawn, before looking back at Grey. "In that case, let's go and wait for her to get back. I need a couple glasses of my morning drink anyway." She says, walking over to her dresser and putting her brigade robe on. "You can relax and be in that usual form of yours if you'd like."

Grey nods and gets up from the bed, but waits to transform as Vanessa tells her another thing.

"When I talk to Charmy, I want you to be there with us. You may want to hear what she has to say. Though...you may need to let her see the real you. Could you do that?" Vanessa asked.

Grey stopped and grew unsure, wondering why Vanessa would need her to be there and why Charmy would need to see her like that. Yet, she finds that she's not as hesitant to do so now. Perhaps it was the comfort and acceptance Vanessa offered to her that made her fears subside, even with knowing how she felt about Blake, was allowing her to feel more...ready to let others know. So she nods, now just curious about what will happen.

---

What will happen, Grey would find out—for Charmy had, rather exuberantly, gone along with Vanessa when she asked. She seemed determined about something. What it was exactly, Grey was still unsure of, as she broke off a part of the cake slice Charmy gave to her and took a bite of it in her usual form.

Vanessa looked at Charmy pleasantly, taking in some of her slices as well, while Charmy hummed happily, fork and cake in her mouth as her legs kicked back and forth on the side of the bed.

"Tastes great, doesn't it? I made it on the way back from the mission as my victory snack, but I'm plenty okay with sharing it!" Charmy said, even though she hadn't done much on the mission with Luck, letting him handle the bandits on his own—though it wasn't like he minded.

"Delicious as always, Charmy." Vanessa agreed. She'd never consider herself a glutton but Charmy's food just had something to it, something that made you want to have just a little more and more. She had to take care to make sure she didn't go overboard on the snacking. Grey agreed, nodding with a puff of smoke.

"So, what's my gal pal-in-arms in need of? Hoping to have me curate a new specialty dish for you? Have you run out of wine? ...Are you perhaps in need of something for a lovey-dovey occasion? The garden's been growing well, I have plenty of fresh fruit for little things of sweetness!" Charmy rambled off as the plate with cake and fork she had in her hands was suddenly replaced by a menu and pen, glasses suddenly occupying her face.

Disregarding how Charmy acquired the items so quickly, Vanessa glanced at Grey for a moment before setting aside the cake on her nightstand and taking a quick sip of the white wine Charmy offered her earlier, not her preferred choice but it paired well with the cake. "Nothing like that for now, Charmy, but I'll be sure to keep that in mind." She answers cheerfully, before resting her chin in her palm and looking back at her knowingly. "I think...there's something you'd like from me, though, isn't there?"

Charmy leans back, eyes widen just slightly. The grip on her pen tightens, then loosens, before she throws the menu and pen off to the side, alongside the glasses, and she holds the plate of cake in her hands again, seemingly in deep thought as she scarfs down each delectable piece with an unusually composed manner. Vanessa notices Grey's confused expression and makes a subtle motion to wait.

"A foodie's most beloved is their cuisine."

Charmy had finished her food and now looked toward Vanessa. Her tone was serious, it left no room for joking or playfulness, meaning Vanessa would listen intently, and so would Gray.

"Every dish has an occasion and importance in life...but sometimes, the foodie discovers one that they'd never wish to be without—a meal they could have every day for the rest of their life and enjoy just as much as the first time they'd even laid their eyes upon it, whether they knew it or not!"

Charmy spoke with passion in her eyes, the fire in her eyes when she had implored the masterful chef, Jamo, to allow her to feast on his cuisine present once more, yet somehow even more intensely. Vanessa was rather taken aback by it, though she supposed it wasn't uncommon for Charmy to get this way over something she wanted. She may only be able to count on one hand the number of times Charmy had butted heads with their Captain, but when she did it got pretty ugly.

Vanessa still found some amusement in how Charmy decided to use this analogy to get her feelings across if she was understanding it correctly—Grey, however, had admittedly been unable to read between the lines of most of the conversation and was wondering what majestic sounding meal could've been.

The flames in Charmy's eyes wavered—settled—for a second, looking away from Vanessa and putting one of her small fists over her heart. "However, it's hard to make such a thing possible, when that meal had landed on another's table first before I realized I wanted it on mine..." She says before stopping, allowing a pause to ensue for her want of dramatic effect.

"But...trying to take or steal that everlasting meal of deliciousness from them would be the most deplorable act one can do! It would taint its taste, sweet becomes sour, heartwarming heat becomes distantly cold—and above all else, it deprives the one whom it was taken from of that fulfilled happiness! How could one ever take pride in themselves as a foodie knowing they caused that to happen?!" She genuinely asks.

Grey grunts, lowering her head and crossing her arms to appear in deep thought, before shrugging and taking another bite of the cake. Meanwhile, Vanessa hummed inquisitively, treating this question as if it was one of deep philosophical intrigue—which it was and Charmy would have something to say to those who think it doesn't, in the language of the sacred art known as "These Hands".

"I don't think you could. The one who had the meal first... it's up to them whether they share it with others or not." Vanessa concluded. "Right?"

...I didn't realize Vanessa shared such a passion for food like Charmy did. Grey thought, blissfully unaware.

Charmy quietly 'le-gasped' to herself, taken aback by Vanessa's answer, by how Charmy's conclusion was much the same.

"Yes! That's exactly right!" Charmy spoke excitedly, before pulling back just a bit, needing to remind herself that that wasn't an answer to her true question. The one that must be asked now or never because, to her, if she couldn't even finish the preparation, she was undeserving of the finished product.

"That's why, Vanessa, I ask of you..." She begins, standing up straight on Vanessa's bed, the lightweight barely making a dent in the cushioning. She inhales one last breath before declaring...

"From one woman of culture to another, let's share Blake in love together!"

Charmy's focus was laser-focused on Vanessa, whose expression transitioned through mild surprise—only at the way Charmy had decided to declare it, to satisfaction, to a playful pondering.

Meanwhile, Charmy hadn't even noticed how Grey dropped her plate of cake, who finally realized all of the implications of her previous words and was frozen in absolute disbelief in what she had said.

Did Charmy say..? Share Blake...? Together...?

"That's quite the bold request, Charmy. Hmm, what happens if I don't want to share? If I want to keep him to myself?" Vanessa questions, just wondering what Charmy was planning to say.

Something, a feeling, shifted in Charmy's eyes at Vanessa's hypothetical. However, she simply closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Though it would pain me, I could never blame you for choosing that decision! He's yours alone to have, we could forget this ever happened!" Charmy spoke; It was melancholic but resolute.

But Vanessa had only grown a warmed look in her eyes; Maybe it was subtle, but she could hear the ache in Charmy's words as she said them loud and clear and Vanessa was glad that it was only a hypothetical.

"Okay, Charmy, I'm down for it."

The eyes of the Black Bull's Glutton shot wide open and she forced them to blink as she took in those six words...

"LA-GASP!"

Charmy shot up again, looking upon Vanessa as if she was an angel sent down by the Food Gods themselves to bless upon their devoted follower the closest she could have to a heaven-on-earth.

"Truly?! Y-You mean it, Vanessa?!" Charmy questions, hoping this wasn't some dream she'd wake from, and with the nod Vanessa gives her, Charmy leaps forward—crying out Vanessa's name as she embraced the woman in a tight hold, her shaking head burrowing in between the witch's breasts without realizing it or without caring. "The best! You're the best ever, Vanessa! I'll get you wine whenever you need it, no matter what!" Charmy declared, giddy with happiness.

It was all too great for Vanessa to not laugh gleefully with her, "You know the way to my heart, that's good to know." She said absent-mindedly, before settling herself down and pulling Charmy away from her buxom. "But hold on, Charmy. My answer isn't the only one that matters." She says, eyes glancing toward Grey.

Charmy hummed, confused. Though she turned her head to look in Grey's direction, it wasn't them her attention was on—instead, she gasped in horror as she saw the cake on the floor, dots of icing on the carpet along with it, and leaped off the bed to save it.

"It's okay, sweetie, it's okay! You haven't been down here too long, you can be recovered!" She promised, flicking away anything unwanted before placing it back upon the plate she'd give back to Grey before realizing something, her eyes trailing up at the new sight before landing on the blushing mess on Grey's face and her widened, hesitant eyes—in her true appearance.

"La...La?" Charmy says, tilting her head blankly..."LA-GASP?! GREY, YOU'RE A GIRL?!" Charmy exclaimed in absolute shock.

"Uh...I...Uhm...y-yes?" Grey said meekly, having to turn herself away from Charmy's gaze.

"LA-GASP!"

"Charmy, what did you think I wanted Grey here with us for?" Vanessa wondered, asking through her laughs.

"I thought you were using them as a bodyguard for protection from me!" Charmy spoke honestly—Indeed, the only things that could match Charmy's gluttony were her sexiness and how dangerous she was, la. Vanessa laughed more, having to lay down on her bed, and giggled into her blankets.

Setting that aside, Charmy then looked back at Grey and gave her a cheerful smile. "So this is what you really look like, Grey?" She asked, but before giving time for Grey to answer, she offered the plate of cake back to her. "Here you go, I saved it for you!"

"U-Uhm, thank you, Charmy..." Grey said, accepting the cake back, her eyes closed as she took another bite of it, still delectably sweet, while Charmy walked around her, taking in her appearance.

"Woooow! This is not what I would've expected at all! Such a pretty and cute young lady, you are!" Charmy said, nudging at Grey's hip with her elevated elbow while she blushed from both embarrassment and from the compliment. "La, how old are you, honey?"

"Mm, oh...I'm 24."

"La?! Five years older than me?!" Charmy gasped in surprise.

"Oh, same age as me? Isn't that something..." Vanessa said softly, getting up from her bed and taking another sip of wine as she took some steps and threw an arm over Grey's shoulder. "You into younger guys, Grey?"

"I...It's not like a particular thing? It's just—"

"Blake just has that effect on you, right?" Vanessa asked, softly teasing Grey, who only gave an embarrassed nod.

"La? ...Ohhhh, Grey loves Blake too?" Charmy dawns on the realization.

Though Grey would be too embarrassed to actually say those words at the moment, she's able to give a fervent nod to Charmy before Vanessa slinks around her and gently wraps her arms around Grey's, almost protectively.

"We'd still need Blake's answer on if he okays with it, but I bet the three of us can convince him easily~," Vanessa says, before looking at Grey over the girl's shoulder. "Though, you still haven't answered yet, Grey. What do you think, you okay with having to share him?" Vanessa asks.

Grey finds herself having a hard time making the words leave her mouth. Before anything, she looks back at Vanessa, maybe just to make sure all of this is really happening, and is given a simple smile. When she looks at Charmy, she gives her a small wave of her hand.

"Come on, sweetie. I offered it in the first place, it wouldn't be fair to turn it away from a gal in need of the same! A meal is better when you're able to share it with others, after all!" Charmy said encouragingly.

"Just to make sure...you do know Blake isn't actually a pile of food in disguise, right?" Vanessa asked.

"But he looks as yummy as one~" Charmy responds, giggling to herself as she cupped her face in her hands and shook it around with a somewhat deviant smile.

Vanessa's lips lean into Grey's shoulder as she giggles for a moment, making Grey heat up from the reverberation, before she asks, "So, you got an answer?"

Grey is silent, taking a moment with her thoughts. She imagines how she would feel, finally being able to let the feelings that she'd grown for him and made her heart ache free without the fear of messing things up—or how'd she feel for Blake to look at her with that comforting smile openly and say to her what she wanted to say to him.

Even if it was all for naught, in a way, it'd still be something freeing for her. With Vanessa and Charmy alongside her, maybe it could be easier as well.

So, she nods.

---

Blake and Asta dropped straight into the lounging room of the Black Bull's Base, filled with its usually loud ruckus as always with pretty much everyone present, after spending a long, joyful day back at the church. Aside from dropping off more donations and gifts thanks to their pay, Asta spent some time helping Nash out with his training. At the same time, Blake had assisted Father Orfai in some more fixups to the church and getting letters out to the other villages for important matters—since he had been to them plenty of times before when he was younger, his use of Spatial Magic made all the trips take a total of 20 minutes at best when it would have otherwise taken a few hours.

Of course, time was spent just spending time with the little ones, making good use of those Legablocks with Horo and even Arlu had taken a liking to them. They feasted just like they'd done before while sharing stories of all that's happened with Lily and Orfai over the dinner table. It was also then that they learned that Recca may have been getting crushed on by some boys in the village, which their dad certainly wasn't a fan of. Admittedly, neither was Blake, his protective older sibling instincts firing off. Still, he kept it under control and requested Sister Lily to keep them updated on how things would go—so in case something happened, he and the others could give whoever the boy was a good "talking" to, which Asta agreed with.

"Jeez, Asta, you could've told me you guys were going to be gone all day!" ...I was hoping to see you when I got back.

Though in the present, his attention was put to his other little sis, who had been bickering with Magna over something before noticing Asta and he was back and immediately dipped out of that conversation—to Magna's annoyance before he got body slammed by Luck and started wrestling him instead—to come over at and huff at them.

"Huh, why? Did you want to come with us or something?" Asta asked naively, though Noelle seemed to have clammed up a bit from the question.

D-Does Asta want to introduce me to his family? Noelle thought anxiously. "That's..."

"Not a bad idea," Blake said, nodding at Asta before looking at Noelle. "You should come with next time, Ellie. I'm sure they'd enjoy meeting the teammate Asta talks the most about." He says with a slight knowing smile.

Saying it like that was likely to get a reaction out of Noelle, which it did.

"Wait, y-you talk about me?" Noelle asked, mind unraveling as she imagined what he may have told them.

Across from her, Asta earnestly nodded. "Yeah, of course! Aside from Blake, and maybe Magna, you're the one I'm closest to so why wouldn't I talk about you? You've been doing awesome with your magic and stuff and I like telling them how proud I am to have you as a teammate!" He continued with a smile.

Pride in her progress and hard work was the main thing Asta felt, but...maybe there was something else there that hadn't been recognized yet.

Meanwhile, Noelle had let her mind run loose with imagining fantasies of what Asta said. Maybe something of who she was to him, how he'd set his heart on—

Nope. The emotions were too much to bear and so she'd draw her wand. In an attempt to push the feelings back, she'd aim a mindless blast of water at Asta, but, just as she drew it, she could feel it being pulled out from her grip instantly to her surprise, yelping in surprise.

Blake 'Tsk' three times as he twirled the wand in between his fingers like a pen. "Come on, Ellie. What have I told you about blasting water at people for no reason? Not a good way of handling your emotions or making any progress, one way or the other." Blake reminded her with a shrug.

"Hey, give me that back!" Noelle demanded, stepping up to Blake to snatch back her wand, only for him to lift his arm over his head, widening the gap between her and it—forcing her to try and reach for it on her tippy-toes.

"You're almost there, Ellie. Just a little more!" Blake teased with a smile that only served to make Noelle angry.

"You jerk, you can't treat royalty like this!" Noelle whined as her hands moved all over the place to try and grab the wand.

"But I can! And I do!" Blake continued, now throwing it in between his hands too quickly for Noelle to get ahold of it.

Asta had a little laugh before giving a little wave to Blake. "Oh, come on, Blake. Stop being so mean and just give Noelle her wand back."

"Sorry to say, Asta, but shorties don't have a say in the matter right now!"

And with that, Blake had earned his little brother's ire, now ready to give Blake a good beating. "You giant jerk! I expect that from Yuno, not you!"

Just as Asta was going to pummel him and Noelle would try to kick him in the shin, Blake kicked his leg back and activated his Wind Magic, letting him levitate upside down, continuing to taunt the two in the air.

"Ah, jeez. Now you two are at a massive disadvantage!"

"You friggin punk!" Asta "cursed", shaking his fist at Blake before looking at Noelle. "Get me on your shoulders, Noelle! I'll get back that wand no swe—agh!" He said, before getting shaken to oblivion by a flustered Noelle.

"What are you saying, dorksta?! No way am I doing that!"

"What's your problem now?! Do you want to be on my shoulders inste—could you stop throttling me for one second?!" Asta shouted back.

Meanwhile, Blake was cackling in mid-air, arms over his stomach as he laughed at the situation he's caused, before he was yelled at by Magna to watch out and he had to put his arms out to catch Luck's rag-dolled self, simply laughing to himself.

"Hey, what are you doing over here?! Get back in there, boy!" Blake shouted at Luck with a smile before rearing back and throwing Luck back at Magna.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Luck shouted back as he went in for round two.

Blake surveyed the room after that, checking out what everybody else was doing. Yami sat in his chair, browsing through the newspaper. Gauche was busy showing off his drawings of Marie to her via his Mirror Magic. Gordon looked to be having a conversation with Finral who tried his best to understand what he was saying. He noticed Grey and Vanessa sitting and chatting together, and then the pair seemed to notice him and waved, which felt...peculiar to him, but he ignored it and just waved back at them. Then his attention was taken by the little miss, hopping around the room and dropping off plates of food for everyone before heading back over to her sheep cooks to continue cooking more, and he remembered what he needed to give to her.

He lowers himself enough to hand Noelle's wand back to her and give her a soft smile. "In all seriousness, I'm sure you'd have a pleasant time with everyone back home. Our little sis, Recca, has Water Magic too and I'm sure she'd like to have another user of it to look up to. It'll turn out a lot better than meeting your family did, at least." He said, noticing Noelle's thoughtful expression and giving her another headpat. "Just think about it." He finishes, while she nods.

Actually, I should ask Vanessa about it next time too, they've been wanting to meet her.

Setting that aside, he floats over to Charmy. "You're working hard at filling our stomachs as usual, I see."

"La? Ah, Blake, you're back!" Charmy said, clapping gleefully to herself, before offering a plate of food to Blake as well, a bit larger than the others. "Eat up! Eat up!"

Blake's boots touch the floor as he accepts the plate with a thankful nod, but setting it down for the moment before creating the Cloud of Holding from his Cotton Magic again and rummaging through it, "We can consider this an exchange then", He says to Charmy's confusion before she gasps at the multiple plates of food wrapped in some foil, all various dishes made with Hage's famous pot potatoes.

"My pops and Lily wanted to show some appreciation for the times you gave us all that food for our dinners and this is the best way he thought to do it. I helped them out and we made it ourselves!" Blake explained as Charmy took one plate after the other and looked upon them with eyes of adoration.

Setting it all along with the many plates of food she also plans to eat, imagining just how scrumptious it'll all taste, she finds herself turning back to look at Blake, her cravings pushing her to something else instead.

"Oh, Blake..."

Blake looked at her with a relaxed smile, before that smile turned into a somewhat nervous one and he raised an eyebrow in playful suspicion. "Little miss—?"

His heart drops for a moment as he realizes Charmy lunged at him and wrapped her arms and legs around his upper body before it suddenly accelerates in beating as he felt her pepper his face with kisses all over, seemingly not intending to stop for a while.

"Little Miss! Little Miss! CHARMY! What the hell are you—?!" He yelled out before being silenced by her soft and dainty lips landing on his, eyes widening at how she licked and sucked on his bottom while she kissed him and almost had a heart attack when he realized she was trying to push her tongue into his mouth. Somehow, she was proving to be even more aggressive than Vanessa could be in regards to smooching.

To put a stop to it, Blake grabbed tightly onto Charmy's sides and pulled her off him with all his might. He gasped for air as he took a moment to get his bearings and placed Charmy back on the ground, still making sure not to be too rough with her, before looking at her in absolute bewilderment.

"Charmy, why did...what the hell's gotten into you?" Blake questioned as he blushed a storm, ignoring the obvious answer, only to be met with the sight of a proud smile on Charmy's face as she giggled impishly to herself.

"Meal-saving prince...tastes so yummy~" She said in a daze.

"What are you even talking about?!"

"Heeeey, Charmyyyy!"

Blake immediately snapped his body around, fear racing throughout him as he heard Vanessa's voice call out the Little Miss while, on the other hand, Vanessa looked rather relaxed with a woozy smile as she walked with a half-drunk bottle of wine in one hand, Grey trailing behind her.

Blake stepped closer to her, ready to quickly spill out how he doesn't know why Charmy did that or what's got her acting like that, before being shushed by a finger to his lips by Vanessa, whose attention was still on Charmy. Looking around the room, Blake sees that most of the other squadmates had their eyes over in their area, either curious or confused.

"Now why'd you go and jump the gun like that? You weren't supposed to do that yet!" Vanessa said, almost in a whining tone.

"Sorryyyy, got too excited..." Charmy responds, rubbing the back of her head.

Vanessa hums before looking back at Blake and having a small chuckle at the absolute confusion on his face. "You okay, sweetie? Was she too aggressive with you?" She asks.

"Huh? What are you...Vanessa, what is going—"

"Before we get to that!" Vanessa cuts off, putting her finger on Blake's lips again for a moment before moving it away and making a little motion with it. "Can you make the little Communication thingie?"

"...?" Was all Blake could give as a response before he had to shrug to himself that maybe it'll all make sense later, though he still wasn't completely over the event of his face getting sucked on just a few moments ago. So, heeding Vanessa's ask, he activates his Communication Magic and makes a little ball that could act as a microphone.

Vanessa expressed her thankfulness through a kiss, though this one was much more sensual and less rough than the other one was, before holding the creation in her free hand and clearing out her throat.

"Hey, everyone! If I could get your guys' attention for a moment, we'd really appreciate it." She said cheerfully and waited for a moment, even though most of their attention was already on them. As she continued to speak, she looked over to the big guy that was beside her, their hands intertwined as Grey twiddled with them nervously. "It's taken a while, but Grey wants to tell us all something so we should listen up! So...eyes on them!" Vanessa announces, before tossing away the device and pointing over at Grey.

"What does he need to say?" Asta wondered.

"Guess we'll find out," Noelle said.

"Did you learn some new stuff with your magic? Can we fight if you did?!"

"What the hell?! I ain't finished pummeling you yet, don't try to skedaddle into another fight!" Magna retorted back at Luck.

"Better make it quick. You're making me lose time with Marie."

"Are we just going to gloss over what happened with Blake and Charmy?" Finral questioned, looking to Gordon who, again, was saying stuff that was too quiet to understand, making him sigh.

"Is that so? Well, hurry up, I feel a dump incoming." Yami said, glancing up from his paper.

Grey, she's...? Blake couldn't believe what he was seeing, all eyes were placed on Grey and she was seemingly ready to reveal herself. Out of the corner of his eyes, he looks at Vanessa, who notices and simply gives him a knowing wink. Then, he looked at Charmy, and there she was just giving him a small wave as she licked her lips with a happy-go-lucky smile.

What the hell happened while I was gone...?

Bringing himself out of it, his attention then goes to Grey, and...she's looking at him. Her head turned in his direction with that blank expression always apparent in the face of her usual disguise. Blake's not sure if he should say or do something but it seems he doesn't need to, as Grey nodded before turning away from him.

He's here. He's looking at me. He sees me, the real me. Now...the others will too!

That pop of smoke covered Grey as it always did, but when it fades away it isn't another transformation, it's the real Grey. Anxious, scared, but determined Grey.

She briefly looks at everyone, seeing the shock of it all on their faces as they look back at her and briefly, she wishes to hide herself away again. But she remembers that...Blake's looking at her too.

If he's looking at her, then she can push through it.

"H-H-Hey, everybody. I...I'm Grey...and this is what I really look like. I...I hope I can make memories and spend more time with you all like this!" She exclaims, raising her voice as much as she can, before giving them a deep bow.

Her eyes are closed shut for a moment or two before she comes back up from her bow and opens one to see everyone's reaction.

"So, that's it? You're a girl? I mean it's surprising but..." Magna says before being blasted with a water attack. "What the hell, Noelle?!"

Ignoring that, Noelle was one of the first to step to Grey. "I got to say, I wasn't expecting you to be shorter than me." She admits, comparing their heights with her hand.

"What about me?!" Asta asks, stepping in front of Gray to compare as well, only to whine. "Aw man, you're taller than me too?! You're so lucky!"

"Now that I'm reading it, there is a difference in your magic's activity. You must have some pretty good magic control to have kept that up all the time—maybe now you can put it towards some offensive stuff and we can have some actual battles now!"

Luck said, fists clenched in excitement at the possibilities, while behind him Gordon tried to offer some words of encouragement of how hard this must've been for her and is proud to truly know his friend, though it got lost in translation.

I guess there was always something off about her Ki. Yami now admits to himself, even if he never cared to bring it up, before returning to reading his paper—though now he held a small smile on his face. Good on ya, Grey. Surpass those limits.

"Hmm, doesn't compare to Marie's cuteness," Gauche says to himself, working through another one of his drawings as he unmuted Marie and apologized a thousand times over for doing it in the first place.

Having everybody around her had truly begun to feel like something more...joyful than it was anxious. It...It wasn't as bad as Grey thought it'd be. But maybe she should've expected this, the Black Bulls was the place she could finally have anywhere she could tell herself she belonged to, so she would've realized sooner that this brigade and her teammates...nothing would've changed how they viewed her. She was still their friend, no matter what.

Though, admittedly, she was still having trouble trying to keep calm when so many had crowded around her, even if it was all positive.

Through a portal, Finral popped his head through along with a bouquet he'd picked up from who knows where. "I'm sure this all must be overwhelming for a shy and sweet cutie like you. If you'd like, I could take you somewhere for just the two of—" Finral's sentence stopped dead in his tracks as he witnessed Grey being pulled through a similar portal, but black and blue. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Grey could barely realize it herself until she was already in Blake's hold, his hands placed at her shoulders as he looked down at her, beaming with excitement and a smile that made her heart swell.

"You did it, Grey! You actually did it—I knew you could!" Blake said with absolute pride in his voice, his mind caught up in it all that he didn't think twice about embracing Grey tightly, hands squeezing her shoulders through the fabric of the robe and her shirt, laughing gingerly. "You're awesome, Grey! You did fucking awesome!"

Once her surprise had finally faded away, all Grey could do was lift her arms and wrap them around his mid-back as tightly as she could in return, a smile like sunshine on her face as what she wanted had finally happened. She almost wanted to just have it stay like this for a while, if not forever.

"Hold up! You knew about her already, Blake?!"

Asta's question broke the moment and made Blake and Grey simultaneously scramble to let go of each other, a flustered look on both their faces.

"Uh...yeah. For the past few months..." Blake said sheepishly, before realizing what he did and snapping his head in Vanessa's direction. "Are you mad? Pleasedon'tbemad!"

"Oh, enough of that already, jeez!" Vanessa says, chugging down the rest of her wine before quieting Blake with a nice, long kiss on the lips—some of the wine flowing into his mouth as collateral—before breaking it away and whispering, "Hurry up and portal us to your room, darling. The four of us have something to discuss~"

"H-Huh, oh, okay..." Blake said without much thought, making a portal behind him before his eyes widened at what Vanessa fully said. "Wait, the four of us?!"

But by that point, he was already getting pushed along into the portal by the trio of Vanessa, Grey, and Charmy. "Grey! Charmy! What are you two—?!—He cut himself off as he started waving his arms over at the others—"Help! Help! I think I'm going to die!"

He cried out those words before his portal closed. They may very well be his last.

"...Yup, I knew it. It's dumping time." Yami concluded, setting away his newspaper and making his way to the hall where his private bathroom was located. This kid man, I swear. He thinks, shaking his head with amusement.

"What...was all that about?" Asta questioned naively.

"Uh...I don't think we want to know..." Noelle mumbled with a blushing face, thoughts racing through her head of what...why...or how all that happened, while Asta looked at her with an expression that showed he didn't understand it much.

"Where'd they go off to? Are they gonna fight?" Luck pondered, tilting his head with that innocent smile on his face.

"In one way or another, yeah. We should just ignore it." Magna said, scratching the back of his neck,

If what I think is happening is going to happen...Blake better get some soundproofing for his room cuz goddamn it my room is right above his! How does Asta even sleep next to all that happening?!

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Finral shouted out to the heavens as he dropped down to his knees, slamming his fist dramatically into a pillow that had been thrown about. "HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING THIS?!

"Bro, stop screaming so much. Why you mad?" Magna questioned.

"HE IS LIVING MY DREAM, MAGNA!"

---

Error. Error. Error. Reset Required.

Error. Error. Error. Reset Required.

Error. Error. Error. Reset Required

ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. RESET REQUIRED

"Blake, are you okay?!" Grey cried out. "Please, answer me!"

"His blood sugar must be low! I'll grab the emergency sweets!"

"Grey, Charmy, relax. It's okay." Vanessa said softly, settling their fears with a pat on their shoulders, before leaning forward and snapping a couple of times in front of his face.

"Hm!" Blake turned back on with the last one and looked at where he was. Sitting against the back of the bed, with Vanessa in front of him, Grey on the left, and Charmy on the right.

He looks at them all, rubs the fuck out of his eyes, looks at them again, and nods. "So this hasn't been a dream, that's good...I think." Then, he looks between the girls on his bed yet again. "I'm sorry, but could you run that by me again? My brain went dead for a good minute."

Vanessa sighed, "Oh, you poor poor thing", She said before making a short crawl over to Blake, settling herself in his lap and leaning into him, her cheek resting against his collarbone as her fingers tapped their way up to his chest. "I'm with you, you're with me."

Blake felt a growing heat in many places but attempted to ignore it, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "Yeah, that's right." He says softly as he looks at her, his left hand enclosing her right.

"Well, I'm okay with you...also being with them." Vanessa says slowly, lightly nudging in the direction of Grey and Charmy, who waited patiently.

Blake opens his mouth to speak but finds he's really not sure what to even say. So, he takes a moment to find it, before looking at Grey and Charmy.

"So you two...really do have feelings for me?" Blake questioned, wanting to make sure he was getting this right.

"Of course, you're my Meal Saving Prince after all!" Charmy readily responded.

"I...I do. I really really do." Grey confirmed, nodding softly but fervently.

Blake nods slowly, letting it sink in that it wasn't just him projecting what he felt, that they really did feel the same for him. Then, he looks at Vanessa again.

Her hand tightens within his hold as she looks at him with a smile and shrugs. "We already live together, don't we? It's easy for us all to just spend time together. Instead of just me, you can give them some loving too." She says with a giggle. "Plus...I think I might enjoy seeing that, the effect you have on them, and knowing I get plenty of it as well~"

"I...wow...okay," Blake says, needing to let that settle as well—this was all a lot to take in.

But the more he sat with it, the more he found himself...elated. For a moment, his hold on Vanessa's hand loosens just barely, but she seems to understand easily and so she moves it from his chest to around his shoulder, letting her hands lock together behind his neck.

Now with both his hands free, Blake offers them to Grey and Charmy, who blush but take it with barely any hesitance.

"I was afraid. I thought I was being stupid by letting myself have these feelings grow for you two and that I'd end up messing things up for everyone, that I'd end up hurting you three." He spoke, before slowly tightening his squeeze on their hands and wanting to bring them closer.

"But...if I can do this...if I can be with all of you and make you happy...I'll do it!" He declares, looking between his three girls with a determined smile. "I'll love and care for you all!"

That's all Blake had to say for Grey and Charmy to happily and lovingly embrace him alongside Vanessa. Sure, this may be weird or strange, maybe there'll be problems along the way, but Blake knows he'll do his damnedest to make this work for them. He's already this lucky it turned out this way for him and he won't let himself fuck this up.

Alright, Nero. I guess you had the right idea this time.

Black Clover - The Three Brothers

It's done...It's finally done! Woohoo!

Sorry for the wait guys but I hope you enjoyed this very long chapter! I didn't feel like breaking it apart.

The harem is in effect, I repeat, The harem is in effect. And the next girl isn't far off the horizon!

A/N: I was originally going to have Yami say "It's dumptaking time", but my friend/editor pleaded that I change it to "It's dumping time" so you can thank them for that.

A/N: Feedback is always appreciated!

Have a good time, everyone!

Responses to Reviews!

Xenolucifer: Sorry to lose ya, but I get it's not for everyone. This is just the story I'd like to write and I hope you can find one that matches your interest more!

Discipline01: Don't worry, I don't plan on "Yurifying" the harem entirely. Just wanted to do something between Vanessa and Grey and that should probably be the only..."inner-relationship"(If it becomes that) within it? I hope I worded that right.

djinn: Glad you liked it, let's hope they're fun to read.

Fanfiction is My Life 4Ever: Glad it was worth it, and I plan to!

Guest: He truly is something. Let's hope he can handle it!

wellingtonlucas282: Fico feliz em saber que você gostou tanto da minha história! Devo ter outro capítulo em breve, então estarei trabalhando imediatamente no próximo!