"…"

"…"

Artorian and Liddy sat across each other in one of the training arenas, the latter staring intently at the former with a harsh stare. A big red mark was on her forehead, evidence at the fact she's received hits several times over a short period of time.

Artorian on the other hand appeared perfectly fine, his face calm and confident as he stared down his fellow Slayer. "Last one of the evening Liddy, see if you can prove you're adapting correctly."

"I'll show you exactly what I can do." Liddy said, both her and Artorian raising their right hands up and closing them into fists. "I'm going to win this time."

"We'll see…" Artorian grinned. "Ready? One, two, three… GO!" Both then brought their hands down to right in between them, Liddy opening her hand completely as they leveled their limbs out.

'No!' Liddy's eyes widened in surprise as she saw Artorian's hand, seeing his index and middle finger out in the shape of scissors. She moved as quick as she could to try and grab the helmet that was placed between them, but was bumped on the head by a mallet just short of putting it on.

"Whoops, looks like I win again." The boy would laugh, spinning the mallet's handle in his grip while Liddy shook in annoyance, the helmet still in her grasp. "You've got the reaction speed, but you need to match your body's speed to it. A good start would be trying to clear up your mind."

"How can I manage that when your idea of teaching me to harness the strength I've gotten is… is a kid's game?" Liddy asked, putting the helmet down.

"A simple game is a great starter to learning control. It limits everything to a single point of focus, something you clearly need if the Trenta fight was anything to go by." He answered. "You already had good strength and senses, but your body wasn't able to keep up with them. This lets me get a gauge on how much you need work on."

"Proper sparring would be better."

"True, but I wanted to save that for later. Maybe tomorrow during combat training we can give it a swing."

"We could've done it today but you insisted on this." Liddy argued, crossing her arms under her chest as she looked away. "Teaching me to use the powers I received from the Abyss infecting me with a game, it's utterly humiliating."

"Hey, this is how I started and I'm stuck with it forever." Artorian stated. "Believe me, you'll get more than your workout in when we get serious. But with it removed you still need time to adapt to your new… well, you." He would avoid being exact in his speech, however clearly referencing her increase in height. It was expected to be small, given the usual trend a female Vessel had in the past.

The increase was more than expected however, not unreasonable but four inches would be noticeable as her clothes were now a size too small. Luckily with Charlotte on call, getting the replacements to both her uniform and variable suit was easily swept under the rug.

"You say that, but have us change into our variable suits to amplify our power." Liddy countered.

"Look I'm trying to teach you as fast as I can in a method I had to come up with by myself, not exactly like I had anyone to teach me personally. And besides, we can't go into to intense training just yet, Claire's already riding my ass about stealing you from class for the past two days for our history lessons."

Artorian of course was referring to him having to bring Liddy up to full speed on the history of Lords and required information she would need. Whether she has the Abyss anymore or not, she is officially recognized as his Vessel, which meant she had to know how to properly refer to Lords and understand their culture to prevent… unsavory situations.

"We'll get around to a more professional training soon, I'd wager tomorrow or the day after I'll have a good enough grasp on how much the Abyss enhanced you. Then w can kick it up a notch."

"I understand, it's just still humiliating." Liddy admitted, rubbing her forehead in remembrance of the past two hours. "Either you got me or I wasn't quick enough to get you. I'm a trained Slayer who has over a dozen missions under my belt, I thought I'd be able to keep things even at the least."

"My reflexes are at their sharpest, unless you had a massive speed advantage over me like Claire does you'll have to do a lot in order to break my guard."

"Hello Artorian! Hi Liddy!" Both Slayers turned to see Mei Mei walking out onto the field, holding two bottles of water for the two. "Charlotte told me you were both out here training, so I thought I'd bring some refreshments!" She'd then blink as she saw them sitting across from each other, tilting her head in confusion. "Did I come late?"

"Technically, but not in the way you think." Artorian answered. "There wasn't any intense training." Artorian answered, thanking the cyber-cat maid when she handed him one of the bottles. "Just a little test to see how the Abyss changed Liddy in a safe and contained way."

"With a mallet and helmet?" Mei Mei questioned, giving Liddy her bottle.

"Apparently Yamato has their own unique twist to Rock, Paper, Scissors." Liddy would explain, taking a sip of the water before sighing.

"Oh, you were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors? That sounds fun!"

"Well, it isn't quite just that. See, back home we call it Janken, and yeah it's basically the same as Rock, Paper, Scissors with one small change." He then brought one of his hands down to pat the helmet, chuckling to himself in amusement. "After a round, you have to be quick to either pick up the mallet or helmet. If you won, your goal is to tap the head of the loser before they can get the helmet on. If you get them, you win. If they get the helmet on first, then it ends as a draw."

"Oh wow, that sounds even better!" Mei Mei cheered, getting down next to the two with her tail almost wagging. "Could I give it a try? It sounds really fun!"

"Um… are you sure?" Liddy spoke. "It's not as exciting as it sounds, and it starts to sting after a few times."

"There's nothing wrong with that, just more interesting to try harder." The maid would say, her eyes shinning as she looked to Artorian. "So can we?"

"Sure, why not?" Artorian shrugged. He'd then move the helmet and mallet from between him and Liddy to the middle of him and Mei Mei. "Simple rules; Rock, Paper or Scissors. The moment the winner is found out you go right for the mallet or helmet. And sit just like me, crisscross. Got it?"

"Ya-huh." Mei Mei nodded, sitting down as informed in front of Artorian. Her smile never went away, the cyber-cat maid fidgeting in excitement.

"Okay, ready?" Artorian would ask, raising his hand up, followed shortly by Mei Mei.

"Yep!"

"Alright then. One, two, three… GO!"

Bringing their hands down, it was revealed that Artorian had thrown scissors while Mei Mei had thrown Rock. Seeing the position Artorian would go to grab the helmet, moving with fluid motions.

*POMP*

To both Artorian and Liddy's shock, Mei Mei had moved even faster and bopped him on the head with the mallet, a bright smile on her face as she'd raise both her hands up.

"Yay, I won!"

'I…I didn't even register her movements…' Artorian thought, looking at the ground in disbelief. Janken had been his earliest method of reaction training; it was how he was able to respond to attacks that would've been otherwise too fast for him to follow. Seeing the posture of the person before an action was vital in predicting their move, and he didn't see the slightest second of preparation for Mei Mei.

Meanwhile, Liddy was unable to process how the maid had easily sped past Artorian's movements. Granted he wasn't the fastest, far from it Liddy was even faster than him. But this was a situation he was familiar with, even when she had won the first half; he was able to react just in time to get the helmet against her. Not to mention the fact the Slayers were in their variable suits, for Mei Mei to keep up required an inhuman amount of speed.

"W-well, quite the good burst there Mei Mei." Artorian stuttered. "I wasn't expecting that from you. But let's see you do that twice now that I got a read on your speed."

"Another round? Fun!" The maid would cheer, placing the mallet back between them as they got ready once more.

"One, two, three… GO!"

*POMP*

"Yay, I won again!"

"Best five out of nine!"

*POMP*

"I did it!"

"Beginners luck! Round six!"

*POMP*

"Wow, I must be really good at this game!"

"We'll see about that, another go!"

*POMP*

*POMP*

*POMP*

*POMP*

*POMP*

"I can't believe it." Artorian muttered to himself, looking down as a red mark was present on his forehead. "Eleven rounds, I lost eleven straight rounds. I was literally beaten at my own game."

"This was a lot of fun Artorian, Janken's a great game!" Mei Mei would smile brightly, placing the mallet back down between them as she did.

"Mei Mei… that was… I can't even…" Liddy meanwhile stared in shock at the sight of Artorian's defeat. One felt like pure luck, two was a stretch, but for the maid to win eleven times against the Abysswalker was an undeniable display of talent. She herself could hardly keep up, an active Slayer, but Mei Mei completely trounced Artorian's flawless record.

"Incredible!" Artorian would suddenly shout out, catching Liddy off guard as he reached and grabbed Mei Mei, lifting her up and placing her on his shoulder as he grinned brightly. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Janken champion! The cyber-cat maid Mei Mei!"

"Yay, I've never been a champion before!" The maid would cheer along, both pumping a fist up with excitement on their faces.

"You're… okay with that?" Liddy slowly asked, noting the uncharacteristic amount of enthusiasm Artorian had despite having been defeated so thoroughly in a competition.

"I mean it is just a game." Artorian responded, turning to Liddy and placing his spare hand on his waist. "Sure, it was my early stage of training, but Janken's a common game all the same. I lose, then the person across me was just better. It's no different than my fight with Claire; I lost fair and square, Mei Mei won and I lost. End of story."

"Oh, I just kind of thought… with how you are I was expecting… you know what never mind."

"Do I actually come off as that petty?" Artorian asked, recalling Matthew's own claim on his pettiness. "You know what, whatever. I don't have much time left anymore as it is." Artorian would say as he put Mei Mei back down on her feet, looking to one of his energy rings to see the time. "A little later than I was hoping, but this shouldn't be a problem."

"Do you have something planned?" Mei Mei asked.

"Yeah, got someone to meet with for dinner." He answered, kicking his sword up from the ground and catching it, turning back to Liddy as the Slayer stood up. "Sorry if the first day of training was disappointing, didn't want to push too much on you considering you're still new to this whole Lord thing."

"I appreciate the concern, but you don't need to worry about me." Liddy would say, looking over to the hybrid. "I'll adapt to this quickly, I just need to get as strong as possible quickly. This boost in power won't matter if I can't harness it."

"Remember, there's still physical changes that could happen to you. Your height was just the start, I don't expect anything drastic but I'd rather not take the risk." Artorian responded. "We'll take it serious tomorrow, but keep me updated on anything that may come up in the next two weeks."

"Understood."

"I'm serious, anything and everything. Change in eating habits, subtle muscle alterations, altered pigments in skin, hair or eyes, further development in breasts and ass, increase in libido."

"Y-You throw in jokes now!?" Liddy would shout, her cheeks dusted red at his last two comments.

"Well of course…" He'd chuckle, grinning to himself in view of Liddy before turning and cringing to himself. "…Jokes are fun."

'Room 282, this is the place.' Artorian thought, knocking on the door. He'd only wait out of the room for a few seconds before it was answered by a young woman in a doctor's uniform.

"Hello, is Miharu here?" Artorian would ask.

"Ah, you must be that boy Artorian she brought up." The woman spoke, nodding as she did. "Yes, Miharu's here. She just got back from her shift and is changing up for your little date."

"Oh, I'm a little early then. Sorry if this is a bit of an inconvenience."

"Oh no, it isn't like that. You're talking to medical staff, being early is much better than being late." The woman would laugh before turning to look in the room. "Oh Miharu! Your boyfriend is here to pick you up!"

"I'll be out in a second!"

Hearing the nurse respond, Artorian would take the opportunity to look in the two's room. For the most part it was similar to his own dorm room, albeit a little smaller in comparison. There were a few added decorations as well, but nothing much to be eye opening like he would expect.

"I'm sorry, but I'm actually going to need to get going." The woman at the door said, getting Artorian's attention. "My shift's starting soon and it looks to be a busy night."

"Oh, sorry." He would respond, moving out of the way to give her an opening.

"It's no trouble." She said, turning back to the door before she would walk out. "Be sure to enjoy yourself Miharu!" The woman would then close the door and walk off, leaving Artorian to stand by himself for another minute before Miharu walked out.

"Sorry if I took awhile, I wasn't expecting you to be so well on time." Miharu would admit, the nurse wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater over her shirt, giving the hybrid his first look of her without her usual uniform.

"A knight never keeps a fair lady waiting." Artorian responded, giving a teasing bow before holding his hand out to her. "So, shall we begin our magical night? One that starts with a rather average restaurant per the lady's request?"

"Fufu, such a gentleman." Miharu would laugh; placing her hand over his in a mock of the royal gesture he was playing on. "Well then, Sir Knight, I am yours for the night then."

"Such responsibility, I'll be sure to keep myself prepared for anything." The two would chuckle at their own little joke, heading out of the medical staff's apartment complex to head in towards Central.

"How's your injury holding up?" Miharu would ask as they walked, looking over to the Lord.

"Right as rain, arm's back to 100%... again." He would pause for a second, remembering the extent of damage his arms had taken over the course of the past month alone. "Bruises are still there, but they're fading pretty quickly. And the cut on my cheek didn't even leave a scar."

"I still feel wary on your supposed advanced healing, but I cannot deny you certainly recover more than the average person." The nurse would sigh, smiling up to him in relief. "Both physically and mentally; most people would likely take a few steps back after getting as many injuries as you have."

"Good thing I'm not most people then."

"You certainly aren't."

"Thanks."

.

.

.

"Heeeeey."

"Fufu."

"So Tabemono was the place you had in mind?" Miharu would say, both her and Artorian sitting down at a booth on the far side of the restaurant.

"Well I would have preferred to bring you to this nice Wenz restaurant, but you said to go with a more casual place." Artorian responded, placing his sword out of the way as they opened their menus. "And since we departed from the Zwei Islands a few days ago, this seemed like a good idea. Not a fan?"

"No, not at all. I've just never had Yamato food before, I have no idea what to get." The nurse would say, looking at the options to eat.

"Really? Well then I guess I'll just have to properly introduce you with some more authentic Yamato cuisine. I don't know about being the perfect cook, but I make some mean meals when I have the right recipe."

"Smooth opening to offer a second date."

"Thanks, I try."

The two would wait until their waiter came to take their order. Artorian went with a more simple meal, having noodles with fried rice and shrimp; while Miharu went with scallops and a side of rice. Idle chat was spoken between the two before their food came, the waiter making sure everything was correct before leaving.

Artorian would then pick up a set of chopsticks and put his hands together in appreciation for the meal. "Thank you for the meal." He'd say traditionally before flipping the chopsticks and taking a shrimp.

Miharu on the other hand appeared somewhat unfamiliar with chopsticks, fiddling with the two sticks as she tried to find the right grip. Seeing the nurse's trouble, Artorian would put his food down and hold his chopsticks in a more simple position, open to view.

"It's a little difficult at first, but it's honestly easier than you would expect." The Slayer would note, seeing the nurse slowly shift the chopsticks to match his grip before nodding.

"So… like this?" She would ask, holding the sticks loosely in the correct position.

"Yep, just like that. Now you just close them slowly, like so…" Artorian would then pick up the piece of shrimp he had earlier, demonstrating how to hold the food properly. She would follow shortly, picking up one of her scallops shakily. "There you go, all that's left is to eat and you're good."

The two would both bring their food up and take a bite, the Slayer watching with a satisfied smile as the nurse was able to take a bite out of her scallop. "Congratulations, you are officially a chopstick novice."

"A little more shaky than I'd like, but I'll admit it feels entertaining to eat like this." Miharu would giggle in response, looking up to the Slayer.

"I always think it does." He'd chuckle in return.

"…So, who was your roommate?" Artorian would ask after a minute of eating, sparking up a conversation.

"My, my, asking about another girl while on a date? How rude of you Artorian." Miharu would tease, getting a smirk from him.

"I've been caught, I'm nothing but a pure degenerate looking to get with as many women as possible." He'd joke, getting a laugh from Miharu. "So then, anything? You two seemed to get along really well."

"She's Kaede Zarca, an old friend of mine. We met back during middle school and went to university together." She'd explain, smiling fondly at the memories. "She's been my best friend since we met, we shared a lot of similar interests. And she inspired me to go into the medical field, helping me and even developing a passion for it as well."

"Sounds like a great friend." Artorian would say, getting a nod from the nurse.

"There isn't anyone I trust more than her, it's why I asked her to cover for me in taking care of Karen." Miharu would inform. "There's a few collogues that I feel are more than capable, but she's one of two that I feel I can trusts with her safety."

"If you trust her, then I feel confident that Karen will be treated just fine." Artorian would then pause, putting his food down as he looked to Miharu. "Speaking of Karen, I remember you saying something about her condition in the last checkup?"

"Oh yes, Karen's condition during therapy. She's been doing surprisingly well for someone her age dealing with Severance. The procedures are doing wonders, her recovery's better than initially expected. She may even be able to start therapy to walk again, although it may be a year or two before she can walk around for longer than an hour."

"You're kidding, she's doing that well!?" Artorian asked with excitement, a grateful grin on his face. "That's incredible, I never would've thought she was doing so well."

"It's certainly impressive, such a small girl has so much strength to her." Miharu would smile, seeing the happiness on the hybrid.

"She's a surprising fighter, it isn't every day you see someone like her have so much spirit."

"With someone like you watching over her, it's hardly surprising."

"Maybe, but I'd say my influence wasn't that great. I just look after her, she became the person she is by herself."

"You're too hard on yourself, Karen talks all the time about how you helped her. It's very sweet how much she admires you."

"Yeah, but you're the one helping her the most nowadays. In ways I never could." Artorian smiled, resting his cheek on his palm as he looked to the nurse. "Both helping her recover, but even keeping an eye out on others. This date alone really can't make up for that."

"I've had plenty of patients with requests of similar standards, but I feel yours is under different reasons." Miharu stated. "I don't know what you feel against Judal, but I trust your goals first and foremost are protecting Karen. Therefor I have no reason to doubt your intentions."

"Hehe, not every day people tell me they trust me like that. Or I have just a more laid back conversation like this." The Lord would comment, picking back up his chopsticks. "But that isn't here nor there, we've talked enough about me for this meal. I want to know more about the astonishing and beautiful Nurse Miharu Kashiwagi."

"Oh, I'm sure my story is hardly of anything interesting. Certainly nothing a Slayer who fights Savage would find entertaining."

"Nonsense, a woman of your talents has to have more to her than simply a little story of her meeting her best friend."

"Well, if you really want to know." Miharu would smile, finding his curiosity adorable. "I grew up in the capital of Liberia…"

"I must say, it's been awhile since we've been able to talk in person." Charlotte would say, sitting across a large man with a coffee in hand.

"Yes well, my situation makes things a little difficult to leave often." The man chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. The man appeared to be in his mid forties with ragged brown hair and eyes. There were scars all across his face and arm, all with varying degree of depth and size.

But the most drawing sight to the man was the loss of his limbs, both his legs gone from his knees down and the entirety of his left arm missing. And even despite that, he appeared to have an impressive physic similar to that of what would be seen on brawler Slayers currently. "You wouldn't believe how much Fiona hates me leaving the house without her."

"Even with all that power, she still gets worried someone might try something on you?" The doctor would chuckle.

"Well, a wheelchair bound veteran normally is suspected to be easy pickings." The man nodded. "Even with my special indicators on my wheelchair, I'm sure most people who were desperate would pray on a man such as I."

"Only most people aren't the legendary Dragon Slayer Ornstein, are they?" Charlotte countered. "Unlike them, you can shoot lightning out of your fingertips as naturally as breathing."

"That is true, although my lightning certainly doesn't have the same impact as it used to." Ornstein laughed, picking up his coffee as he continued to chuckle. "They always said I would notice getting older, but I always assumed they meant something else."

"Considering you have six kids, I can guess they were wrong?"

"Yeah, little runts just pop out sometimes I swear." Ornstein spoke before taking a sip of his drink, putting it down shortly after. "Speaking of, how's the biggest of the litter doing? Cause any scenes yet? Vow to demolish the Savage's entire species in defense of humanity? Finally ask out that cute brunette he's been around with for years?"

"None unfortunately, Matthew has been rather tame so far." Charlotte informed, getting Ornstein to snap his fingers in joking disappointment. "Although he did come close twice to preforming a few stunts; threatening Liddy and nearly attacking Artorian should he have not regained control coming to mind."

"Well… he's determined in his work." Ornstein said, sighing as he did. "Makes me wish I didn't lose my limbs when he was growing up."

"I could always make you new ones, it'd only take two weeks with my schedule."

"A little late, but I would've still said no." The Lord declined. "I lost, as simple as that. Replacing them doesn't do much, and I doubt it would've been the message he needed growing up either."

"He's still an excellent young man, reminds me of what you were like when we first met."

"Gods don't scare me like that. I'd hope he would be better given him growing up with Reitia." The man would sigh. "He's very back and forth, so I guess I can see that much anyways."

"And he's popular, if he doesn't have your moral compass he'd be able to help with repopulation in a heartbeat with a section of the Little Garden students."

"That's the Lord in him, Gods Fiona never shuts up about that."

"Can't blame her, I'm pretty sure a chunk of Artorias' Vessels were more than interested in you."

"You two made my life hell with those meetings, I swear it's like you wanted Fiona to get mad at me after every batch of Slayers was made. Although I'll admit… it was more fun when the two of you together were causing problems."

The two would share a silent smile, recalling Artorias fondly in their earlier days in Warslran. And as a sign of respect for their old comrade, they remained quiet while holding their drinks up, tapping them together at the base of the cups.

"I take it his cub causes a similar level of problems for everyone around him as well?"

"Surprisingly, he's the one getting caught in everyone else's stunts. Has Matthew told you about what happened his first week in Little Garden?"

"No, he hasn't." Ornstein smirked, leaning forward in eagerness. "I need to hear the juicy divine justice on Artorias' spawn."

The two would remain at the table for an hour, either talking of stories of the next generation or recalling old tales from their time in the pilot seats. A short but much needed reunion between the two after almost six years of near zero contact with each other.

"It was nice seeing you again Charlotte, I'm glad we were able to do this." Ornstein would say, pushing on his wheelchair's joystick to keep next to the short doctor.

"I am too, after seeing Souffle again I couldn't remember the last time we met." Charlotte stated, pulling out a lollipop from her pocket and plucking it in.

"That's what you used to break your habit?" Ornstein asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Hey, it isn't easy dropping habits for humans like it is for Lords. And it's a lot better carrying these than a lighter with me, so I see no problem with it." The doctor said, looking away with her eyes closed.

"Hehe, you certainly don't help argue against your childish appearance, that's for sure." The Dragon Slayer would then sigh, the two stopping at a crosswalk. "A shame you can't stay, I'm sure the runts would love to meet you."

"I would too, it isn't often I can see the next generation outside of work. Unfortunately duty calls and I have to get back to my lab as soon as possible." Charlotte explained. "Which means I can officially nap on the plane ride back to Little Garden."

"Just sleeping like a normal person works too you know." Ornstein chuckled. "Be careful out there Charlotte. I know you're usually in the lab safe and sound, but it is Artorias' kid we're talking about. His power's going to attract some dangerous competitors, those Hunters are going to be the least of his problems soon."

"Know something I don't?"

"Just… keep an eye on the news. Some of the Anti-Slayer organizations are being destroyed or merging, like someone's cleaning house and organizing what's left. They weren't a serious threat because of how small each one was, but a source of mine said something less than ideal."

"I see… you think one of them is behind it?"

"The Scorned wouldn't bother with regular humans, it has to be." Ornstein concluded. "Charlotte you know what one alone can do, if those two clash at any point it won't end well."

"Artorian's young, I'm afraid it won't be as bad as you suspect." The doctor responded, pulling her candy out as she looked back to the Lord. "If it is one, then we'll have to hope his teammates will be enough to back him up when they meet."

"I suppose so…" Ornstein sighed. "It'll mark a dark day for humans and Lords alike if his power is lost."

"He's too much like his father to allow that to happen."

"Yeah, well if only he was at least remotely cautious like his mother."

"Says the guy who lost both his legs and an arm fighting three dozen Savage and a-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Gods woman, you hit low."

"I worked with Artorias closely, I had to learn how to knock you Lords down a few pegs or the pride would replace all the air in the room."

"Ouch."

"Mmmhhhmmmm… this is good." Miharu would sigh with content. After dinner, the two would continue on with their date sight seeing the rest of the battleship's districts, lading them to East district and sit at one of the parks created to allow a feeling of nature for the passengers.

"It has a nice appeal to it, doesn't it?" Artorian would ask rhetorically, seeing the nurse relax. Shortly after reaching the park, the Lord saw a familiar stand that sold flavored shaved ice. A quick convincing later and the Lord were able to buy two cups for them to enjoy while sitting on a bench in the park.

"I still feel bad for making you pay for them, I agreed to dinner but you didn't have to pay on your own."

"It's proper responsibility." Artorian said, taking a bite of his own blackberry ice with a plastic spoon. "I asked you out, pressured you into it on owing you, and you said yes. So I should at the very least pay for anything we get while we're out."

"Maybe, but after working for so long I feel a bit of guilt for just accepting this. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

"Yeah, I get it. It feels weird having someone just treat you when you spend a couple years focusing on providing for yourself." Artorian shrugged. "I hate being given stuff on most circumstances, but I also know sometimes being given something can be nice."

"The VIP tickets for Sakura's concert?"

"Yeah, it was nice knowing Karen would have plenty of friendly faces around her." Th hybrid smiled, his own shoulders relaxing as he looked out to the horizon, seeing the sun slowly go down towards the edge of his vision. "And she liked it too, she enjoyed getting to experience her first concert with you, Emile and Reitia; hell I bet she liked having the student council there, but I doubt she'll admit it."

"She does seem to be quite the jealous type." Miharu would giggle. "You certainly push her limits with the amount of women you surround yourself with. How many now can you say you've gotten to know since you got to Little Garden?"

"I don't know, four?"

"That's a lie and you know it."

"Ah-ah, not entirely." Artorian would tsk, wagging his finger with a grin. "True, I've met multiple women, but you asked how many have I gotten to know. So far I've gotten to know you, Sakura, Liddy and a tiny bit on Mei Mei. I know very little on Claire, Erica and Reitia, even less on the rest of my classmates. So while I know them, I don't "know" them."

"There's a difference for you?"

"There's a massive difference." Artorian would chuckle, taking another bite out of his ice. "I may come off as a casanova and flirt, and I am, but I do have a level of standards I keep myself to. It'd be too easy for me to act as… let's say, a generic anime protagonist for a sexy anime. I could be a complete klutz and act as a real stand up guy who fights for all the right reasons, or I could be a total pervert who has a certain naïve charm to him that would make him easier to be interested in. Or even, Gods forbid, an edge lord to be mysterious."

"But I'm none, I'm my own person and I act as I wish to. So while I'm more than interested in the female body, I keep myself to the standard of getting to know the women in my life. I have a decent understanding on Sakura and Liddy, less on the latter but I know more than the others around me. And now thanks to today, I know you better as well."

"You're a rather interesting boy, to say the least." Miharu smiled. "There's more than a few men who would use a situation of being in a profession where many die young to enjoy themselves. Many other academies have those situations, with even countries like Rasiya encouraging it in order to stabilize the population size."

"Well, can't just walk in to visit Karen with a new girl every week can I?" Artorian asked with a grin, rubbing the back of his head. "What kind of message would I send her?"

"Yes, it would look bad." The nurse would say, looking down to her ice in silence, appearing deep in thought.

"Miharu? Something wrong?" Artorian would ask, noticing the nurse's stare. "Did I… say the wrong thing? Maybe I could've worded my view on relationships in a better way, thinking on it now I probably sounded like a creep."

"No, it isn't that, although you could use work on the explanation still." Miharu said. "No, it's more thinking back on the past couple weeks. You visited Karen every single day, whether in the morning or at night you'd make sure to see her at last once."

"I mean… of course?" Artorian responded with a raised eyebrow, confused at the comment.

"Artorian, I have been in the medical field for a few years, as you know I took more than a few courses that had me working directly in state hospitals all over Liberia. And in all of them, none of my patients had someone like you. I've treated conditions like Severance to Schizophrenia, work accidents to car crashes, I've seen more than my fair share of people who had to be treated in a hospital for extended periods of time. But not one of them, not one, had someone who had someone visit every day."

"I've had many patients with family who may visit only once a week or only when they first could after they were applied in. Some even were never visited and were left with a phone call. I realize this seems small in comparison to some of the conditions they would have, but you would be surprised how much something as small as a visit could help someone."

"Karen talks about you all the time, how you always look out for her and visited her every single day when you were in Yamato." As she spoke, the nurse would turn her gaze back to the Lord, her eyes reflecting a professional who's seen the worst in her profession. "Artorian, you could have easily just had her treated, or even focus on yourself, I know for certain treating her for years would have destroyed whatever finances you had. I just want to know… why have you gone so far to protect her future for ten years?"

Hearing her question, it was Artorian's turn to look down to his ice, picking up his spoon to poke at the slowly melting treat as he contemplated on how to answer. It was easy for him to think on it, but the weight of the answer alone had him pause on giving it out. Her question hit right into who he was, reasoning the spans farther than even his drive to stay alive.

It would be no different than asking someone what the meaning of life was. It defined him, more importantly it created the person who he was. It was his everything; the spark that lit the flame of his soul and drove him to be whatever was needed of him.

"Not here…" He'd say silently, slowly looking up and to the side as he did.

"I'm sorry if I… no I shouldn't have asked in any capacity." Miharu responded, looking away in guilt. "It was inappropriate of me to ask when we barely know each other, simply knowing each other for a few weeks is hardly reasonable in order to reveal something so personal."

"No, not as in not now. I mean just not here." Artorian would say, standing up and grabbing his sword that he placed next to the bench. "I'd rather take this somewhere else, outside of the ears of the public."

"Are you sure?" Miharu asked, appearing concerned at the sight of Artorian's eyes staring distant into the sky. "You don't have to say anything, it was a question I shouldn't had even asked."

"No, it's only fair." He'd say, looking back to her with a smile. "You're putting your own safety on the line for Karen, it's only fair I tell you why I do this." He'd then hold his hand out to her, offering to help her up. "I'll warn you though, you'll probably look at me in a different light, probably with a mocking laugh and pointing at every sight."

"You think so little of me." Miharu responded, accepting his hand and standing up with his assistance.

(A/N): And another chapter completed. Not going to entirely lie, I'm a bit of a mixed bag on this chapter. Early on went well but I struggled a bit with the date, although I tried to make it as natural as possible, seeing as Miharu is possibly the most normal person in Hundred so there wouldn't be the same level of information as bing with characters like Emilia, Sakura or Claire that I could do. I also tried to avoid info dumping as much as possible, not wanting to have this filler chapter be a set up for more future events.

Although ironically that's led to the filler chapter planned for the layover into the next chapter to be filler chapters. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but as stated before I didn't want another info dump and felt what comes next would be better presented as showing rather than Artorian just explaining it, so it'll need more space than what I feel would be appropriate to add into this chapter. I'm also excited for it, as while I enjoy giving everyone more depth and development in this series, I really enjoy the dynamic I have for the hybrid and Karen. It's not anything ground breaking, but I love the way I write them, it's a personal enjoyment for me.

And of course I also had fun writing most of the interactions put in this chapter alone, which gets me excited as well for the future when i can go further in depth on other characters and bring more up. A perk of the canon series missing the mark on certain plot points means I have free reign to set them as I'd like, giving me more freedom to work unsolved problems or unimportant subplots and make them actually something relevant.

This note's gotten rather long, but I really wanted to get some of that out as I took a bit of a break writing this chapter and might take a bit of another one for the next. Not that I'm growing bored, on the contrary I've come up with a few more arcs in the layover of writing this chapter. But I just don't want to pump so many out it loses some of its enjoyment. As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you in the next one. Peace!