"Look, it's that 'Tooth Extractor' again."
"Don't talk about him. What if he gets angry?"
"No worries. It looks like he's become a pushover after having his ass handed to him by the 'Scarlet Villainess'." Two students openly gossiped, causing Fritz to make a helpless smile in response to them.
A pushover... That's how everyone saw him to be after he lost that anger that once… 'defined' him.
The 'Tooth Extractor' existed no more...
No longer did he hang out with the 'Mad Dog' of the middle school he went to. He was just who he was. The young Magus found it hard to even get angry after hearing insults thrown so openly.
He may had been hotheaded previously, but that was just how his Master had taught him to be.
Men don't cry or whine. They were born to be able to handle anything. No one liked a crybaby.
That's why he never cried. His emotions were bottled up. Anger was useless to him now, but that didn't mean he no longer felt it. The fact of the matter was that his fury was now more subdued.
Besides 'her', no one else was worth his temper.
He was untalented in both marksmanship and swordsmanship, so he didn't use a MagiSword or MagiPistol like the other students. The only thing he could rely on was the MagiPen he asked for.
"Huh? Where did he go...?" The two students blinked. He vanished from their sight in a second.
This wasn't an overwhelming speed. Instead, it was a secret technique passed down by his family.
He never bothered explaining the specifics of it to others, because he knew what their reaction would be. Wasn't this a 'Martial Art'? After all, even the lowest class of Cadets knew of 'Step Methods'.
It was the telltale sign of an 'UnderWorlder'; Martial Artists that were the denizens of the underworld.
No matter how he explained it to them, there was no way of explaining how he wasn't one of them.
He knew that from experience...
Fritz couldn't even get angry anymore when others accused him in such a way. He knew for a fact that his family had been living in the mountains of the Earthland Domain for nearly hundreds of years.
Their ties to the 'Above-world' ran deep. It was to the point you could see remnants of the past still exist until today. Though perhaps it was just that the 'Anti-Martial Academy' hated Martial Artists.
To them, it was those who practiced killing techniques from a young age that were dangerous.
There wasn't even much of a distinction between the word 'Psychopath' and 'Martial Artist' anymore.
Though unfortunate, he had accepted that fate.
To him, he was more of a 'Magus' than anyone in this Academy anyway. A 'Charm Caster' instead of a modern 'Seal Weaver'. Although his ambitions had died out, he'd never be ashamed of his origins.
Thinking this, he went to his Squads resting room and knocked on the door... before coming in.
"...What are my eyes seeing?" He wasn't quite sure what to make of what was happening before him.
There, Christina flaunted her sensual curves in front of a curious girl who appreciated her body.
Not only was she not embarrassed by the bunny suit Betty had gotten for her, she seemed to be enjoying the attention from someone other than herself. He couldn't even fathom her thoughts...
The two of them looked at him. Both smiled as if they were waiting for him to come all this time.
"F-rit-z! What do you think~~?" The blondie opened her arms and showed off her outfit.
"Err... Good?"
"Say that while looking at me straight." Christina curved her lips, but her eyes looked a little proud.
The reactions were always funny.
Like now: His eyes were looking up at the ceiling.
She came to the door and closed it, even putting on the inside lock before taking a glance at Betty.
That black-haired girl seemed to be enjoying the show. Even clapping her hands with a quite cheer.
'Out of sight, out of mind...' He thought while trying his best to not fall for her usual seductive antics.
He'd rather completely ignore her than fall for her tricks. Fritz knew she wasn't being sincere here.
"Oooh~ Do you not like a bunny suit?"
"Why do you even ask?"
"You KNOW what I want from you, riiight~?"
"You're not getting it."
"Come on~ You don't think I'm cute?"
"Why ask me that?"
"Don't pretend you don't know." Her words, plus her action of leaning onto him, caused a chill down his spine. Seeing that Fritz wasn't going to look down at all, Christina pouted even harder.
"Ara ara~ I brought that outfit for her myself. Don't you think it suits her?" Betty gave a wicked laugh.
"I said to stop doing this to me, haven't I?"
"Doing what?"
"What she said: Doing what?" The bunny ears of Christina's outfit kept on going into his view.
He was about to explode with a bunch of criticisms, but stopped. Instead intensely saying:
"I don't want a girlfriend!"
These words seemed to have come from the bottom of his heart. Surprising the two of them.
"Hey, I can do cosplay for you every day if you take me as your wife. Ahem... Even in a naked apron." It seemed like the blonde sniper was embarrassed as she fiddled with her hands while saying as such.
'What am I to do?' It wasn't as if he didn't see her as a cutie. There's no way he wouldn't fall for this.
It was just that... he had his reasons.
"Tina..." He spoke intimately to her, giving the cute girl hopes that maybe he'd accept her proposal.
"Yes...?" She used her finger to curl her hair.
"No." His response was like being drenched in a bucket of cold water. It brought her to reality.
Betty had to hold in an intense fit of laughter.
Her face became so red in rage that she stomped on the floor angrily. Then made a smirk in fury.
Fritz heard a rustle in clothes before someone gasped in shock. His curiosity was a little picked.
"My chest is showing." A tremor ran through his body. The youth's head turned up even higher!
"If you look down, you'll get to see everything."
"D-don't be so immature!"
"Are you calling my body 'immature'?!"
"No, I mean... yours is pretty normal your age."
"Are you saying they're small?!"
"They're big! They're big!" He panicked. The bouncy 'weapons' touching his chest was softer!
There was definitely one less layer between them!
"Hmph... Not as big as mine though."
"Can YOU shut up?!" Why was Betty the only one who could anger him these days? Was this on purpose? His hormones were raging out of control right now, and he couldn't control his feelings...!
This wasn't him being a pervert or anything. Any teenager would feel the same in this 'hot' situation.
'Calm down... Calm down!' He really wished he had a Charm for this situation, but had nothing on her.
"Are you going to finally look down?"
"And if I do?"
"Marry me."
"I know your circumstances, but why does it have to be me? Can't you find a more 'normal' guy?"
"Do you think I'd show THESE if it wasn't you...?"
"Still..."
"Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"No. Please don't say it..." He already knew why she picked him, but didn't want to accept her.
But the rising hormones he was getting at this moment was bashing away at his ability to reason.
'If I look down, I would have to marry...' Wedding bells were ringing in his head while imagining a scene. Having a beautiful wife and kids... It was something he once thought of, but couldn't really imagine until she hammered it into his heart.
His head slowly started to look down, unable to resist the temptation any longer or that future.
All his traumas and reluctance were vanishing...
The pop of someone opening a large bag of potato chips could be heard from Betty's direction.
…Then the crunching of someone eating them...
His head was lowering at a snail's pace, but speed was still fast for the eyes of Christina Flint...
'Alright, he is going to fall for it!' She was a little excited, but also felt she was doing wrong by him.
'Wait, am I prepared for this...?' She only now realised what she was doing to get his attention.
Wouldn't this be a little TOO desperate?
Her desires, modesty, and reason started to clash within her, all until she could only helplessly smile.
Fritz suddenly felt a hand underneath his chin.
"That's enough... I won't do this in front of you ever again." A tear was in her eyes while using her other hand to pull up the outfit. Not long after, the cloth was slipped back on her chest area again.
She then held her chest with both arms.
The youth also came out of his daze...
"Ummm... Sorry."
"What are you sorry about? I'm the pathetic one who's always trying to seduce someone who isn't even interested. I even wore a sexy nurse's outfit for you..." Her response caused his expression became strange. Then he asked inquisitively:
"And who gave you the idea to do this?" He held the tearful maiden's shoulder while speaking.
Before she could even answer, one particular black-haired girl got up and went behind the sofa.
"Betty..." Cristina's reply popped one of his veins.
"BETTY!!!" His arms lifted to the sky like King Kong as he looked at the mischievous devil in anger.
"Hey, let's talk this out."
"My ass we are!"
"Hehe, he said 'my ass'~"
"You know I don't like this sort of stuff...!" He chased her around in circles until she got behind Christina, using her as a meat shield. The cutie was too heartbroken to put up any form of resistance.
"I have a good reason for this!"
"You better not say 'you were feeling bored'...!" He took out a Charm Talisman from the holster on his waist. A blue glow manifested from the markings on the small Paper Charm he'd saved from earlier.
"There's that~"
"Oh, you son of a-"
"But that's not all!"
"Then...?" The cheeky smile on Betty's face hadn't faded after hearing him ask about her reasons.
She held the pitiful maiden in her arms while caressing her cheek erotically, then said outright:
"You two suit each other."
"W-we don't...!"
"One uses Ancient Seals while the other is good at Modern Seals. You're both made for each other."
"That's only for US to decide."
"I thought you'd turn into a monk at this rate. Also, I think you're misunderstanding. Why not tell him?"
"Tell what?" Fritz lifted a brow.
They both looked at Christina in Betty's arms, who regained herself and spoke with embarrassment:
"...Cosplaying for someone felt nice. She even helped me set up an account to show it online."
'You damn attention whore!' He cursed inwardly as the blonde girl was awkwardly scratching her head.
'So what was all that about earlier?!' He really wanted to ask, but chose to put it aside instead.
"...Don't do that again."
"Understood, Captain!" They both saluted him before going off on their merry way like best buds.
Fritz laid down on the sofa that opened up and sighed deeply. Their shenanigans were annoying.
But he still valued them... As someone who knew what it felt like to have once mundane things snatched from him, he hoped he could protect this small 'family' called the Squad 42 of the Academy.
He watched as the energetic Betty and the playful Christina started ignoring his existence again.
They were both in their own worlds...
He touched the clothes on his chest and felt indecisive about what he truly felt about them.
'Love'... That was too heavy of a word he could never say. It was something he couldn't afford.
This distance between them was fine. At least, he didn't want to get more hurt if they left him alone.
Before he fulfilled his objective he came for, there was no way he'd settle down by having a lover.
A darkness appeared in his eyes at this thought.