The meeting with the Princess was extremely tense for Kazuma. She called them the day after the raid on the castle to thank them for assisting them in her protection. He had no time to speak to his three party members before they were ushered inside.

There weren't any notable spectators to the affair. Just the expected cacophony of guards stationed at the sides of the room who awaited orders to capture or maim whoever wished the princess harm. As he approached Princess Iris, who maintained her air of regality and elegance, and the loathsome bodyguard Claire who looked alright for the most part but still favored her non-dominant arm, Kazuma sincerely hoped that they didn't know he was behind the attack.

Granted, Chris and Kazuma had good reason to invade the castle to do what they did, but they didn't know that and he couldn't exactly say he 'heard' that was the reasoning from someone else without raising suspicion.

Once the quartet reached a fair distance away from the Princess, she stood to greet them.

"To the adventuring party of Satou Kazuma, I thank you for your assistance in protecting me."

It was Iris' delivery of her words that made Kazuma know something was off. Iris had grown close to Kazuma over the week and grew far past the need to address them all so formally. Yet, here she was with a completely dead look as if she were going through an overly rehearsed routine that she had practiced countless times.

Thankfully, Darkness took the reigns. "It was our pleasure to serve the royal family in their time of need." She said with a formal bow befitting someone of her station.

Kazuma hadn't dared to stare anyone in the eye yet but dared to look back up at Iris. Raising his gaze from the expensive carpet, their eyes met briefly. Though, to Kazuma, they felt like a lifetime. The small girl's stare was so piercing that he thought she could see him squirming under her gaze. However, as quickly as it came, she looked back towards Darkness who was speaking in their stead.

Megumin and Aqua hadn't yet said a word. From what he could gather, Aqua seemed to be nursing the remnants of a hangover, but that was a common sight. When he looked at Megumin, he did a double-take and froze.

She looked like she hadn't slept a wink the entire night. Her hair was slightly frazzled and her eyes were fighting to stay open. The dark bags under her eyes only added to her haggard appearance. Kazuma had never seen the girl be overly feminine, but it was odd to see her not maintaining her appearance. After some examination, he turned back toward Princess Iris when Claire spoke.

"Let us see you off." Everyone nodded along more or less, but Kazuma was stopped by a small hand gripping his forearm. Looking down at the offending hand, he slightly jumped when he saw the perpetrator.

"I-Iris?"

"I must speak with you privately. Claire will wait with your friends."

Your friends. Not our friends.

She led him to a separate room that had a door to close. It seemed to be a study or at least some sort of small library with a decently sized window to let some natural light in. There wasn't a single book out of place and the main floor had a large desk with a wooden chair, along with some chairs strewn about with tables in their middle.

He waited for her to say something but she kept her back to him. For a moment, Kazuma felt like a massive red flag was about to be activated.

"I wanted to thank you, elder brother."

Thanks? Really?

"For what?"

Iris turned towards him with a small smile. "You don't have to play coy. I know it was you who infiltrated the castle last night."

Kazuma had never had a heart attack before, but he was pretty sure he was having one right now. The blood drained from his face and he felt like his soul was leaving his body. That was probably the one thing he didn't want to hear for the rest of his life. He mentally prepared himself to use Lurk.

"Rest assured, elder brother. I trust that you did all of that with good intentions. You don't strike me as the sort to steal things without a just cause."

The adventurer felt the 'but' coming a mile away. His heart rate lowered considerably but did not return to normal. "O-oh, that's true." Really, what else could he say?

Iris dropped her smile. "But-"

Ah, there it was.

"-I can not overlook your actions."

Kazuma held his hands out. "Wait, wait, wait! You aren't going to have me arrested or something, right?!"

"Under normal circumstances, I would have you executed for high treason against the monarchy."

Kazuma gripped his chest in a futile attempt to calm himself.

"In older days of the kingdom, you would have been hanged, drawn, and quartered without mercy."

"Hrrk!"

"But thankfully, my grandfather outlawed such barbaric methods of execution when he came to power many years ago. And like I said, I wouldn't have put that on you."

Kazuma stayed silent, he couldn't trust his voice at the moment.

"Unfortunately, I can't let your actions slide without some form of punishment. Had you simply stolen the necklace and not caused lasting damage, perhaps I could have afforded more leniency with this..." Iris fixed him with a hard look as he couldn't help but keep eye contact lest he suffer some kind of wrath. "But according to Claire and Rain's reports, due to your actions towards Sir Mitsurugi, your treatment of Claire and the castle guards, I can't simply ignore it. You hurt people on purpose. You chose cruelty over mercy."

She stepped over to the closed door and did not look back at him. "Though I know you aren't a wicked person, a reprimand is in order. As such, I have decided on a fitting punishment."

Kazuma gulped and held his breath.

Iris sighed before doling out her verdict. "For your crimes, I hereby banish you from approaching the castle of your own volition. If your presence is requested, an exception will be made."

"Wait! That's not necessary, is it? C'mon, I'm your big brother, aren't I?"

"I truly did cherish our time together, but you've done things that were deplorable." She shook her head with melancholy. "At the end of the day, Claire and the others are my subjects just as anyone else. I can't allow someone who hurt them in such a way to be allowed free access to the castle. I'm sorry."

Though he had just tasted the life of a prince, it was just as quickly snatched away.

Once they all made it home, the sun was setting and the girls had decided to take a bath before him. Aqua was the first to claim the bathroom, shouting about it being 'her domain' and some other nonsense. Kazuma himself just lounged on the couch near the fireplace awaiting his turn. Chomusuke was his only company as both Megumin and Darkness had gone to lay down until their turn came up, according to them.

Over fifteen minutes passed before Kazuma finally lost his patience with Aqua and got up to complain. As he passed Darkness' room, he heard quiet voices through the door that was slightly ajar. Curiosity seized his brain immediately, and he inched forward toward the open space, subtly poking his head in. If something was happening in there, maybe it could make for decent blackmail. What he ended up seeing shocked even him.

There, sitting on the far side of the crusader's bed was Megumin, next to Darkness on her right. The vanity Darkness owned gave him a decent look at their faces in the reflection. Megumin was staring at the floor, her small hands clenched at the hem of her red dress.

"Perhaps it would help if you talked about it?" Darkness suggested.

Megumin looked pained as if that was the last thing she wanted to do. "You won't tell Aqua or Kazuma about this right?"

"Of course not."

"I don't want them making fun of me."

Kazuma took some offense to that. He wasn't that cruel to people and while Aqua could sometimes have the emotional maturity of a toddler, she still wouldn't turn away a friend in need.

Taking a deep breath, Megumin began. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"Was it because of everything that transpired?"

The mage gave a small nod. "It wasn't so much the attack on the castle itself but... I had never felt my mortality more than in that moment."

Darkness's eyes softened. "I'm sure it must have been scary."

Megumin's fingers tightened on her dress. "H-he was going to kill me, Darkness." Her voice hitched. "And there was nothing I could do about it."

Kazuma's heart sunk into his stomach. Did he cause this?

"I felt so weak. I-I tried to fight him off and I thought he would snap my neck right then and there."

"I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to protect you." Darkness confessed. She hated if anyone other than herself got hurt.

Megumin didn't respond, instead opting to take a deep breath to calm herself. "For a moment, I thought about if it would hurt."

It did hurt. Kazuma knew it did, at least for a split second, you felt the worst pain imaginable. He'd broken his neck against those Lizard Runners and he'd never forgotten the feeling. Deaths like those tended to stick with you. But he had never considered his party members dying before. It was almost a given that Kazuma died, but he couldn't fathom the thought of Megumin or Darkness being injured so badly. He'd never even seen Aqua bleed from a paper cut before.

Megumin wrapped her arms around herself to soothe her nerves. "I've never even asked Kazuma how dying felt for him. But if it was anything like I felt, I should say something to him."

"Kazuma isn't the type to open up about things like that."

"You're right, but I don't want him to feel alone."

He was strangely flattered that Megumin cared about his feelings so deeply. Then again, she was the most normal of the three, so he shouldn't be surprised. She'd always been the most receptive to his pain.

"Well, none of us will let you get put in danger again, I promise you that."

"You can't promise such a thing, Darkness," Megumin said while shaking her head. She paused for a moment before saying, "I wish Kazuma had been there."

The irony wasn't lost on the adventurer and the mere idea that he caused Megumin so much anguish gave him nausea. He didn't stay to hear the rest of their conversation, the guilt making him turn away.

Aqua had thankfully left the bath without much fuss after he complained. As he settled into the warm water, he could feel his muscles relax. A long sigh escaped him as he thought about what Megumin said. Turning to his only companion in the bath, he asked her for her opinion.

Picking her up, he asked, "What do you think I should do?"

"Meow." Chomosuke's answer was as eloquent as always.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He put her back into her little bucket in the tub. "But I can't tell her it was me, I doubt she would take it well. I'm not sure how to make her feel better without exposing myself."

"Meow."

"Yeah, I could try that. Megumin may not seem like it, but she likes special treatment just like any other girl." Kazuma rubbed his chin in thought. "But I already go with her on her explosion runs as it is, so that wouldn't be anything special anymore. I need something... more."

The cat's eyes closed as if she was going to say something that Kazuma didn't want to hear but would have to be done. "Me~ow."

"Woah, woah! That's way too embarrassing! I can't just go and do that!" Kazuma's blush was palpable, but he shook his head to will it away. Turning back to the feline, he asked, "You think she'd want that? I'm not trying to get called loli-NEET again."

Chomosuke nodded as she lay sideways in her bucket, drifting in the water as she went along.

"Well, you are Megumin's familiar, after all. It's expected that you would be someone who knows her well. Alright, fine. Here, let's clean you up."

After drying off and changing into his tracksuit, he went to let Megumin know that she could finally get in the bath.

As he approached, he saw that the door was slightly ajar. The girls had made it a point to lock their doors after he had gotten the moniker of 'panty thief' around town. Kazuma had scoffed at the time, he had no interest in anything Aqua could own and Darkness would give them if he just asked.

He stuck his head in slightly and saw that she was asleep. Kazuma considered whether he should let her sleep or not. On one hand, she was pretty tired the last he saw her. Still, what she said to Darkness ate up at him. Megumin was someone he begrudgingly respected. Sure, she could be impulsive, childish, headstrong, a total idiot, and a complete liability anywhere underground, but she still was the most sensible girl in his party. She cared when he died, wanted to spend time with him, and he could admit she was beautiful. For all of her lacking assets, Kazuma could tell that she made up for it everywhere else assuming a person could tolerate the Crimson Demon's weirdness.

Before he knew it, he was standing on the other side of the bed. The window was open and he felt a slight breeze. Tracksuits weren't made for colder weather, so he needed a way to warm up, but how? Ah, there was a comfortable blanket right in front of him, but he didn't want to take it from Megumin, so it was only natural that he would share it with her instead. He allowed himself into her bed without further preamble and settled in. A few seconds passed before he realized the position he had just put himself in.

To be fair, he got Chomusuke's permission.

Kazuma didn't have much time to dwell on the fact that he was using a cat's consent because Megumin turned in her sleep towards his side which knocked him out of his thoughts. As he lay there and looked at her, he couldn't help but think about how serene and peaceful she looked. He felt some undue confidence and shuffled closer to her. The finer details came to him and he studied her face. When she wasn't blabbering about explosion magic or trying to look cool at every conceivable opportunity, he knew that she would have had a hell of a fanbase back in Japan as an idol or something.

Nah, she'd probably be a total geek. But that was fine with him, they'd have something in common. As he thought about that, he began to imagine Megumin with some cute glasses and liked it. His imagination wandered into less-than-noble places with her in other outfits-

"What are you doing?"

Megumin's voice made him jump. Her eyes were all the light he had as her curtains were drawn, and his night vision only did so much in complete darkness.

Trying to look as smooth as possible, he adopted a relaxed and confident demeanor.

"I was just cold, that's all."

"So, you came to my room and got into my bed?"

"Ah, I tripped."

"Do you hear yourself?!"

Kazuma held a finger to her lips. "Shh. C'mon, we've already done this before. This is what married couples do after all." He let his finger drop and laid on his back with the blanket pulled up to his chin.

"We aren't married."

That caused Kazuma to turn his head to her with a grin. "Not yet."

Megumin blushed at the implication. "Stop trying to act so smooth." Kazuma let out a small chuckle but didn't say anything.

No one spoke for a minute, letting a silence wash over them.

Kazuma sighed, knowing he would have to take the initiative for once. He laid back on his right side and kept his eyes on the girl. "Megumin."

The mage's eyes somehow glowed brighter. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I heard about what happened at the castle."

Megumin's eyes dimmed considerably as she stared at the wall behind him, unable to meet his eyes. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. I... heard you talking to Darkness."

The girl frowned, "You were spying on us?!"

"Now hold on, I just happened to be on my way to the bath when I passed by you two!"

"I'm sure you were."

"Look, I should have been there. Because of me, you almost got hurt."

"Aqua could just revive me anyway."

Kazuma's heart twisted at the thought of Megumin's twisted corpse having to be revived. Unconsciously, he gripped her hand that peeked out from the covers with gusto. Her eyes shot open in surprise at his boldness.

"I don't want that for you, Megumin!" He said with some anger in his voice. "I don't ever want to see you die or get hurt. Leave that to me."

Megumin's eyes narrowed. "Leave it to you? Do you think I want to see you die?" She said with anger in her voice.

Kazuma blinked. "What do you mean? It's my job to take the deadly hits, it's my thing." He got worried when her eyes grew watery.

Megumin let go of his hand while shaking her head. "No, it's not! Darkness is the one that's supposed to take damage for the team! Yet you always stupidly throw yourself in harm's way!"

Kazuma sat up a bit, supporting himself on his right elbow, "Oi, if I didn't do that stuff, we would have been screwed up until this point."

Megumin met him in posture. "I don't care. There's always another way. How can you not see that?"

"What's it matter? It always works out in the end."

Megumin remained silent momentarily before resting her back against the bed's headboard. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

"Megumin?"

She turned her eyes at him, tears rolling down her red cheeks. "Sometimes I have a nightmare where you die, but you don't come back. Do you know how scary that is?"

Kazuma sat cross-legged and gave it some thought. He thought of Megumin's vulnerable body being left to the monsters after an explosion, or Darkness biting off more than she could chew against some dragon, or Aqua falling down the stairs. The first two scenarios gave him shivers.

"I didn't know it bothered you that much." He told her, his eyes resting on the bed covers. "Nobody ever really takes it too seriously."

She moved to her knees and grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. "Of course it does, you big idiot." She rubbed it with both of her thumbs lovingly with a blush on her face.

Kazuma's eyes darted rapidly between their hands and Megumin's face. She had a serene smile on her face and he couldn't help but find her mesmerizing.

Wait! Focus, Kazuma, focus! This was supposed to be about her, not him!

"Megumin." She stopped her caressing to look up at him and meet his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Just like yourself, I don't want to see you get hurt. I'd do anything to prevent it." The boy cringed internally at his knightly words as his cheeks heated up, but they were the truth. He felt like he had a duty to protect Megumin most of all. "S-so, I want to be there for you as much as I can. You seemed so troubled about everything and I hated that look you had on your face at the castle."

Her eyes sparkled in the dark room. "Kazuma..." She shimmied closer to him and hugged him, putting her arms around his neck with him awkwardly wrapping his arms around her back. As she held that position and rested her chin on his shoulder, she spoke again, "For all your talk about not caring what happens to us, you probably care the most, don't you?"

His ears burned at the question. "W-well, someone has to watch out for you guys..."

Megumin giggled a bit, "If it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you."

"Well, that's only natural-"

She abruptly ended the hug and shushed him with her finger. "Shh, don't ruin this."

He simply nodded before his word vomit killed the atmosphere. She smiled again and gently guided him back down towards the bed. Megumin wrapped her covers around the both of them before asking him, "You wanted to sleep with me, right?"

Of course, Kazuma's teenage instinct screamed at him to say yes immediately, but he had been played by this girl before. He wouldn't be fooled twice. No way.

"Yes." He said with as deep a voice as he could manage.

"And you said you wanted to protect me, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good, because I was trying to sleep before you barged in. And if you want me to remain as pretty as I normally am, help me fall asleep." She moved her pillow closer to his head and laid down next to him with her back towards him. "Go on."

He stalled for a few moments. Was this an invitation to touch her or something? Well, he would certainly take advantage of this blessing.

Before he could choose where to put his hands, Megumin forcefully grabbed his arm and put it around her stomach. "I could already hear the gears turning in that perverted head of yours."

"I knew what I was doing! I was just nervous, that's all!"

She scoffed before pushing her body against him for comfort and body heat.

"Oi, oi, if you keep doing that, my body will react unwillingly."

"Is that all it takes to rile you up? Eazyzuma."

"Say what you want, but I don't want to hear any complaints about my holy sword afterward."

"Chunchunmaru?"

"...please don't call it that."

Megumin laughed before resting her left hand on his. "I just... want to go to sleep like this, okay?"

"Right..."

There was a beat of silence before Megumin let out a warning.

"If you try drifting your hand any lower, I'll cut off that 'holy sword' of yours."

His hand quickly found its original place. "I'm sorry."

END

To be honest, I rewrote this so many times. As such, I'm not satisfied with it but I hope you guys can like it. Criticism is welcome as always!