DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
While Freya and Ottar were talking about the day's happenings, Tatsuo and the others finished getting cleaned up after their trip to the Dungeon. Immediately, Tatsuo and Alfonzo headed into the kitchen to get started on dinner. Meanwhile, the others took the opportunity to get to know their new Familia member.
During that time, Aislynn headed up to her bedroom, asking each member to come up one at a time to have their Falna updated.
About an hour and a half later, Tatsuo and Alfonzo finished dinner, and the others had become somewhat familiar with Haruhime. Then, they all sat down at the dinner table to eat. And just as Haruhime tried the food…
"*Purr!*"
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… she showed an expression of bliss and started purring like a satisfied fox. Then, as soon as she realized what she had just done, Haruhime's eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
"I think that was the first time someone had a reaction worse than Riveria," Tatsuo pointed out.
"I kinda feel bad not telling her about it beforehand," Momo said in a guilty tone. "She's so much more innocent than anyone else."
"That's kind of a weird thing to say about a former prostitute," Alfonzo pointed out in an awkward tone.
"It would be if she had ever actually done the deed," Aislynn said with a shrug. "But contrary to what she thinks, Haruhime is as pure as the driven snow."
"Crazy," Akatsuki muttered.
"Well, if her androphobia is as bad as we've heard, then it's completely understandable," James said with a shrug of his own. "And considering she just fainted from embarrassment, I'm leaning towards believing it."
The others nodded in agreement with James.
"Anyway, you all get back to eating," Aislynn said as she stood up. Then, while picking up Haruhime to take her to her room, Aislynn continued, "After you finish eating, Alfonzo and Tatsuo, come to my room to get your updates, too."
"Got it," Alfonzo replied as he dug back into his dinner.
"Understood," Tatsuo said while cutting a piece of meat on his plate.
With that, the others got back to eating as Aislynn left the dining room. However, just before she stepped out, Aislynn looked back and spoke one more time.
"Don't forget to pack up Haruhime's dinner," Aislynn said over her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be hungry when she wakes up… and gets over her embarrassment. Hehehe."
And with that, Aislynn truly left the dining room. At the same time, Tatsuo tapped his index finger on the tabletop. A moment later, two magic circles manifested around Aislynn's and Haruhime's unfinished dinners.
"Oh, impressive," Zelretch said as he leaned over to see what kind of effect the magic circles had. "You intend to keep them at a constant temperature so they can still eat as if the food had just been served."
"If I didn't do at least this much, Aislynn would throw a fit," Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "She would have blamed me for making her get up during the meal."
"I can definitely see that," Violet said while covering her smile with her left hand. "She enjoys teasing you quite a bit, doesn't she?"
"That's an understatement," Tatsuo groaned.
"Anyway, what's everyone doing tomorrow on our day off?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"I'll be braiding James' hair after morning training," Elicia said with a smile. "*Sigh* It's been a long time since I've done cornrows."
"I guess I'll be spending my afternoon getting my hair braided," James added with a smile. "What about you, Alfonzo?"
"I'm gonna work on that beat machine for T," Alfonzo replied.
"I wanna get to know Haruhime better," Violet said with a smile.
"So do I," Sakura said, smiling softly.
"Spend time with Tatsuo," Aletia said while looking at Tatsuo hopefully.
"I don't know how easy that's gonna be," Tatsuo replied while shaking his head.
"What have you got planned for tomorrow?" James asked curiously.
"*Sigh* I've got a long day ahead of me," Tatsuo replied in a tired tone. "First, I'm gonna go to the Hostess of Fertility to teach Mama Mia and May."
Reaching that point, Tatsuo turned to Momo.
"You can come along, too, Momo-chan," Tatsuo said with a smile. "I can teach you along with them."
"I understand," Momo replied with a nod. "I'll be ready when you are."
"After that, I'll come back here and head into the forge," Tatsuo said with a shrug. "I'm gonna make a weapon for Haruhime. I'm thinking of a magical focus that can also serve as a beat stick."
"She kinda looks like she would be into traditional Japanese dance," Elicia pointed out. "Why not make her a pair of fans with bladed edges?"
"Like Mai-Nee?" Tatsuo asked rhetorically as he considered the suggestion.
"I was thinking more like Kitana from Mortal Kombat," Elicia replied with a shrug. "But either works, I guess."
"Actually, I don't think that's a good idea," Zelretch said. "Based on the way Haruhime moves, it's clear she has no foundation in martial arts of any kind. So, I actually think Young Tatsuo's original idea would be best."
"A katana might work, too," Akatsuki said. "She should at least have some familiarity with the katana since she's from the Far East region."
"That's not a bad idea," Tatsuo said while glancing at James. "And as it just so happens, we have a master of the katana in our Familia."
"You want me to train her?" James asked, pointing at himself. "But if I do that, she'll probably hate me before lunch."
"Well, we'll see," Tatsuo said with a shrug. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Aislynn made one of the guys responsible for training her to help her get over her androphobia."
"*Sigh* Neither would I," James said in a tired tone. "Anyway, what else do you plan to do tomorrow?"
"I'm gonna work on music after I'm done in the forge," Tatsuo replied. "Well, if Aislynn doesn't make me play for her again, anyway."
Eventually, dinner ended, and most of the Familia went off to do what they liked to do to relax. Meanwhile, Alfonzo headed up to Aislynn's room to get his Falna updated while Tatsuo took Haruhime's meal to the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator-like magic item. Then, once Alfonzo came back downstairs, he took Aislynn's meal with him as he headed up to get his Falna updated.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
"Come in," Aislynn said from the other side of her bedroom door.
Without hesitation, Tatsuo, with a platter of food balanced on one hand, pushed the door open. When he did, he saw Aislynn sitting on the large bed against the center of the opposite wall.
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"Oh, and I even get room service?" Aislynn asked in a teasing tone. "What did I do to deserve such wonderful treatment?"
In response, Tatsuo rolled his eyes. Then, after stepping into the room, he closed the door behind him.
"You really did it, huh?" Tatsuo asked, not acknowledging the teasing. "I thought you were gonna extort Ishtar for money or property. Instead, you took the core of her plan to replace Freya."
"Well, there are two reasons for that, actually," Aislynn said with a shrug.
"And they are?" Tatsuo asked after approaching the bed and placing the tray on the nightstand.
"First, Ishtar doesn't actually have anything I want." Aislynn held up her right index finger. She then continued, raising the middle finger on the same hand. "And second, I don't like her. So, seeing her plans fall through brings me joy."
Tatsuo nodded in both understanding and agreement. Then, he reached down and started pulling his top over his head.
"But I thought you wanted to get Riveria-san into our Familia so we could add her to the [Dimensional Chat]," Tatsuo said, his voice slightly muffled by the clothing he was removing. "Don't tell me you changed your mind and want Haruhime-san now."
"Why do we only need to add one of them to the [Dimensional Chat]?" Aislynn asked, tilting her head cutely.
"Because the [Mission] only asks for one…" Tatsuo replied. But when he saw the look in Aislynn's eyes after he finished taking off his shirt, he felt the corner of his lips twitch. "So, that's what it is? You want me to invite everyone you pull into the Familia into the [Dimensional Chat], huh?"
"Well, you certainly have enough Coins for it, don't you?" Aislynn asked, tilting her head to the other side. "Besides, what would you even spend all those Coins on, anyway?"
"Is that really the point?" Tatsuo asked as he climbed onto the bed. Then, after lying face-down, he continued, "What I do with MY Coins is for ME to decide."
"You're going to be my mate in the future," Aislynn replied with a smile as she climbed onto the bed and straddled Tatsuo's lower back. "So, that means what's yours is mine."
"Then that means what's yours is mine, too," Tatsuo said with a smile of his own.
"Why would you think that?" Aislynn asked while pricking her finger with a golden needle. "Of course, what's mine is mine, too. Why would you think otherwise?"
Hearing that, Tatsuo turned his head and looked at Aislynn from over his shoulder with pure disbelief. When Aislynn saw Tatsuo's expression, she laughed heartily as she dripped a drop of blood onto the Aislynn Familia emblem on his back.
Yet, Tatsuo noticed that Aislynn did not retract her statement, making him frown.
"All right, let's get this taken care of," Aislynn said as the Falna on Tatsuo's back lit up.
Then, without giving Tatsuo a chance to argue, she began manipulating his Falna, updating his Attributes with practiced ease.
Not long afterward, the update was finished. Then, Aislynn picked up a piece of parchment and pressed it onto Tatsuo's back, transcribing his new Status onto it.
"All right, we're all done," Aislynn said as she climbed off Tatsuo's back. Then, she patted his butt as she continued, "Come on, let's go downstairs and discuss the updates. Oh, and it looks like you won't be exploring alone next week."
"I actually shouldn't have been exploring alone this week," Tatsuo said, giving Aislynn the side-eye. "I don't know how you convinced everyone that Sakura-chan should stay on the Seventh Floor even though she had an Attribute over 400 last time."
"Actually, I had nothing to do with that," Aislynn replied, spreading her arms helplessly. "Sakura actually thought the others would progress faster if she stayed to help on the upper floors."
"Well, I guess she's not wrong," Tatsuo muttered. "Still, fighting on those floors alone is no joke."
"Aww, poor baby," Aislynn said, reaching out to pat Tatsuo's head.
Tatsuo slapped away Aislynn's hand before she could touch his head. Then, he hopped off the bed and put his top back on.
"Anyway, let's go," Tatsuo said, shaking his head. "We need to go over the updates. I bet everyone wants to see Haruhime's Status, too."
"Unfortunately, she isn't awake yet," Aislynn said after taking a moment to sense everything in the villa. "So, we'll probably have to wait until tomorrow."
"You haven't checked her Falna yet?" Tatsuo asked as he held out a hand to help Aislynn off the bed.
"No, not yet," Aislynn replied, taking Tatsuo's hand with a smile. "After converting her to my Familia, I quickly ushered her out of the Entertainment District. Then, after we got back to the Dragon's Nest, I spent the time until you all returned comforting her."
"*Sigh* I guess that was more important than checking her stats," Tatsuo said. Then, he started walking toward the bedroom door. "Anyway, everyone is waiting. Let's get going."
"Yes, let's," Aislynn said with a smile as she followed Tatsuo to the door.
Before long, Tatsuo and Aislynn joined the others in the villa's main hall. When they did, everyone looked excited.
"All right, let's go!" James cheered, waving around his Status sheet. "Has anyone looked at their update yet?"
"If anyone has, it's definitely you," Akatsuki replied, rolling her eyes. "Otherwise, why would you be so excited?"
To everyone's surprise, James actually turned away from the accusation with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face.
"Seriously?" Akatsuki asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Nah~," James replied, his expression turning into a teasing smile. "I just wanted to see the looks on your faces."
*Bang!*
"Ahh! shit!" James howled after receiving a kick in the shin from Akatsuki.
"*Sigh* Why don't you two just fuck already?" Alfonzo asked in an exasperated tone. "I mean, seriously. The sexual tension between the two of you is so thick you could cut it with a fucking knife."
Immediately, Akatsuki blushed scarlet and shot Alfonzo a glare. She was not the only one to blush, though, as Sakura, Violet, and especially Momo blushed as well. At the same time, Tatsuo started laughing so hard that he almost fell to the floor, while Zelretch, Elicia, and Aislynn also laughed. Even Aletia cracked a smile at the crude joke.
James, on the other hand, did not show much reaction to Alfonzo's teasing. Instead, he furrowed his brows slightly while stroking his chin in contemplation.
"You know, that sounds really familiar for some reason," James muttered. "I feel like I've heard it a lot before, but it was never directed at me. Mm… Why can't I think of where I heard it?"
James' reaction left everyone dumbfounded. Well, everyone other than Aislynn. In fact, Aislynn knew exactly where James' feeling was coming from. It came from the members of his first [Peerage], as his first [Knight], Cú Chulainn, often said the same thing to his other [Knight], Dante, and his [Pawn], Lady.
However, before anyone could get to the bottom of James' ongoing train of thought, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs drew everyone's attention. And just as they expected, Haruhime, with her face glowing bright red, was coming down the stairs with timid steps.
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"Oh, good." Tatsuo said with a smile. "The whole Familia is here for this. Just as it should be."