Love You

Chapter 26

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VOLUME 1

Season 1, Episode 6

Episode 6:

"I-I-I-"

Things were looking really bad.

"That is, I can explain-"

Mikoto"s fury was ice cold. So much so that Shun could see, rather than feel, the shards of ice forming around her.

The only other time this had happened was when those d.a.m.ned p.o.r.nography magazines had been found in the house.
s.h.i.t.

Shun realized that he was in deep, deep trouble.

Mikoto shifted her piercing gaze from her quaking cousin to the pink - or in this case, blonde - elephant in the room, watching the girl devour the food off the table at the speed of light.

It seemed as though the command need only be given once. Rosalie could then consciously activate said "skill" or "command" by herself, without awaiting another input from Shun.

Great! That was just great!

She really seemed to enjoy her newfound "eating" skill too, attacking the food on the table with gusto, as her puffy cheeks glowed in satisfaction.

Even with a dabble of curry running down her chin she looked every inch the hero that she was. Shun couldn"t help but heave a sigh at the sight.

Rosalie really was gorgeous.

–

"Is this supposed to be some sort of cosplay?"

Shun decided that it would be best, for now, to just go with the flow.

"Y-Yeah, haven"t you heard, Miko-nee? These things are really popular amongst westerners too, and -"

Chancing a glance at Mikoto, Shun faltered, and eventually gave up. The anger seeping from her pores were no joke.

The silence between seemed to stretch on for an eternity before the fateful question, "Who is she?"

Shun stared at Mikoto in silence.

Her eyes welling with tears, Mikoto returned Shun"s stare.

d.a.m.nit!

The situation was exactly the same as that time when those p.o.r.nographic magazines were found. Shun would really have liked to laugh at the similarity of the situations, if only the pressure weren"t so suffocating this time around.

Also, he like a few pictures of Rosalie stuffing her mouth.

What, you don"t get a warrior princess at your dinner table ever so often, do you?

The whole thing was really such a waste.

As Mikoto shifted to stare at the girl devouring her cooking like a ravenous wolf, Rosalie placed her empty bowl and spoon reverently on the table, and for the first time since the entire thing begun, lifted her beautiful blue eyes to stare at Mikoto.

Being on the receiving end of Rosalie"s beautiful gaze, Mikoto too seemed to soften, slight though it was. Then, grudgingly, she stood up and went to refill Rosalie"s bowl with rice.

The pressure seemed to dissipate almost immediately. Heaving a sigh of relief, Shun picked up his spoon to continue his meal.

Maybe, they could all have a nice peaceful dinner and -

Shun looked up to find Rosalie staring disconcertedly at the television.

That flipping feeling returned in the pits of his stomach.

Uh-oh.

–

"Is that a dwarf?"

Shun turned to stare at Rosalie, who in turn, was staring hard at the commentator on the television.

You see, the game designers didn"t think to put in a television into "Dragon Bless". Thus, upon seeing this miraculous gadget, whereupon people became smaller once they entered, Rosalie was entranced.

Standing up, Rosalie walked over to the television and bent down for a closer look.

"Rosalie, that"s -"

"I wish to talk to you."

Rosalie directed her request at the commentator on the screen, completely and utterly ignoring Shun.

Now it was the commentator"s turn, "Yes, you there, it"s just as you say!"

"Who is he talking to? I"m the only one here. h.e.l.lo there, this is Rosalie." Ever the polite princess, Rosalie stuck her hand out in greeting.

A scene change and Rosalie found herself faced with the image of a studio, where moments before, the commentator"s face had been.

The shock in Rosalie"s face said it all - What the h.e.l.l was this?

Backing away, her back hit the solid wooden table, upsetting all the plates and dishes, cups and cutleries placed upon it.

With baited breathe and one hand holding on tightly to the pendant dangling from her slender neck, Rosalie watched the television screen with such intensity it hurt.

Mikoto, to her credit, was just as surprised as Shun upon seeing this.

"Is she from a really far away country?"

–

Shun wanted to cry from the helplessness of the situation. No really, he did.

But then again, Mikoto had just given him the perfect hook to get out of it.

Oh well, beggars can"t be choosers. He just had to suck it up and cover for Rosalie the best he could.

"Oh Miko-nee, how could you not have known? It"s really poor out there in some parts of Eastern Europe. My world history teacher just told us all about the current situation in some of the old satellite countries of the dissolved Soviet Union. And man, don"t even get me started on their clothing -"

"Shun-chan, please shut up."

Well, that was quick.

Placing the now-full bowl of rice on top of the table, Mikoto placed her hands at her hips and a.s.sumed a dominating stance.

Mikoto, battle mode complete.

"Hey!"

A determined look on her face, Mikoto called out to the enemy.

Rosalie turned.

Shun felt the table tremble. Looking down, he noticed that Mikoto"s legs were quaking in fear.

"W-Who are you?"

–

Please.

Whatever you say, please don"t let it be anything about you being a heroine or whatnot.

"S-Speak! What is your relationship with Shun-chan?"

Shun felt the blood drain from his face.

They were entering dangerous territory. That great big neon sign in the sky said so.

Please!

Shun desperately tried to convey his thoughts to Rosalie via eye contact.

Rosalie, for her part, actually seemed to notice Shun for once, and nodding slightly, indicated that Shun should just leave the rest to her.

A small bit of relief crept back into Shun"s heart. Maybe, just maybe, he could trust her on this one after all.

Then, puffing her chest out in pride, Rosalie answered in a clear, booming voice, "I am Shun"s bride!"

W-What?!

The temperature in the room instantly dropped below the freezing point.

–

"B-Bride?"

"Yes, bride."

Shun really wished he was somewhere else other than where he was right then.

At least, there it would be warmer.

Having delivered the death blow to Mikoto, Rosalie now shifted her gaze to look directly at Shun. Her confident smile conveyed a myriad of things - Yes! I did it! I was awesome wasn"t I?

None of them though were even remotely accurate.

Shun wanted to grab Rosalie and shake her.

His head hurt. G.o.d help him.

Mikoto on the other hand had turned as white as a sheet, soul seemingly having escaped from her body through her hanging mouth as a result of a shock of that magnitude.

Rosalie though, having zero sense of the damage she had caused, casually turned towards Mikoto and approached her with a friendly smile.

"Anyways, your name"s Mikoto, isn"t it?"

Unknowingly, Rosalie had just served the first ball.

–

The sound of her name brought Mikoto crashing back down to the bizarre reality.

With the heavy dignity akin to that of someone imparting an important decision, Rosalie eyed Mikoto and p.r.o.nounced her question, "May I ask, what miraculous creatures are those "cream puffs"?"

Mikoto looked almost ready to faint.

If Shun had thought that the situation couldn"t have gotten any worse, then he was wrong. Oh so wrong.

"Right, moving on, we have some breaking news. The worldwide phenomenon, "Dragon Bless" that has millions of gamers hooked on to it, has. .h.i.t a wall, in the form of a glitch that -"

In the silence of the room, the news anchor"s voice boomed forth in all its deep, grave glory.

W-What the?!

Reaching for the controller at the speed of light, Shun was about to shut down that nosy commentator once and for all, when suddenly, he found Mikoto staring daggers at him.

Silently, he dropped the controller. It was no use.

Worrying her bottom lip, Mikoto did her best to convey and radiate all of her pent-up anger and hate towards Shun.

"According to the internet, this strange glitch occurred at exactly the same time worldwide."

By now, even Shun could no longer deny the fact that both Mikoto and Rosalie were absorbed by the news.

If they ever found out that - But no, he couldn"t imagine the resulting chaos. All he could do now was to hold his breath and pray.

"The main character of this game, Rosalie, actually went -"

Upon hearing her name, Rosalie"s ears gave a slight twitch. She turned to face the television, her face a paragon of calmness and unruffled beauty.

Argh.

This was hopeless. He might as well just give up at this point.

On the bright side though, at least now he wouldn"t have to go around hiding anything or making up more lies or excuses. Seeing as the truth was finally out, after all.

Bracing himself, he alternated between watching Rosalie"s expressions and the television.

The introduction scene to the game, Dragon Bless, rolled onto the television screen. The big bad monster that players would have found themselves fighting took up most of the screen s.p.a.ce.

Flick, and it was almost as if a switch had been turned on inside Rosalie.

The sweet, innocent girl had been banished, and in her place was a warrior who emitted such a strong battle aura that she was impossible to ignore.

Within seconds, Rosalie had unsheathed her sword, and was already a.s.suming a battle stance.

–

"No, Rosalie, don"t!"

At a speed that even surprised himself, Shun threw himself bodily on Rosalie, clinging on to her back in an attempt to prevent her from slicing the television in two.

Despite being the strong warrior that she was Rosalie was unable to defend against such an ambush.

Falling to the ground, both of their weights supported only by the holy sword that Rosalie held in one hand, it was no wonder that even a sword of that calibre broke.

The tip of the sword, sharp and chipped, ragged in all its holy glory, flew in a beautiful arc in the air.

Only to stop right in front of the tip of Mikoto"s nose.

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