You let out a contented sigh as you yawn and stretch, arising from your slumber.

Hmm! Those were some nice dreams you had. A blonde-haired angel visited you, the girl you love. Looked at you with her piercing green gaze, touched you with her delicate hands, and with her cute lips, she whispered in your ear that she loved you. Begged for you not to ever leave her.

Over, and over, and over again.

Of course, you responded in kind! You held her hand, hugged her tightly to you…

… And constantly whispered in your love's ear that you'd never leave her. Ever.

Ah, it was sweet, fluffy bliss. What a nice dream! You turn over, hoping to see Kaina's cute sleeping face…

… She's gone. There's only an indentation in your downy mattress right beside you, and the faintest hint of her clean, earthy aroma. You reach over to the nightstand, check your phone. Did she at least leave a message…?

Kaina: I apologize for not being there to greet you when you woke up. I had to leave for work.

Kaina: I enjoyed the time we spent together yesterday. Please let me know when you want to spend more time together.

Kaina: I will try to find a hole in my work schedule just let me know which dates are more convenient for you.

Kaina: Please respond to these messages once you've received them.

Kaina: I miss you.

Kaina: Please ignore the last message. I accidentally pressed the send button.

… Aww! She does care…

Hee. Your earnest little cutie. You fire off a few quick texts to Kaina. No selfies for now, just a little something to know that you have read her reply...

Actually hold on, you've got the perfect selfie right here!

Hee~! Sending your love a lewd picture of yourself right after getting out of bed...

... Nah, it's not as good as having her here in person. You'd rather she stayed for the morning. Still. This isn't too bad~!

The way Kaina's asking when you're available though… Hmm. A part of you's seriously tempted to just… Call her up and try to schedule another date as soon as possible. Mmh, well. It might be better to give Kaina some time to process her thoughts and feelings.

You remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time. It was confusing. Scary, even! You were so anxious! Ah, to be a blushing maiden again who doesn't know what she's really doing…

Kaina's probably super anxious right about now too. That kiss last night was a pretty big breakthrough. It was clumsy, awkward, and fumbling... But there were genuine feelings involved in that act. Feelings you've got to respect if you want to make this thing work.

And then there's the fact that Kaina's obviously been through a lot. That little slip-up she made while texting is more indicative than she might think it is. Her reaction when she saw her statue at the park was also telling. Your love's a girl with some serious baggage weighing down her pretty head.

There's a part of her that's so very sad. And it makes your heart break whenever you see that part of her.

It's not because you don't like the part of her that's sad! On the contrary! You like all of Kaina's parts, including the parts of her that get sad. Gosh, you think you might love her even more now that you've gotten to know her. Her gap moe just does terrible things to your heart. She's so terribly dorky and awkward…!

How can such a cute girl possibly exist? Ah, you love every aspect about your love…

… No, when you see her being a bit sad?

You want to destroy the cause of Kaina's sadness. To crush it underneath your high heels and shapely feet, trample it underfoot. Throw the cause of Kaina's sadness into an incinerator, bin the ashes, and shoot the wretched mess into the sun. No, out of the solar system!

All you want when you're with Kaina is to make her happy. To make her smile. That smile. That damnable, sweet smile that creeps across her face and makes her glow, the adorable smile she has when she's not even aware she's blissfully happy…

Hngh! You'd kill to see her smile like that again...

… Come to think of it, it's getting a bit confusing calling each of the Magical Girls in this city your 'love'. You kind of want to try coming up with a unique thing for Kaina too, now that you've gotten to know her a bit better. Darling, maybe? Hee~! Honey? Kaina's sweet like honey... Hmm…

Food for thought.

Speaking of food, Lupe comes through the door with a full breakfast platter. Your wolf-girl maid bows as she sets down a tray right in your lap. Breakfast in bed! Yay~!

"Good morning mistress. I hope you slept well."

"Morning Lupe!" You cheer, grabbing a fork and spoon so you can dig into your nice English breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and beans. Mmh!

"Lady Shikinami just left," Lupe says.

"Yeah, I got her texts," you reply. Gosh, now you wish you'd woken up earlier to see your love off. But you were having such a wonderful dream, and Kaina was right there beside you, keeping you safe...

Yeah, you slept like a complete baby. You just couldn't help yourself!

"Will lady Shikinami be staying over again, mistress?" Lupe asks.

"Mmh, probably? It's more convenient for her to stay at my place… Ooh, I should ask her to move in with me later. Not right now, of course. Maybe after our fourth date?" You chatter away.

"That sounds like a grand idea, mistress." Oh, there's a look in Lupe's eyes. You don't like that look. It's all boring and serious. That means it's a topic that's going to be boring and serious. Ick.

"Alright, Lupe, lay it on me; what's wrong?" You sigh.

"Per your instructions, a squad of your maids has scoured the city for magical threats."

"And they found…?"

"Terminus City presently does not have any serious magical threats," Lupe explains. "Low-level threats remain. Monster dens remain numerous in the city's poorer, less policed districts. Monthly Kaiju attacks are a regular occurance…"

"Every city bordering the Pacific gets a Kaiju attack every month though; they're like freakin' typhoons at this point. Basically natural weather patterns," you wave that last off.

"Indeed."

Wow, really? No serious magical threats at all? No major demons? No eldritch spawn camped out in the sewers? No Necrocultists? There aren't any other corrupted Magical Girls in the area? For a city this size?

"Wait, you said presently."

"That's correct," Lupe nods.

"So then… Oh. I get it. Every time something that might be serious pops up, it gets shut down really quickly."

"That is correct."

"… Infinity Princess?" You ask, not even bothering to ask which Magical Girl's responsible for Terminus City's continued safety. From supernatural threats at least.

"Infinity Princess," Lupe confirms.

So, there's a neverending torrent of low-level magical scum but nothing serious? This really isn't like how it was in the bad old days. The girls here have really been cleaning up shop.

Your love really is so cool. Constantly going around the city, nipping problems in the bud… How diligent. Such stamina! Ah~! She's really the best!

"Ironically, most of the magical threats these days come from the gangs and corporations," Lupe continues. "For the corporations, the danger comes from when monstrous test subjects and experiments break loose from containment cells in corporate laboratories."

"And for the gangs, it's when some beastie someone was dumb enough to capture breaks loose and kills all their dudes?" You sigh.

"Indeed, my mistress."

"And lemme guess, they go to all this trouble to capture these monsters because some rich geezer's heard the rumors about what injecting demon blood or snorting powdered Kaiju bones'll do to his libido, and he's willing to pay out the nose for that stuff?" You ask.

"… It's a bit more nuanced than that, mistress, but..."

Yeah, some things really never change, huh? Sheesh.

"Alright, so who're the major organizations who're causing all of this then?" You ask.

"Many smaller gangs and petty corporations throughout the city engage in this monster smuggling," Lupe explains. "They can be dealt with at your command. One squad of our maids should be enough to liquefy them. Judicious use of force can also be applied to turn them to your will if you so desire."

"And the larger gangs and corporations?"

"… The only gang of note that engages in large-scale monster smuggling is the gang known as the… The Jade Tigers," Lupe shivers. You watch as your cute maid bares her canines, her ears standing up on end. Someone's mad and scared. Hmm.

"Hey, isn't that the one poser gang I took you from originally?" You ask, eyes narrowing.

"… Yes," Lupe grits her teeth.

Those were the ones that'd have turned your cute Lupe into a snuff Virtusim, eh? Yeah, you think you might need to take care of that at some point.

So this cavalcade of clowns is also part of the illegal monster smuggling business? It might be time for you to prepare to visit their leadership. Or to do some more research into the criminal side of the city. Something tells you this is just the tip of a particularly large iceberg. That's how it always is in Terminus City. Plot after plot, leading into more plots. Everyone wants to be Machiavelli.

They all end up looking more like the damn Barnum & Bailey circus. Just a shitshow of clowns constantly getting in each other's way.

"Recently, the Jade Tigers have been stepping up their monster smuggling operations. They are attempting to capture larger, more powerful monsters. Their supply lists are telling in this regard," Lupe says.

"Tranquilizers, stun guns, and neural inhibitors?"

"Indeed."

"… Alright, file that away for later. What do things look like on the corporate side?"

"Mendesdyn Security is the primary contractor assigned to capture monsters and other supernatural creatures for study by the city's corporations," Lupe says. "Their operations are above-board, but one of our maids caught one of their junior executives speaking to a member of the Jade Tigers."

"So? Corpos and gangs basically go hand-in-hand. You know it, I know it, the whole city knows that some of the gangs who run around are basically deniable operatives for the corporations," you shrug.

"A significant amount of funds was also exchanged between the two, along with three unmarked vans containing monsters and monster reagents," Lupe explains.

"Mendesdyn Security's dealing in the monster smuggling trade on the side?" Your eyes narrow.

"It would appear so."

"Could just be the one junior executive who got greedy…" You rub your chin thoughtfully.

"In recent years, Mendesdyn Security's containment protocols have also had a habit of failing more frequently. The number of escaped monster incidents has increased whenever they have been involved."

Okay, now you're starting to smell a rat.

"You got sources for all that?"

"Loose lips from some of Mendesdyn's security guards and warehouse employees and statistical analysis from public sources of information," Lupe replies. "... And a bit of corporate espionage. A squad stole a few data drives."

This better not be some kind of conspiracy. Ugh, this city and its plots. All you want to do is lie in bed and cuddle your loves; you don't want to have to deal with these meat sacks and how stupid they get over dumb things like money, and fame, and 'power'...

… You miss Kaina…

Uuu~! It's so unfair! You wanted to have more cuddling time! All your cuddle energy's been depleted now… How can you hope to get through your day without your love by your side?

You let yourself sniffle and mope for a brief moment.

Then you sigh, a steely glint appearing in your eyes.

Well. It's time for Alice to put on her serious face and do serious things. Things you don't actually want to have to do. No rest for a sexy villainess like yourself, eh?

Time to get back to work. You've got a lot of planning to do if you want to be able to spend more time with your loves~!

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