NOTE: Welcome back to another chapter! Time for a festival and for the story to develop a bit. Shouldn't be too much left, but who knows.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 7: Do You Love Me?

When Yosuke awoke to his latest 'roommate' missing from his bedroom, the Magician almost had a heart attack. He scrambled out of his futon, not caring if his noise woke up the bear sleeping in his closet. Yosuke quickly ran out of his room and towards the stairs to search the lower parts of the house but stopped upon hearing voices coming from his parents' room. The Magician quietly stepped towards the cracked open door to peer inside, his eyes widening as he took in a sight he'd never forget for the rest of his life.

Charmcaster was standing in front of a full-length mirror, dressed in a beautiful black kimono which perfectly showed off her curves. The robes had purple floral patterns printed all over the sleeves and torso. Her long silver hair was tied into a neat bun, allowing her to show off the silky skin of her smooth neck. To Yosuke, the most beautiful part of her was in her reflection, her eyes brightening into a mystical magenta as she looked at herself.

"I was wrong." Charmcaster said to the other person in the room. "You Japanese women really have a nice sense of fashion." She moved a bit to see how the kimono looked on her body.

"I'm pleased to hear you say that." Yosuke's mother stepped into view. She was a middle-aged woman with fair skin and long brown hair. "I figured you'd want to get out of this stuffy little house and have fun with my sons at the festival tonight."

"Well, I am pretty tired of being cooped up in here." Charmcaster agreed. "Some nightly fun might help brighten my spirits."

"I'm sure Yosuke would agree with that, Hope."

"Hope? Is that her name?" Yosuke was surprised to hear that 'Charmcaster' wasn't her actual name. But it made sense; who would give their own daughter a name as weird as that? Yosuke even found her real name cute, which surprised him, since the name 'Hope' heavily contrasted her personality.

"What does this have to do with him?" Charmcaster frowned at the matriarch.

"I figured you could go as his date tonight."

"D-date/D-date?!" Both teens choked.

"Yes, I don't think there's too much of a problem with that, right?" Mrs. Hanamura giggled. She walked next to Charmcaster to brush a fallen bang out of the witch's eyes. "You are a beautiful young woman and my son is a handsome young man."

"Tch…! It's nothing like that." She pulled away from the woman with a small tint of red on her cheeks. "I've seen plenty of other handsome guys, like that Narukami guy. Much better looking than your son."

Yosuke flinched back from that.

"True."

"MOM?!" Yosuke felt like his heart was about to break.

"If I were a young teen again, I would've tried to date Narukami-kun as well. Alas, there's too big of a gap, plus he's already committed to Amagi-chan." Mrs. Hanamura missed the way Charmcaster's face darkened at the mention of Yukiko. "Of course, my son has his own charming points as well."

"He's a pervert." Charmcaster was brutally honest, much to Yosuke's displeasure.

"All teenage boys are." Mrs. Hanamura wasn't bothered by the accusation. She walked away towards her dresser, where she kept a picture of a young Yosuke. "Any healthy young man would take interest in a beautiful woman or man."

"I guess…"

"Besides, it's been a while since I've seen my son take real interest in a girl." Charmcaster looked confused while Yosuke slightly panicked.

"What are you talking about?" Charmcaster asked.

"A year ago there was this girl named Saki Konishi who was only a year older than him. Her family owned a small business that was unfortunately being overshadowed by Junes." Charmcaster recognized the name as that supermarket this town seemed to love so much. "Yosuke had a crush on her and wanted to do his best to impress her. However, a terrible incident happened and she died as a result. It left him heartbroken."

Charmcaster didn't really look that invested. "Well…death would do that to anyone."

"Yes, yes it would. However, there's more to that story." Mrs. Hanamura said as she put the photo back down. "Yosuke never told us everything about it, but whatever happened with Saki left him pretty damaged. But when I see the way he looks at you, it's like some of that light he used to have returned."

Before Charmcaster could ask about the story some more, there was a knock at the door. Yosuke stumbled into the room with a goofy grin, acting as if he hadn't been listening in on the conversation as he rubbed the back of his head. "H-hey, Mom! I-I was wondering about breakfast!"

"Oh, dear! Sorry, I'll start on that right away. But don't you think Ho-oh-I mean-Charmcaster looks beautiful?" His mother motioned at the witch, who raised an eyebrow with crossed arms.

Yosuke looked at her, still blown away by her appearance. "Y-yeah…! I think you look pretty hot! Hehe…"

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes.

"Son…" His mother shook her head.

"W-what?! What did I say?!" Yosuke flinched. His mother just walked past with a disappointed look in her eyes.

When she was gone, Charmcaster strolled up to Yosuke with a glare. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Stupidity is a pretty terrible cause of death."

"Fine!" Yosuke backed away a bit. "I pretty much heard all of it."

"In that case, peeping tom-"

"I'm not!"

"-I'm going to allow you to join me at the festival tonight. And it's not a date." Charmcaster quickly added that last part.

Yosuke blinked. "Y-you still want to go?"

"Duh! I'm sick of being stuck in this house all day. And I need to show everyone else that I'm clearly the most attractive woman there." Charmcaster smirked.

"R-right. Well, I'll come get you when it's time to leave for it tonight. We'll have to cover your face though, so that the others don't recognize you." Yosuke said. He turned to leave, but Charmcaster wouldn't make it that easy.

"What's your deal with her?"

"Huh?" He turned back around. "You mean my Mom?"

"No, dumbass!" She hissed. "I'm talking about that Saki girl. Why are you so hung up on a dead girl?"

Biting back a sense of anger at the clear disregard of his previous crush, Yosuke hesitantly answered. "W-well…she was my friend. Even if…she didn't see me as one."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later…maybe. I gotta wake up Teddie for breakfast. You should get changed quickly, so that Mom will let us eat." Yosuke quickly hurried away from the room before Charmcaster could pester him more.

She stared at his retreating back with a sense of intrigue. Charmcaster didn't understand why, but she was curious about Yosuke a little bit more after interacting with his mother so much.

"But when I see the way he looks at you, it's like some of that light he used to have returned."

"The way he looks at me…huh?" She had to admit that the boy had shown her a lot of hospitality, even though he was fully aware that she wasn't necessarily a good person. She had tried to kill his friend and her family on several different occasions and even worked with a pretty incompetent team of villains to take them down. And yet…he was still nice to her. It was stupid. He was stupid.

And yet, she may be stupid too for wanting to talk with him more.

"So…do I want to know what happened?" Yu asked.

Nanako looked at him, then back at Ripjaws, who was currently sitting inside of her home's bathtub to keep himself from suffocating to death. The alien hero did not look happy at all, judging by the pout on his face. The young Dojima turned to her older brother with a slightly guilty look. "I asked Ben if he could show me another one of his forms. He wanted to turn into this one called Feedback, but ended up as a mermaid instead."

"I'm not a mermaid." Ripjaws muttered.

"But you look just like one!"

"Does Ariel look like a fish-monster?" Ripjaws asked, pointing at his face.

"No, but your legs do." She pointed at his fish tail.

"Ugh…" The Piscciss Volann groaned.

"You both ended up running up here as soon as he started suffocating?" Yu smiled. They nodded their heads to confirm his suspicions. "In that case, you're lucky it was me who came home early and not Uncle; otherwise, hiding Ben might've been pretty difficult till the watch ran out."

"What were you doing anyway? You have a job here?" Ripjaws asked.

"I had several last year, but I wouldn't have the time to take them back up during the holidays. I was just visiting some other friends I had made. I'm glad to see they're all doing good, and they're planning on coming to the festival too." Yu explained.

"Oh! That reminds me, I need to get my outfit ready!" Nanako exclaimed. She jumped off the toilet seat and gently pushed past her older brother.

"Did Uncle buy you a new one?"

"No, I still have the same one from last year!" Nanako yelled.

"Really?" Yu frowned with a sigh. "I figured you would've gotten a newer one."

"What's the issue? If the old one still fits, then it shouldn't be a big deal." Ripjaws spoke up. He flinched back when the usually laid back ex-leader gave him a cold stare.

"It's Nanako, Ben. As an older brother, I have to ensure that she has the best clothes for every possible occasion." The seriousness in his voice made it seem like he was undertaking the most important mission of his life.

"Okay, jeez! You're starting to sound like Yukiko!" Ripjaws yelled.

Yu's demeanor turned back to normal. "Speaking of Yukiko, is there a reason she isn't dragging you around clothing stores or anything?"

"She said that she already had outfits for me, Gwen, and Kenny picked out so that we all matched. It was her way of ensuring we didn't try to weasel our way out of whatever she wanted." Ripjaws complained. "I'd rather just wear my regular clothes."

"There's nothing wrong with looking nice, Ben. Besides, I'm certain Yukiko just wants to create some special memories for your first Christmas together."

"Yeah, yeah." Ripjaws looked away, making Yu chuckle.

"Yu! Nanako! I'm home!"

"Uh oh!" Yu and Ripjaws heard the approaching footsteps of Dojima as he walked up the stairs. The ex-leader turned to the alien hero with his fingers to his lip to signal for him to stay quiet. Yu hurried out of the bathroom to keep his uncle from seeing Ben. "Uncle! You're home early!"

Dojima nodded his head. "It was a pretty slow day today, so I was given time off for the festival tonight. Figured I'd take you and Nanako out shopping for some last-minute preparations."

"I guess you realized that Nanako still only has her kimono from last year." Yu mentioned. His uncle rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed look.

"Y-yeah, it's on me for forgetting to get her a new one. I figured it'd be nice for us to have a little family outing." Dojima explained.

"I was thinking of quickly going out to buy her something, so good thinking, Uncle." Yu gave his uncle a thumbs-up. which caused him to smirk.

"Besides, it'd be a good chance for me to question you about what happened two days ago." Dojima moved to walk past his nephew, but the teenager quickly blocked him off. His usual stoic face was riddled with slight confusion.

"What do you mean, Uncle?" Yu continued to stall, though he was concerned about his uncle figuring out the truth of the destruction that had been brought to the town.

"You know what I mean, kid. You kids were out last night to go see a movie and then suddenly a good chunk of the town, along with Junes, was utterly busted up." His nephew's silence prompted him to keep going. "Now, I'm not trying to interrogate you or get you kids in trouble. Whatever it was that happened was bad, right?"

"Yeah, it was. We don't fully understand what happened either, but luckily nobody was seriously hurt." Yu responded. He couldn't explain the full situation to his uncle without revealing the Tennysons' secrets, but he wasn't lying to his uncle either.

"That's all I needed to make sure of, really. You and Nanako are okay, thus I can feel better about keeping this stuff down and under. The town can believe it to be caused by a gas leak or whatever just fine, as long as you promise to not cause too much trouble tonight." Dojima said.

"Don't worry, Uncle, we'll be on our best behavior."

"He's right, Dad!" Nanako hurried out of her room to greet her father. "Everything will be nice and normal-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

FLASH!

"BWAH!" The sounds of Ben's detransformation and gasp echoed into the hallway.

"What the hell was that?" Dojima tried to get through, but Yu steered him away.

"It was just one of Nanako's toys, Uncle. C'mon, let's leave her to clean it up and get ready to head out." Yu ushered his uncle down the stairs and gave a quick glance to his little sister.

Nanako nodded at him and hurried into the bathroom to see Ben crawling out of the tub. He was completely drenched from head-to-toe. He gagged and shook some of the water off of him. "Ugh, and there goes my no-bath streak that I was trying to maintain." Nanako just giggled at him, which caused him to roll his eyes at her. "Just get me a towel."

As night greeted the town of Inaba, so did the loud noise of festivities of the latest holiday festival. Not even the winter's cold could disrupt the joy and merriment brought about. Games and small attractions were set up all over the town, which was new for everyone since festivals were usually kept small. However, the organizers wished to bring a brighter atmosphere for everyone due to recent events. A chance for everyone to unwind and have fun!

SNAP!

"Oh, you kids look so cute!" Sandra exclaimed as she held a camera in her hands. Standing in front of the town's shrine were Yukiko and her siblings, dressed in the kimonos she had custom designed for them. Yukiko herself wore a bright red one, Gwen had a dark blue one, Ben had a bright green one, and Kenny had a light blue one. Their kimonos had a uniform design shared between them, with the number '10' stitched onto the back with a dragon surrounding the number. Ben's kimono had the kanji for 'Hero' printed on the right side of its lower half, while Gwen's kimono had her usual cat design printed on the left chest area. Yukiko's kimono had a beautiful floral design going around her torso, while Kenny's kimono has a flame pattern going diagonally down his torso.

"Tch…! I'm not cute!" Ben huffed, turning away. Yukiko giggled, pulling him in close to hold him still.

"Yes; you're a handsome boy, aren't you?" Warm affection filled the air from her voice.

"I'm not that either!"

"So, you admit that you're ugly? Good to see you're seeing reality for once." Gwen smirked at Ben's glare.

"Chill out, little bro. It's just for tonight." Kenny assured him.

Ben just shrugged. "Can we just go play some games? I'm tired of standing here taking pictures!"

"But I-" Sandra stopped when Max placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think that's the amount of pictures you're going to get out of Ben tonight." Max smiled.

"Ugh, you're probably right." Sandra put the camera back into her purse. She turned to the kids with an excited smile. "Are you four ready to go have some fun?"

"Yeah!" Yukiko was the only one to match her excitement.

"Are you sure it's okay to head off without your parents, Yukiko?" Max asked.

"Mother and Father have some business to attend to at the Inn, but they'll join us before the party is over. So, let's go and have some fun! I'm sure my friends are waiting for us!" Yukiko took Ben and Gwen's hands. She took off towards the shrine's exit, ignoring their cries of protest.

"Better hope you don't slip!" Kenny hurried after them.

"Ben will catch me if I do!" Yukiko replied.

"Why do I have to catch you?"

"You'd let your big sister fall?" Ben crumpled under her saddened eyes immediately. When he shook his head 'no', he was engulfed in another strong hug.

Natalie looked at Sandra before whispering discreetly. "Be sure to send the photos to us. Unfortunately, we left our camera back at the Inn."

"Certainly."

Yosuke stared down at his phone, reading the text message his partner sent him. The group had just joined up with Yukiko's family and were wondering where he was. In his defense, it wasn't like he didn't want to hang out with everyone, but he needed to make sure Charmcaster didn't accidentally reveal herself to them. Thankfully, Teddie was blabbing his mouth off to them after he ran off to ask the girls for dates, which all likely ended in failure. He looked at his 'date' and noticed the demon mask that had been placed over her face. "Having fun?"

"I'm wearing this stupid mask, which is pretty hard to breathe in." She raised it to glare directly at him. "What do you think?"

"...That you look great?" He smiled at her nervously, which earned him a groan. Charmcaster slipped the mask back on and walked away. Yosuke quickly followed after her to not lose her in the crowd. "Wait up! You don't want to get lost!"

"Please! A witch like myself never gets lost." Charmcaster scoffed. "Unlike you, you'd easily get lost in a kiddie pool."

"Hey! I'll have you know that only happened once, and I was five back then!" Yosuke defended himself.

"As if that makes it any better." She rolled her eyes. Folding her arms, she turned to him with a look hidden beneath her mask. "Get me something."

"Get you something?"

"Yeah, like a prize or whatever."

"Why should I?"

"You're a man, or at least some worthless version of one!"

"Hey!"

"So, go get your beautiful date a prize!"

"You're really full of yourself, huh?" Yosuke whined, rubbing the back of his head. He looked around the crowded area to find a game that he could win a prize from. Eventually, his eyes landed on a knife throwing booth. "Found one!" Yosuke grabbed Charmcaster's wrist and led her over to the booth, ignoring her cries of protest.

The attendant raised a brow at the girl's mask, but didn't bother commenting on it. "Welcome to my knife throwing game. Would the young man like to win one of these prizes…" He pointed at the trinkets hanging from the top. "...For his lovely girlfriend?"

"I'm not his/her boyfriend/girlfriend!" They both yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear it all the time. Just hand me your money if you're going to play." The attendant held out his hand.

Yosuke slapped down the necessary amount of money into his hand and looked back at the game. "So, what's the objective?"

"What? You've never played a carnival game before?"

"Are game attendants supposed to be this rude?" Yosuke snarked.

"Are teenagers supposed to look as stupid as you?"

Yosuke would've walked away after that one, but he had already given the guy his money. Thus, he had no choice but to see it through. He picked up one of the three fake knives on the table, then looked at the moving targets. The targets all had a reindeer design with numbers ranging from 100 to 500 written on them. "Three shots to get the highest points possible. Shouldn't be too difficult."

Yosuke took careful aim and tossed the knife right at the reindeer with the 500 points. However, the deer suddenly turned, causing his shot to miss. "What the hell?! That thing just turned!"

"Did it?" The attendant walked over to the deers and pushed it with his finger. The thing didn't budge at all. "Doesn't seem like it's turning to me. Are you sure you didn't just miss?"

"No way! My aim was perfect!" Yosuke defended.

"If it was perfect, then fire your last two shots."

"Tch!" Yosuke picked up the second knife. With as much consideration that he had with the previous throw, Yosuke launched his knife at the 300 points. This time, the deer's movement sped up a bit which caused the knife to miss it. "The hell?!"

"Not so perfect." The attendant smirked at the fuming teenager.

Charmcaster's eyes had been following the hand movement of the attendant the entire time. She wasn't surprised to see the game was clearly rigged to steal money from people. The witch could just let Yosuke fail and embarrass himself, but he was her 'date' tonight, and he was trying to win her a prize, and she did want that cute hand purse with the skull design. "Fine, I'll lend him a hand." She tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" He turned to her.

"Go for the 500 again."

"But-"

"It's your last shot. Go big or go home."

Realizing that she had a point, Yosuke rolled his shoulder and grabbed the last knife. He aimed it carefully and tossed the fake knife right at the 500 points. The attendant smirked, moving his hand underneath the booth to press a button. However, an unseen purple spark caused the tendons in his hand to freeze. "Gack!" He cried.

"Alright!" Yosuke cheered when the highest numbered deer fell over, scoring him 500 points. Charmcaster smirked behind her mask.

"G-guh…" The attendant muttered with displeasure. "Fine…pick a prize."

"That one." Charmcaster pointed at the purple hand purse.

"We'll take the hand purse, sir."

"Heh, didn't think you liked purses, kid-"

"Just give us the damn purse."

"You look so pretty, Nanako-chan!" Yukiko clapped her hands excitedly.

"Thanks, big sis!" Nanako spun around to show off her new kimono. It was bright pink with a white and red sakura tree design. The petals of the tree ascended up her torso, while the tree covered her lower half. "Dad and big bro bought it for me!"

"How much did it cost?" Chie asked, dressed in her own dazzling green kimono. She observed the proud men, who were silently weeping over the money spent.

"I-it was worth every yen…" Dojima muttered.

"I'm sure the gods are pleased…" Yu added.

"They look as if they're about to cough up blood." Ben said.

"You'll understand when you're older, Ben-chan." Rise patted his back, the idol dressed in a stunningly beautiful blue kimono with a pink floral design.

"I hope I never turn out like that." Ben scoffed.

Naoto, who was forced to wear a dark blue kimono, rolled her eyes. "Let's just hurry up and get moving. The main event will get too crowded if we dawdle any longer."

"I want a spot right next to Yuki-chan!" Teddie exclaimed.

"I want a fur coat." Yukiko's face darkened with a sickening sweet smile. Teddie wisely backed down from the heiress to avoid igniting her wrath any further.

"Still, we should take a photo really quickly. You girls all look stunning tonight." Max suggested.

"Thanks, Tennyson-san!" Rise giggled. She turned to Kenny with a smile on her face. "And? Do I look beautiful tonight, Kenny?"

"U-Uh…" Kenny stuttered, clearly captivated by her looks. It was thanks to Gwen elbowing him in the ribs that he could actually say something. "Y-yes! You look really cool!"

"Cool?" Rise tilted her head.

"Yeah! Like a bright star in the night sky!" Kenny added. His answer seemed to be the correct one, because Rise was now blushing madly.

Ben pointed at them. "I'm also getting sick of that."

"Be nice, Ben." Sandra warned.

"I am nice."

His parents, Max, Gwen, Yukiko, and Naoto all gave him a look. Ben just scoffed at them and turned away. "Whatever! I'm gonna go find some food!"

"You'll get lost in the crowd!" Yukiko was about to go after him, but Gwen raised a hand.

"It's fine, I'll follow him." Gwen offered. She turned to Nanako with her hand extended out. "You wanna come too, Nanako?"

"Sure! If that's okay with Dad?" She turned to her father.

"Go ahead, but make sure to call us if anything happens." Dojima gave his permission.

"Thanks!" Nanako smiled and took Gwen's hand. The two girls hurried off into the crowd to chase after Ben.

"Uh…do they have money if they're going to get food?" Kanji asked.

"We gave Gwen some money to spend in case she needed it." Frank answered.

"Nanako also has her own allowance." Yu added.

Everyone turned to Sandra and Carl, who gave them flat stares in return. "It's Ben."

"Ah…right."

"Huh? These steamed buns aren't that bad." Charmcaster said as she bit into her food. "I guess the whole 'trying new things' stuff isn't stupid after all." She and Yosuke were now relaxing in a more peaceful space away from the crowd. The two sat on the steps of an empty cathedral, enjoying the scenery.

"It didn't come out of your pocket though." Yosuke muttered as he ate his own bun.

"Obviously, I don't have any money." The witch shrugged. "Well, I could've obviously stolen some if I wanted."

"Really?" Yosuke gave her a flat stare.

"What? I'm evil, or did you forget."

"No…" He muttered, not meeting her eyes.

"Besides, I can't use too much magic since I'm still recovering, plus I don't want that 'Lucky' brat to pick up on me." Charmcaster said.

"You really don't like the Tennysons, do you?" Yosuke frowned.

She gave him a 'no shit' expression. "They foiled my every attempt at achieving ultimate power. No shit I hate their guts."

"Of course they had to stop you. Your plans would've gotten a bunch of people hurt." Yosuke informs her.

"Not my problem." She responded. The witch swallowed the last of her snack and tossed the wrapper into the snow. Charmcaster turned to him with an annoyed glare. "Don't tell me you're trying to dissuade me from being evil? Because, bleh! I'm no goody two shoes."

Yosuke shrugged a bit. "Not really… I mean, I think it'd be good if you weren't a bad person. But I just wanted to try and understand you, I guess."

"Understand me? There's nothing to understand. I'm a witch who lives her life by her own rules, and does whatever she wants. I don't need anyone, not even my uncle." Charmcaster smirked.

"Sounds lonely."

"What?!" She glared at him.

"I mean…! It's just… I think it'd be pretty lonely if you didn't have anyone else with you. When I first moved here, I wasn't very liked due to Junes putting so many places out of business. I was pretty much alone, but then Saki…" Yosuke stopped himself from continuing as the memories came back to him.

Charmcaster stared at him. "Who was she to you?"

"A friend."

"Be honest."

"...I was in love with her."

"And she hated your guts."

Yosuke stared down at the snow. "When my partner and I entered her dungeon, during our first trip inside of the TV, I learned of her true feelings about me. She was just pretending to like me, hiding her hatred and disgust whenever she saw my face." He could feel his eyes watering a bit as the voices returned in his head. "Her personal life suffered greatly, just because of her relationship with me and Junes." His voice quivered and he hated himself for it. He should've been long over this, but no wounds healed completely. Not even the ones someone tried to bury deep away. "I caused her nothing but pain, even in her final moments."

Charmcaster watched the tears falling down his face. She could see him fading away from her sight, and instead saw a younger version of herself sitting in his spot. Little Hope was crying loudly for her father, a man who she would never see again. A man who had died with the rest of her people in their original domain.

"Will you quit your crying?!" Memory Hex yelled at the little girl.

"B-but Daddy is…he's…he's…" Hex grabbed her, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Yes, he's gone! And yet you are still alive, child! Thus the only thing you can do from this point forward is live your life in honor of him! Sitting here and crying like some spoiled brat stains his memory and everyone else's!" Hex stared into her tear-stained eyes with disdain. "Act stronger, child! You want to defeat this weakness inside of you?! Then get stronger, gain power and never lose your way again!"

Charmcaster waved the memory away with a small huff. She closed her eyes for a moment to control her own emotions before turning back to the boy next to her. "Hey."

Yosuke wiped his eyes and looked over. "What-"

SLAP!

"GWAH!" Yosuke fell over, holding onto his stinging cheek. "OW! What the hell was that for-Eeek!" Charmcaster grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, yanking him forward.

"Quit crying already! You've already faced and dealt with her death, right?! Why the hell are you sitting here, crying like some baby?! She hated you, stomped all over your feelings, and took it to the grave! Instead of focusing on some girl who clearly didn't like you, focus on someone who will! The dead are gone, and they'll never come back, so the least we can all do is live."

Yosuke grabbed her wrist, glaring at her. "W-what would you know about it, huh?! You go around causing mayhem and panic constantly! You've tried to kill my friend and her family over and over again! What makes you think you know any better, huh?!"

She closed the distance between their faces, her magenta eyes glowing dangerously. "I watched my father die right in front of me, so I think I know a thing or two about all of this shit!"

"I saw her dead body broadcasted on live television, hanging from a telephone pole! I faced the bastard that killed her and kicked his ass!"

"THEN WHY DO YOU STILL CARE-"

"BECAUSE I STILL LOVE HER, OKAY?!"

…

…

…

"Do you love me?" Charmcaster asked.

…

"I don't know…"

…

"Good…because, I don't know either."

The two kissed without missing another beat. The intense feelings burning deep within them came forth in hot passion. The air around them was chilly, the snow beneath them was freezing, but their bodies were blazing passionately this night.

"WHAT THE?!"

The teens broke apart instantly, spooked by the loud shout. Yosuke and Charmcaster turned to the source of the noise and blanched. Standing below the long steps were Ben, Gwen, and Nanako. The three kids looked utterly flabbergasted by the development they just witnessed.

"Y-Yosuke…?" Ben muttered.

"And Charmcaster…?" Gwen's hand tightened around Nanako's, who was clearly confused by everything.

"Kissing?!" The Tennysons looked at each other before gagging loudly in unison. "EW!"

Charmcaster's face morphed into a nasty snarl, while Yosuke tried to salvage the situation. "W-wait, guys! It's not what it looks like!"

"I don't know, Yosuke, it looks like you were getting pretty chummy with Charmcaster!" Ben pointed a finger.

Gwen's eyes narrowed, glowing with pink mana. "I don't know what kind of spell she put over you, but I'll be sure to undo it once we've kicked her butt!" She released Nanako from her grip to focus on their old enemy.

"I-I'm not under a spell!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Save it, Yosuke. They aren't going to listen to you." Charmcaster pushed the magician away to tower over the children. "It really ruins my mood whenever I see you little gnats again!"

"That's our line, body stealer! I don't know what you're doing here in Inaba, but you're definitely getting kicked out!" Ben activated the Omnitrix.

"Nanako, get to safety!" Gwen ordered.

"B-but, Yosuke is-"

"We'll save him, so go hide!" Ben yelled. Slightly surprised by the strong tone in Ben's voice, Nanako could only listen and hurry off to the side.

Yosuke scrambled to his feet quickly. "W-wait, guys! We don't have to fight! It's not what you think it is!" Clearly, neither side was listening to him, already too absorbed in their usual routine.

FLASH!

"Let's roll!" Cannonbolt curled up into a ball and charged forward. Gwen pushed her hands out, a sphere of pink mana enveloping Cannonbolt like a layer of armor, also boosting his speed. Charmcaster shoved Yosuke out of the way before quickly putting up a shield to block the rolling alien. The force was much stronger than she anticipated and she was blown into the cathedral.

She rolled across the tiled floor, grunting in pain as she quickly conjured up a purple sphere and threw it at Cannonbolt. The alien smashed into the sphere of mana, blowing him upwards into the ceiling. Charmcaster climbed to her feet and ducked as Gwen came flying through the hole, kicking out her leg for the witch's head. The witch rolled away, reaching into the sleeve of her kimono to pull out some small, spherical rocks. "Mama never leaves home without her babies."

The rocks formed around her arm, creating a magical rock gauntlet lined with glowing purple mana. She punched out at Gwen, blasting the sorceress into the pews. The young sorceress recovered quickly and looked down at her dirtied kimono and scowled at her opponent. "Hey! This outfit was new!"

"So was mine, Lucky Girl!" Charmcaster hissed back.

"INCOMING!"

Charmcaster ducked out of the way as Cannonbolt came crashing back down. He spun in place for a few seconds to build up momentum before pushing himself forward to knock Charmcaster down like a bowling ball. Acting quickly, the witch tossed out several magic bombs to blast the alien away from her. Suddenly, a pink tendril wrapped around her waist, which was annoyingly familiar to Charmcaster. She was yanked towards Gwen and was greeted by a mana-enhanced punch to her jaw.

"G-gack!" Charmcaster coughed. She tumbled through the air just from the force of the punch and crashed against the wall. She slumped down the stone and slumped against the wall with ragged breathing. "D-dammit…! I still haven't recovered my magic, and these brats have clearly improved since the fight at Mt. Rushmore!"

"It's over, Charmcaster!" Gwen declared.

"Time to celebrate the holiday in the slammer!" Cannonbolt came rolling towards her to finish the job. She closed her eyes, prepared for the huge wave of pain to be dealt to her.

"Garudyine!"

A huge wave of wind smashed into Cannonbolt, blasting him towards Gwen. The sorceress gasped loudly and put up a shield to protect her from her cousin's collison. Both Tennysons went flying through the cathedral's wall as a result.

Charmcaster gaped at the one who had saved her, staring at the back of Yosuke Hanamura. "Y-you idiot! What do you think you're doing?!"

Yosuke looked back at her. "Well… I can't exactly leave a maiden in danger, especially when she looks like she needs help." He turned away quickly, never seeing the massive blush that colored her face.

The Tennyson kids recovered and stared at the newest combatant in shock. "Y-Yosuke?!" Gwen cried.

"What are you doing, man! You really are under her control!" Cannonbolt yelled.

Yosuke looked determined and regretful. "Sorry, guys, but I can't let you hurt her. Stand down and nobody has to get hurt."

"No way! She's a bad guy and tried to take over the world before!" Gwen yelled. "Either move out of the way or we'll kick your butt too!"

"The easy way or the hard way! Make your move, Yosuke!" Cannonbolt threatened.

He was trembling slightly, clearly not liking the idea of attacking Yukiko's family, but he also didn't want Charmcaster to get hurt. He then felt a feminine hand touch his shoulder, and turned to see Charmcaster climbing back to her feet. "They aren't going to listen to you unless you beat them down."

Yosuke understood this and tightened his resolve. "Ben! Gwen! You're gonna have to make me move! There's no way I'm going to let you hurt her!"

From outside of the cathedral, Nanako watched in horror at the turn of events. "O-oh no…! I have to tell big bro and big sis!" She turned from the battle and raced down the stairs and back towards the festival.

Chapter End

NOTE: Welp, Yosuke's made his choice...let's see how this ends for him. I really liked writing Charmcaster in this chapter the most. She opens up to Yosuke due to relating to losing someone you love, even if in his case that person didn't love him. Ben and Gwen found them kissing under the moonlight, and now they're battling it out. How will it turn out? Wait and find out.

Have a great day!