"Here you go."
"Ah, thanks Lunaria. You know you really didn't need to do this."
"Mm-mm, I wanted to out of my own goodness, so don't sweat it."
Currently, Kaze had been discharged from the hospital after he had checked and was deemed healthy to go. It had been a day since he woke up and was already discharged, meaning his body had healed up properly and didn't require rehab or anything of sort.
Even so, Lunaria came over to help him get back. The whole way to his dorm, she walked him back just in case something happened like being targeted again. This was due to Lunaria being partially scared after what Bryle did during the examination. Right now, Bryle's condition was not known, but it was assumed he was fine because his house did not make any statement regarding the injuries, unlike the others.
Not only that, Kaze was also invited to go over to her place to celebrate his recovery as well. While Kaze thought it was unnecessary, he couldn't bear rejecting Lunaria after seeing how excited she was. She even invited the others to come over so this was going to be quite the party. Being the reason for the party itself, Kaze couldn't say no anymore.
Just when Kaze thought Lunaria was going to leave after they had walked to the guy's dorm, she followed him in. This caused a few stares to trail after the two of them as they entered, with most guys having their jaw drop at the sight of the dragonkin princess following Kaze into the dorm. Generally, while there was no stereotype for a guy to be bringing a girl with him back to his place within the university because of the strict rules, it still did rouse quite a commotion as to what Lunaria was doing with Kaze, but this was a story for another time.
"L-Lunaria…"
"Hm? What is it?"
"Erm… I'm back at my room."
"Yes?"
"And you… are still here."
"Yes?"
"Um… do you mind leaving?"
"Yes."
"…. Uhh…. Can I ask why you followed me?"
"Isn't it obvious? As someone who had just recovered, there is no way I will allow you to be by yourself for the time being. I'm going to be here with you until the evening."
"… Alright… is there no way I can talk you out of this?"
"Nope."
"Even if… I'm going to strip naked to change?"
"You know I can simply close my eyes, right?"
"Even if… the other guys are going to make quite a big fuss?"
"Let them. It's not their fault that I chose to come with you."
"Lunaria… you do know you are very popular with the boys, right?"
"Yes, and I am aware that I voluntarily chose to follow a guy back to his room, aware that I am a princess who should be more cautious of what I do, aware that I am making this choice consciously."
"... What are you going to do if rumours fly?"
"Oh that won't happen. The moment we came in here, I already decided I am going to erase their memory of any evidence."
"Isn't that taking things a little too far?!"
Sighing in exasperation, Kaze just unlocked his room door and allowed Lunaria to enter. There was no way he could reason with her, especially when she was being so pushy in the first place. If she wanted to erase the other people's memories, it was very likely that she was both capable and willing to do so. It wasn't like she wasn't aware of the public's opinion of her either, being a princess herself.
Lunaria waltzed in happily and gently spun around once to get a good look at his room. As someone living on budget, it was obvious that his room wasn't in the greatest condition, nor was it at all that suitable. He had to choose the cheapest option available, meaning he only had a room with a bed and table. There wasn't even a closet available for him to store his clothes. Still, he made-do with the space available with what little items he had.
It was a rectangle room without a window. Creaky floorboards aside, the bed looked anything but comfortable and his table was packed with school books. On the floor lining up against the wall, Kaze had stored his clothes properly and stacked them neatly in one line. His schoolbag was placed in a corner and travel bag in the other, his school uniform hanging from the wall. From the creases that were shown on his clean clothes, Lunaria judged that he had to bring any clothes to the common area for washing as it was available for students to share.
"Hmm… what can I say?" Lunaria giggled and plopped onto his bed. "This is quite a pathetic room."
"I'm sorry I didn't live up to your standards, 'princess'," Kaze sarcastically replied and quickly lock the door to prevent anyone from spying on them. "Please, whatever you do, be quiet. The other people will be able to hear us."
"Oh, is that your concern?" Lunaria asked, sitting back up.
Waving her hand lightly, the room glowed a faint white as quickly as it faded.
"There, I casted an anti-sound barrier around us. Now, we can talk as loud as we want without restrain," Lunaria smiled. "No one will be able to hear us, so if you want to take advantage of me now is the time to do it~"
"Not you too… and here I thought I was having enough problems dealing with Mitsui's teasing," Kaze sighed, knowing that she wasn't actually serious. "Besides, it is a criminal offence to lay hands on the royal family, whether intentional or not, right? Article 342 of the Inter-nation Constitution."
"Mm, you have been paying attention in class," Lunaria nodded. "I'm surprised. I was sure that you would have forgotten most of the stuff we have learnt after what happened. Then again, it really isn't important to memorise that if you are not planning to study politics or become one of the Council Members in the future."
"Yes, but I find it hard to forget with you around," Kaze sweatdropped, taking off his outer shirt. "You are royalty, so I have to be careful with my every word and action."
"That is true. But then again, I act more like a friend to you," Lunaria tilted her head. "What you are saying is if I treat you like how I treat my other classmates."
"Yes, but that doesn't give me the excuse to be just as rude. There are borders even though we might be friends," Kaze rebutted. "Like, formalities."
"Really? I feel like I'm more of a friend to you than a royalty you know?" Lunaria frowned a little at his response. "How do you feel about me then? You are contradicting your words with your actions."
"You are a good friend to me, Lunaria, just like Yuuji," Kaze turned around and sat down next to her. "You have been so kind to me I don't even know how I should respond to your kindess."
"Hmm, it is a little bit of a lacklustre answer but I will accept it," Lunaria nodded, feeling satisfied. "In return, I want you to treat me like how you treat Yuuji."
"Alright, alright, friend," Kaze smiled wryly at this. "You are very persistent. I'm a little worried about how Sera and the others will react if they knew "
"I know," Lunaria gave him a cheeky smile in return. "That aside, aren't you going to shower?"
"Ah, right," Kaze realized that he had been digressing and got up once more. "You distracted me."
"How is that my fault?"
"Well… I didn't expect you to follow me so my head went blank at the moment. Also, I know you won't do anything, but don't touch my stuff alright?"
"Why? Are you afraid I will uncover something you want to keep hidden?"
"I-Its not like I have anything hidden in the first place…"
"Aw come on, you can be honest with me. Do you have…. 'those' type of pictures or books?"
"No! And I mean it!"
"As a normal teenager, it is alright to be curious about these things you know? In Aravel, we get taught these sorts of stuff openly when we were very young so its not like I don't condone it. What's more, you worship Goddess Tiel, who is also known as the Goddess of Love. I'm pretty sure her doctrine does not forbid pleasure."
When faced with so many evidences against him, Kaze felt mortified as to how he would convince Lunaria he was pure. What she said might be true, but that did not mean he would do 'it'. It was a lie to say he wasn't interested, but he put it aside for now as he knew that when the time came, he would accept it. This included feeling too pent up and needing to relieve himself, but so far, he had been so devoted into training his sword skills that all of his frustration was poured into his sword instead of his lower half.
"…. I really don't."
"Why is that so?"
"… B-Because… your beauty makes me forget all of that…"
"Oh my, what a smooth talker you are. Don't tell me you feel guilty doing 'it' while thinking of me?"
"I-Its not like I did it before, okay! What I mean is… urgh," Kaze fumbled with his words, feeling like he messed up entirely. "I just… don't have the urge or time to focus on something like that. Training myself and making me stronger… that is my focus. Now, if you will excuse me."
Kaze left Lunaria in his room as he headed to the common bathroom.
Now that Lunaria was alone, she was surrounded by silence. Taking a deep breath, she immediately cowered onto the bed and curled up in a ball.
"K-Kyaa~~~~~~ I was totally not expecting that out of him…."
Lunaria muttered softly to herself after freaking out a little, her face completely red and blushing. Kaze's words, while as naïve as they may sound, didn't have the intention to be a pick-up line. It was merely his true feelings, but said in a different manner. Lunaria knew that she was just teasing him about 'it' and all, and that he was telling the truth. It was only when he confessed about her beauty that it struck a chord in her heart that it might be true that other than sword training, the image of her coming to his mind when he was pent up made him hold back.
She was well aware that her beauty while being something she appreciated, it also brought her quite a bit of suffering. When she came to Tristania, the number of students who gazed at her with lust in their eyes naturally increased. This was something that happened back in Aravel too, but that was something in the past. Right now, it was something that was happening on a normal basis, whether she liked it or not. She could not control how other people felt about her, nor could she do much to control how she looked or what she wore. In the eyes of a pervert, it would make no difference.
Lunaria trusted Kaze in that he wasn't the perverted type or someone who would take advantage of her after knowing him for a short while. She didn't expect him to be lusting after her, but she didn't expect him to be completely immune to her beauty either. The only thing that really threw her off was how bluntly he put it.
Confessions from many people were given to her before, even right now. From fancy words to simple gestures, Lunaria had experienced what it was like to be the centre of attention during her time in Tristania. She caught the eyes of most guys as it was rare see a dragonkin in the first place, but it was also because of how charming she was. It wasn't a lie nor an exaggeration to compare Lunaria's beauty to that of a goddess, because that was exactly how beautiful she was. Like a moon in the sky surrounded by stars of admiration, twinkling after her beauty.
And yet…
Why was it that she was susceptible to something so innocent and pure?
Was it because she was too used to the other side of that pureness instead? Was it because she had been expecting too much for too long?
She knew that heartfelt confessions to her from some guys were truly because it was love at first sight, but she never found them as charming as what Kaze said. Perhaps it was due to the difference in time spent with them like she did with Kaze.
But if that was the case, then with Ash…
Lunaria shook her head to clear her thoughts. Right now, this wasn't what she was worried about. Instead, she should be worried about what comes next.
"Lunaria, it's me," a knock came from the door along with Rena's voice.
"Rena," Lunaria opened the door and greeted her elf friend. "Come on, before Kaze gets back. I don't know how long it takes for him to shower in the common area."
"Uhh… are you sure you want to do this? I don't think this is a good idea," Rena sweatdropped. "He did tell you not to touch his stuff, right?"
"Yes. I discussed this with mother. She is fine with it and brought it up with the school already."
"Wait, that was not what I asked… but I can't imagine the school being okay with this though…"
"I did provide them my testimony and helped them as much as I could. I even accepted that 'unreasonable request' of theirs. Mou~ even if it was not just me…"
"W-What can we do? It has already been decided so you better accept it."
"I'm sorry to impose this on you Rena, regardless."
"It's fine. We have been friends for a long time. Besides, Kaze doesn't seem to have much in the first place. Frankly speaking, now that I have seen this, it seems like a good idea to move."
"I already expected as much when he told me he was on a budget. This will be beneficial for us all anyway."
With Lunaria exchanging hushed conversations with Rena, the two got to work arranging the surprise for Kaze.
- - - - -
"L-Lunaria… what did you do to my room?"
Kaze returned from the bath, only to see that his place had been wiped clean. All of his stuff from before, every single item was gone. All that was left was Lunaria waiting patiently on the bed for him with a smile on her face.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to it though?"
"Yes… I'm pretty sure that my stuff was still in my room… is this a prank?"
"The only thing that I will prank you with is by screaming out 'Pervert' right now and attracting the attention of the other guys."
At her words, a shudder ran down Kaze's spine as he wasn't sure what Lunaria was doing. First she took all of his things, now she threatened to accuse him for being a rapist. What was going on? It was almost like she was a criminal trying to kill him by getting rid of all the evidence first.
Watching Kaze starting to melt down in front of her, Lunaria couldn't help but stifle her laughter. The real surprise was what that was going to happen next.
Bringing a clueless Kaze out of the room with her, she brought him out of the dorm where they attracted even more stares from guys. Seeing a guy bringing a girl into their room was understandable, but to see a girl dragging a guy out of his own room raised a few red flags. Who in their right mind would be doing that? It was as though Lunaria was the one who owned the room instead. Combined with Kaze's state of wearing house clothes and his hair still moist from showering, it made the entire situation even more hilarious than it seemed.
Once they were a distance away from the crowd, Lunaria snapped her fingers and they teleported off to another location. When they reappeared, Kaze found themselves in front of a small house. It was not too far from the school, but a different direction from the way to the dorms. This was obviously some place within the residence area, which was not where he expected they would be. To be honest, Kaze expected her to bring him to the guards and report him as a continuation of her joke.
"Lunaria, where are we?"
"Welcome to your new house. Or should I say, our house?"
At her words, Kaze widened his eyes. He thought for a second there that he heard it wrongly, but he reaffirmed that his hearing was just fine from Lunaria's light blush.
"…. D-Do you mean… just the two of us?"
"Oh, was that what you wanted? I'm sorry, but we are going to be sharing with a few other people."
"O-Oh…."
Kaze let out a huge sigh of relief when she said so. He was almost certain that this was another prank, but at this point he was too tired to fight against her. Lunaria was doing things without asking him beforehand and he didn't dare to question it.
"Who else is living here? Why did you do this without asking me first?"
"To answer the latter, I just decided to do it on impulse. Since we would be interacting a lot more now, I figured it would be troublesome if we couldn't meet much so I decided to rent this house. It was at a fairly reasonable price and I can modify some rooms inside with my spatial magic if it didn't suit," Lunaria explained, bringing him into the yard. "As for who would be here, it's you, me, Rena, Sera, Shoko, Chris, Irene and Yuuji."
"Can this house even fit all of them? Did you guys plan all this without me knowing?" Kaze asked her, wondering how long they had decided to do this. "From the names you said, they must have had permission from their parents."
"Everyone helped in paying the rent, but Yuuji's parents and my mother paid the most," Lunaria nodded. "Especially for you. You don't need to pay. The main purpose other than to gather everyone in a dorm together is so that you can have a better environment to live in and study."
"…. I'm grateful, but this is too much," Kaze gulped, Lunaria opening the front door. "I…"
"It's alright, everyone agreed on this together," Lunaria softened her tone and grasped his hand gently. "Don't you want to stay with us?"
"I want to, but I feel bad for making you pay…" Kaze sighed at this. "I won't argue though, now that it has already been done. Is this where we will be having the party as well? I was wondering how you were going to have a party when we can't enter the girls' dorm altogether, so this was why."
"Yep. We made this decision a day or two after I woke up," Lunaria grinned. "It was actually Yuuji who brought this up but I did most of the planning. He seems to agree with me that we need to watch you more closely."
Upon entering, Kaze immediately felt the warmth of a real house. It was something that looked like a real hostel where everyone could live in together for the rest of the school year. In fact, it was beyond that from how the design of the furniture and the insides looked. It was a real house in the first place, but just modified to suit their staying needs. There was a fireplace, a huge dining table, a living room for them to sit down and chill. Who knew what other surprises there were left that he hadn't seen yet.
"Oh, Kaze," Yuuji, who happened to be sitting in the living room already, noticed the two and smirked. "Surprised? It was easy to keep it a secret from you since you were in the hospital this whole time."
"You…." Kaze was at a lost for words as he gave his good friend a tight hug. "… Crazy bunch."
"Says the real crazy guy for jumping out in front of a Tauzenpod," Yuuji chuckled. "That's the name of the centipede monster apparently. They had to create a new class for it due to the core or whatever, I don't know."
"I have a feeling you have a lot of questions to ask me, as I do too," Kaze smiled. "All of you."
"You are right," Lunaria approached them from behind. "I'm expecting you to have some explanation to do during the party tonight, Kaze."