Tsukiuta Another Story

Chapter Three

Yumi: Hello everyone, here is Chapter three. Enjoy...

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"Milady," Shiki began, "Count Jiro has already been escorted out of the castle grounds, and His Majesty has assigned the elite royal guard unit, Quartet Night, to act as everyone's bodyguards. Please introduce yourselves, you four."

"Okay!~ My name is Kotobuki Reiji, and my magic is Terra, just like Haru-kun over there!~ Nice to meet everyone!~" The energetic brunette started off.

"Tone down the excitement, Reiji... I'm Mikaze Ai, the vice-captain of our unit. Reiji's the captain. My magic is Ventus, which allows me to control the wind. Nice to meet you." The bluenette spoke next, maintaining a neutral look.

There was silence for a long while, as Reiji, Ai and the blonde man, known to you as Camus, stared at the visibly grumpy silverette.

"What? My turn?" He sighed and clicked his tongue. "Kurosaki Ranmaru. My magic is Ignis." His short introduction, devoid of any politeness, caused you to facepalm and mutter insults under your breath.

Although they were just harmless ones like "Damn Grumpy Cat."

Camus introduced himself last, describing his magic, Glacies, to be the holy magic of Permafrost. Koi raised his hand and said, "You kinda sound like Haru-san!", causing Camus to raise an eyebrow, denying it as a coincidence (which it was. [Admin: definitely not-]).

"Moving on, Quartet Night will be split into two pairs to protect everyone from both kingdoms. Reiji and Ranmaru will be assigned to protect everyone from the Black Kingdom, while Camus and Ai will be in charge of protecting everyone from the White Kingdom." Shiki finished, as Shun piped up.

"What about the Princess and King?~" he asked. You smiled as Rikka replies, "Not to worry, Shun-sama. As (Y/n)-sama's aide, I have been well-trained in combat, and am capable of protecting Her Highness. The same goes for Shiki-san."

"That's right, Shun~ Plus, I have been taking self-defence classes with the castle trainer, so I can definitely hold my own if I need to fight. Don't underestimate me~" you winked, but yawned a little afterwards.

"Oh my, it sure has gotten late. We should probably retire for the night."

"Uh, Princess? Actually... It's already early morning-" Rikka cut in jokingly, and you deadpanned at him before chuckling.

"You know what I mean, Rikka. Anyway, goodnight everyone! Sleep well!~" You were met with a chorus of "goodnight" and "sleep well" as you excused yourself for the night.

*Timeskip to dawn*

Monday mornings were definitely the only time anyone would see you awake at the crack of dawn, practicing your swordsmanship with a wooden sword in the training hall. Today was no exception.

However, you weren't the only early riser in the palace today. Hajime opened the door to the training hall, surprised to see that you were already occupying it.

*Hajime's POV*

Honestly, I had expected the princess of Lilliya to be like every other princess I've met: spoiled, ignorant, and overbearing in general. They usually never treated our aides with respect, and only clung to us for our statuses as royals.

But Princess (Y/n) proved that not all princesses were annoying, all within the span of one day. She treated everyone as equals, and seemed to be knowledgeable in ruling a kingdom. And what's more, she is able to fight on her own, instead of hiding behind the guards. She holds an amazing strength that I've rarely seen. (Yuuna: *laugh* Basically he's admiring your not-girliness~)

"...Me."

"...Jime."

"Hajime-samaaa~"

*Your POV*

Oh, he finally snapped out of it. I had only noticed him when I decided to take a break, and he was just standing at the door, spacing out.

"Guess it was the '-sama' suffix~" I laughed, as he flushed, just a little.

"Sorry, I was spacing out. What is it?"

"Well, you're just spacing out over here. So I thought you wanted to practice too."

"Oh, right. Yes, I did." He replied, and I grinned.

"Perfect timing then!~ Will you spar with me then?~"

He looked surprised at my request, then gave me a close-eyed smile. "I don't see why not. But I won't be going easy on you."

I faked an offended look, then laughed. "Of course you are! I wouldn't have it any other way~"

*Narrator's POV*

The two of you assumed your fighting positions, but neither of you moved to attack, observing each other and looking for an opening to attack. The air in the hall was completely still, as if even Nature itself was waiting for someone to make the first move.

Until you did. With a quick lunge, you swiftly closed the distance between the two of you and performed a forward slicing cut, aiming for his head. Hajime's quick reflexes saved him from your strong hit, by parrying your wooden sword, and widening the distance again to get some space to attack. But you soon closed that distance again, swinging your blade towards his midsection. If he had not dodged in time, Hajime would definitely have been hit.

He had to admit, you were quite the formidable opponent, to be able to keep him on the defensive from the start. But he was equally capable of turning the tables. And turn the tables he did, going on the offensive, while you defended yourself and left no openings for him to attack.

Around five minutes passed, with neither of you managing to get a good hit in. The both of you were stubborn, after all. Getting the other party to throw in the towel would not be an easy task.

"I will admit, this is easily the toughest match I've had so far." you laughed. "I've sparred with Rikka, my trainer and sometimes with other guards, but the sparring sessions have never gone on for this long before~"

Hajime chuckled breathlessly. (Admin: Like bro that is waaaaaay hot. Like burning fires of hell hot.) "I agree. Shall we end this on a draw then?"

"Agreed. We'll continue this on another day then. Good fight~" You laughed, extending a hand to him for a handshake. He accepted the handshake, thus concluding the sparring session.

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Yuuna: That concludes Chapter 3!~ How did you like Quartet Night joining the cast?~ Let us know what you think!~

Yumi: The magic each member of Quartet Night possesses is the Latin word for the element they were seen with in their Force Live music video, by the way.

Twins: See you next time!