--

Hmm~!

A part of you wants to play the maiden to Kaina's knight! To cling to her, cry crocodile tears into her shoulder about how scared you were of those thugs.

But that'd be a lie. These idiots weren't scary in the slightest. Besides, how could you be scared of anything with Kaina by your side? How could you ever pretend to be terrified of anything when your love's right next to you, protecting you from all the ills of the world?

So you choose to watch instead, as the girl you love rounds on this burnable human garbage with quiet ferocity. She's like a lion in the savanna, sizing up a bunch of hapless antelope, padding towards her prey gracefully.

So cool~!

One of the thugs, the lead ape in charge, manages to push past his fight-or-flight reflex to choose fight. He reaches into his jacket with trembling cybernetic fingers and pulls a switchblade.

"B – Back off you bitch!" He stutters. "I ain't – I ain't afraid of you!"

Aw~! But he is though! Just look at how much his knees are quaking. Tch. This stupid machismo's the death of worthless punks like this the world over. Stupid muggles, ignoring their own instincts. Those are the same instincts that kept this schlub's ancestors alive, and now look how he's putting them to use. Gosh, what's this moron thinking to himself right now, really? "Oh, she's just a little girl, I outmass her three times over, I can still take her?"

What a ninny. Sure, Kaina might look waifish. She's tall and slender, like a gorgeous fairy. But the aura of death and rage roiling off of her slim form is unmistakable.

Sure enough, Kaina doesn't back down. That's your love for you~! She's not one to ever back down!

"You tried to grab Alice," Kaina says in a flat, dead tone of voice. "You laid your hands on her."

"Y – Yeah? So?" The thug blusters, all dumb bravado and bluster. The poor fool, as if it isn't patently obvious that he's still on the verge of shitting himself.

"Apologize," Kaina demands.

"Fuck you!" The gangster spits.

"Dude, Jackson, just fucking apologize, holy shit -" One of the thugs off to the side mutters. Clearly more intelligent than this waste of space preventing you from getting to your date.

"No, fuck this! She's just a girl, I ain't afraid of no - " The thug yells out, brandishing his knife menacingly.

Big mistake, it got Kaina to register him as a threat.

You don't even see Kaina move in to disarm him. One second she's there, the next she's in the thug's face. Kaina's slim hand comes up, wraps around the thug's cybernetic wrist and twists. Metal twists and groans, artificial tendons pop. The chromed-up gangster lets out a dumb squawk as his knife suddenly falls out of his limp, broken hand.

Then Kaina's other arm comes up. Your love delivers a perfect palm-strike to this gangster's face, crushing his nose flat with a sickening crunch. The muscled thug stumbles back, nose squished flat and bleeding, wrist crushed. He lets out the baying cry of a wounded animal, a gargled scream that's cut short when Kaina spins and kicks him.

Right into a nearby trash dumpster. And there the thug finally collapses, his body as bruised and battered as his ego, lying in the filth where he belongs.

It all happens so fast, you barely have time to blink.

"…" The thug's compatriots turn, as one, to look at the broken remains of their leader. Then they turn back to gaze at Kaina.

"Apologize," your love demands again, breaking the tension.

"We're sorry!" One gangster blurts out.

"Totally. We'll never – Never –" The other one stutters out.

"Mmh," Kaina murmurs. "Good. Now leave. Please."

"Yep, totally, holy shit let's get out of here."

It's actually pretty amazing how quickly these morons grab their leader and skedaddle. They practically break the sound barrier in their attempt to get away from your terrifying love. As they very well should~!

Hee~! She's so cool~!

Kaina turns back to you now, her gaze softening, her features becoming slightly more expressive. It's actually amazing how quickly she shifts from 'combat mode' to 'civilian mode.' It's surprising how jarring the change is as well, in Kaina's body language, in the way her face looks. One second she's got that cool, flinty look in her eyes and the next she's…

"… I'm sorry, Alice," Kaina murmurs, looking like her familiar shy, awkward self instead of the cool girl who just took a man apart with her bare hands.

You blink, a bit confused. "Sorry for what?"

Kaina squirms, fidgeting nervously. "… That you had to see something like… That. I shouldn't have… I understand that combat can be..."

Aw~! Your kind, tender-hearted love. She's worried she just revealed a bad side of herself to you, isn't she? She's worried you'll start to see her differently after watching her eviscerate a man with her bare hands, isn't she? She's worried you'll be scared of her. Frightened, maybe.

As if you'd ever be scared of your love! You're scared for your love, not ever of your love!

"Why are you apologizing for that?!" You gush now, reaching down to grab ahold of Kaina's hands. "You were so cool! The way you took that guy apart? The way you stood up to him for me? That's also a part of you I like, Kaina! You were like one of those action stars from the holovids!"

Your love's ears go red. A precious, embarrassed flush tinges her porcelain cheeks. "… I was?"

She really was!

"Yeah! I like all of your parts, remember? I like how cute you are, but I like how cool you are too! And that part of you you just showed off was really cool! Honestly, it was enough that I was seriously tempted to play things up so I could see more of that cool, intense side of you~!" You giggle.

"… Play things up?"

"Something like… Cling to you, cry into your shoulder, pretend that the big brutes actually scared me?" You shrug.

"Ah," Kaina replies, something flickering in her eyes. "Well. I'm glad that you didn't, Alice."

"Why's that?"

"Because you shouldn't ever feel like you need to manipulate me into protecting you. I'd always protect you anyways," Kaina replies sincerely. "Always. I'd… I would always protect you. No matter what."

Oh.

"… Oh," you feel your own face reddening now.

… This girl really does trust you, doesn't she? This level of trust is actually… It's pretty profound, isn't it? It's beyond sincere, isn't it?

It's actually a bit terrifying. Terminus City's most powerful Magical Girl has willingly laid her fragile heart in your hands. It's everything you've ever wanted, but at the same time…

Ugh! What even is this that you're feeling right now? This quiver in your tummy, this sudden chill that's crawled up your spine. Is this shame?! Gosh, are you feeling a bit ashamed of yourself for wanting to manipulate Kaina? You shouldn't be feeling this way! Shame is something you swore you'd leave behind forever!

Except when it comes to the girl you love, apparently.

Because she's put her faith in you to be a good partner. And suddenly it's dawning on you just how heavy that responsibility is now, because it's pretty obvious Kaina doesn't give that kind of blind faith out lightly. One wrong move and you could break her heart into a million pieces. And sure, a few months ago you'd have been more okay with that. Breaking things and mending them's kind of your jam. Beautiful things can be more beautiful when they've been brought to the pits of despair. But now?

The thought of purposefully breaking Kaina's heart twinges at your mind in a bad way for some reason…

"… Come on," you find yourself stammering now, your own thoughts awhirl. "We'd better head off to our date now that that excitement's over with, yeah?"

"… Mmh," Kaina nods.

Ugh, you can think about all these serious thoughts later. Your date awaits. Hopefully, that's the end of the drama tonight. You just want to have a simple, fun-filled outing with your love tonight. With no more silly, serious thoughts that you'll have to process later!

That's not too much to ask for, right?

--

It's actually a bit amazing you were able to find an arcade this vintage in Terminus City! Just look at all the old games this place has! Ah~! The dim neon lights, the beeping of all the cabinets, the chatter of the arcade-goers…

It's like you've stepped back into your childhood~!

"Uwah…" You hear Kaina let out an awed breath as the two of you stride into the Eastview Arcade.

You giggle. You can't help yourself, really, the expression your love's got on her face is just too cute. It's like she's a child who's just been let loose in a candy store, she's just staring at everything…

… Wait…

"Kaina, is this your first time in an arcade?" You ask.

"… Nnh," Kaina shakes her head. "No, I've been before. But it's been a while. I'm surprised this place is still open. Not many places like this still open in Terminus City."

Yeah, that tracks. Amusement arcades were largely going the way of the dodo in the 21st century. In the 22nd century? It's only nostalgia that's really keeping places like this open. Nostalgia and the fact that places like this offer other services as well. Like the bar and restaurant off to the side. There's even a bowling alley in another wing of this building, a laser tag area in another wing... It's not really an arcade, it's more like an entertainment metroplex!

It promises an entire evening's worth of fun~!

--

Number of times Alice has lied to Kaina - 0.