Tatsuya and Arashi arrived back home. With her legs now returned back to their normal state, Arashi didn't need to be carried by Tatsuya anymore and walked home beside him. They were greeted at the door by Sylphie. "Mistress, where were you the entire night?" asked the maid.
"Just out walking," answered Arashi with a reassuring smile.
The maid took notice of Tatsuya's condition and his torn shirt and asked, "Are you alright, Owatatsumi-sama? What happened?"
Tatsuya didn't answer him and walked inside. He was deep in a daze and his body moved on its own as if it was being possessed by a ghost. He showered and changed his clothes and got ready for bed. All the while, the only thought that ran though his mind the entire time was the decision to heed Aris' words and stop pretending to be a hero. It was time for him to face reality and come to terms with the fact that he can never be a true hero.
He climbed into bed and closed his eyes. It was quiet and calm and tranquil, everything he needed to get a good night's sleep. However, no matter how quiet his room, how calm the atmosphere, or how tranquil he felt in bed, he just couldn't sleep. He tried moving around in his bed to get comfortable, he tried clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts, heck, he even tried counting sheep! Tatsuya was wide awake and sleepless. He took in an exasperated breath and groaned. Since he obviously couldn't go to sleep, Tatsuya decided then to go out for a walk instead. It seems that the thoughts that plagued him all through the night was the cause behind his sleeplessness, so he needed to find a way to get rid of them efficiently. The best way to do that was to clear his head out in the open world.
The house was silent and dark—everyone had went to sleep. Tatsuya silently slipped through the front door and stood outside. The night air was warm, the very definition of a Summer night. 'Summer Break is almost here,' realized Tatsuya. He walked on and arrived at the park he had previously visited with Arashi just hours ago.
The park was empty and dark; the only light source, besides the bright shining moon, was a nearby lamppost. In the center of the park was a giant sandbox with bright yellow sand. Next to it was a big green igloo tunnel climber. A giant wooden tower and plastic slide stood near the park's back on the east side. Opposite of it was a blue metal swing set. Two spring riders, one unicorn and one dragon, occupied the northwest side. And sitting on the northeast part of the park was a red seesaw.
Tatsuya remembered playing at this very park as a kid. His favorite piece of equipment to use was the swings. He loved to swing. Swinging made him feel very free and liberated; he felt like he could leave his problems and just fly away in the sky. Remembering that feeling made him smile. He walked over to one of the swings and sat down. He looked up at the bright full moon in the sky. Thoughts on returning back to a normal human life flooded his mind. Should he be excited? Is this a win for him? Is normal what he needs right now? Can he even go back to living a normal human life? Will it be easy for him to do so? If not, then how can he accomplish this and how long will it take until he becomes well-adjusted to a normal human lifestyle again?
The sound of someone singing distracted him from his thoughts and brought him back to reality. The voice was beautiful and heavenly, like a divine angel from the gates of God. The song itself was beautiful and sounded like a folk hymn with the lyrics bringing to mind ancient poetry from the days of old: "A river of nothing created everything. The essence of everything began with nothing. When everything is made, nothing disappears. And if everything is right, then nothing is true. Life and death, two sides of the same coin. Live for nothing and die for everything. Void is where everything began. The material world is where nothing ends. A river of nothing created everything. The essence of everything began with nothing. When everything is made, nothing disappears. And if everything is right, then nothing is true."
Tatsuya turned to see a young upper-middle school girl standing on the swing next to him and singing the song. He was really captivated by her beautiful voice. He also admired how brave she was to be singing without a care in the world. "That's really pretty," he told her. The girl stopped her singing and didn't say anything. "Oh, I'm sorry," apologized Tatsuya, "I didn't mean to interrupt your song."
The girl turned to face him with a smile and said, "Its quite alright." The young girl had shoulder-length black hair and a side ponytail with a red hair band. Her skin was smooth and glinted in the moonlight like a brilliant jewel. However, her most striking feature was her heterochromatic eyes: her right eye was a normal chocolate brown color, but her left eye was completely strange and almost inhuman—it was a beautiful bold amethyst color with an emerald green slit pupil. On her forehead was a small purple tattoo of a dragon the size of a bottle cap. She was dressed in a middle-school uniform.
"That was a very beautiful song," said Tatsuya.
The girl chuckled and jumped off of the swing. "Why, thank you," she told him.
"Say, what did it mean?" Tatsuya asked her curiously.
"It means everything and nothing," replied the girl.
That made no sense to Tatsuya at all. He wasn't sure if the girl was playing around with him or if maybe she didn't know the meaning either and was only trying to sound smart. "I don't get it," he said.
"That's not surprising," said the girl with a chuckle.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" said Tatsuya in an irritated tone. He scoffed and turned his head. "A little kid like you should be more respectful of your elders," Tatsuya told her with a pout.
"Is it really all that important to do so?" wondered the girl with a tilt of her head.
Tatsuya held out his hand and introduced himself. "I'm Owatatsumi Tatsuya and I'm a second-year high school student," he told her with a kind smile.
"Sure," said the girl with an unimpressed look.
Tatsuya was getting a little irritated by the girl's apparent lack of manners. He retracted his hand and cleared his throat. He was about to asked the girl for her name when she interrupted him with her own introduction.
"My name is Yong," said the girl with a wide smile.
"Yong? That's not Japanese, is it? Are you a foreigner?" he asked.
"I'm originally from Baekje," she said, turning around and clasping her hands behind her back.
"Baekje?" repeated Tatsuya in confusion. He had never heard of that place before. "Anyway," he said, shaking his head, "what was that song about?"
"The universe is filled with emptiness and devoid of fullness, and it is full of substance and barren of nothingness," said Yong in a sage-like manner.
Tatsuya didn't understand what the girl was saying at all. Her words reminded him of those wise sayings from ancient times that didn't appear to make any sense to him at all. If anything, it kind of made him a little frustrated to hear those words and have no idea what they mean. "I don't understand," he told her.
"Not surprising," said Yong, turning around with a smile. "It's too complex for a mere human to understand." She leaned her face forward and looked at Tatsuya at eye level. "Are you lost?" she asked him with a straight face.
"What do you mean?" inquired Tatsuya.
"You are unsure," answered Yong. "Your eyes tell me that you are faced with a life-altering question and you are not sure which path you should take in answer to that question."
The way she discerned his problem just by looking at his eyes surprised Tatsuya. It amazed him but it also made him feel a little insecure to have a little girl know more about him than she should. The way she did it though almost seemed divine, not like a learned psychological trick or a perfected magic trick, but as if she had really looked into his soul and knew about the internal turmoil inside.
Tatsuya closed his eyes and sighed. "It's just something that's been on my mind lately," he told her.
Yong turned to the right and began to hop on one foot in a straight line and switching feet after every other hop as if she was playing imaginary hopscotch. Although she seemed focused on this activity, her expression told Tatsuya that she was all ears. It was this silent acceptance of his feelings that made Tatsuya continue on with his monologue.
"I came upon a very hard dilemma," he told her. "It's one of those problems where either choice you decide to take will have a very dramatic effect on your life. To sum it up, the dilemma in question is about whether or not I should live my life a certain way."
"Really?" came Yong with an amused nod of her head. Every time she approached where the swing set ended she would turn around and hop in the other way until she reached the end on the opposite side. She repeated this entire process while listening to Tatsuya's words.
"One of the choices is to live a very cool life as a hero," continued Tatsuya. "And the other choice is to live a normal life."
"Who would be stupid enough to not choose the former?" said Yong with a laugh.
"Well," he said with an uneasy sigh, "what if I told you that I kind of already chose the latter?"
Yong stopped her imaginary hopscotch and turned back to face Tatsuya. "If you've already made your choice, then why are you still thinking about it?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow. Tatsuya didn't answer back. "Are you perhaps questioning yourself?" she asked him. "I see. So this is why you are lost."
"I don't know if I made the right choice," he told her reluctantly.
"Well, let me ask you this," she began, "Do you want to live a normal life?"
"I think so," he answered her uncertainly.
Yong raised her hand and smacked Tatsuya' head from atop. "How can an idiot man like you expect to live a fulfilling life if you can't even make one little decision?" she asked him with a pitying smile and a shake of her head. "Is a normal life seriously what you want?" she repeated. Tatsuya couldn't give her a straight answer and refrained from offering a reply. She grabbed his right cheek and pulled it. "No answer?" she said while making his face sway with each pull of his cheek.
"I don't know," he told her honestly while she played with his cheek.
Yong released his cheek and patted it as if he was her pet or something. She then stood up straight and clasped her hands behind her back. "Let me ask you this, then," she said, "What is normal anyway?"
"Normal is when something is considered common within set societal parameters," answered Tatsuya. "Basically anything mainstream and accepted by society can be considered normal."
"Based on your definition, anything that is not mainstream or accepted by society is not normal, right?" said Yong.
"That's right," confirmed Tatsuya.
"Then that means that you and I are not normal," said Yong.
"What do you mean?" inquired Tatsuya.
"Normal people go to sleep at night, yet here we are discussing a topic in the dead of night at a park," explained Yong. "Atheists and agnostics are not normal since religion is mainstream and is accepted by society. People who listen to rock and underground genres are not normal since pop music is mainstream and accepted by society. Anyone who does not own a car or know how to drive is not normal since mainstream society dictates that a car is a common necessity that everyone should have."
"I think that's kind of going a little too far," said Tatsuya.
"Well, you're definition was a little too broad to begin with," reasoned Yong.
"But that's the best definition I can come up with," Tatsuya admitted.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Yong happily, throwing both her hands into the air. "So now I ask you, is this really what normal means?" she inquired Tatsuya once again.
"Well, ever since my life changed, I started to think more about it," began Tatsuya. "What I personally think now is that normal is more about subjectivity. What is considered normal is dependent on the person. Normalcy is how a person responds to changes in their environment and the acceptance of those changes. That's why normalcy is a subjective experience."
"I see," said Yong with a nod of her head. "So based on your new definition, we would still be considered normal if we both decide and agree that discussing a topic in the middle of the night is not weird at all."
"I guess."
"So atheists, rockers, and anyone who does not own a car are also normal people too," declared Yong. Tatsuya agreed with a nod. "But that would also mean NEETs and alien cults are normal too." (NEETs = referring specifically to those who are shut-ins and don't actively contribute to society or search for ways to benefit their own lifestyle in the form of a job, career, or education).
"What do you mean?" asked Tatsuya confusedly.
"Mainstream society suggests that NEETs and alien cults are not normal because they are not commonly accepted as such due to their disparity with established standards and norms," said Yong. She swayed her head side to side with her hands clasped behind her back while explaining her reasoning. "However, based on your refined definition, normalcy is subjective. Which means that NEETs and alien cults, because of their own subjective perception that they are indeed normal people and the things they do and believe in are also normal, are normal people through and through." She turned to face him and added in a rather cheeky tone, "So you're basically saying that people who don't work or go to school and prefer the lifestyle of a shut-in, and people who believe in aliens and worship extraterrestrials, are normal and the things they do are also normal. Since its their own subjective experience, who can really say that those people aren't normal and the things that they do aren't normal either?"
Tatsuya processed her reasoning and came to the same conclusion. No matter how crazy her words were, they made total sense. It appears that this definition of normal was wrong too. He hung his head in defeat and said, "I don't know anymore. What is normal anyway?"
Yong leaned in forward to him and flicked his forehead. She smiled and said, "There is no such thing as normal."
"What do you mean?" asked Tatsuya, rubbing his forehead.
Yong turned around and held her hands behind her back. "A river of nothing created everything. The essence of everything began with nothing. When everything is made, nothing disappears. And if everything is right, then nothing is true," she sang. "You asked me before what this song means, correct?" she asked him, turning her head to flash him a cheeky smile.
"Yes," confirmed Tatsuya with a nod.
"This song is basically saying that everything and nothing is one and the same," explained Yong. She then turned around and tilted her head with a smug grin. "Just kidding!" she told him. "If this song really has such an easy meaning as that then it's not worth being called a song of wisdom."
"Then what does it mean?" asked Tatsuya eagerly. "Didn't you sing it because it can help me with my problem?"
Yong shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know the meaning at all. It's just a really beautiful song and the lyrics just sound so profound. But I couldn't tell you what any of those lines mean, tee hee." She knocked her head with her right hand and stuck out her tongue to illustrate her foolishness. Tatsuya let out a huge sigh. "Actually," she started again with a finger tapping her chin, "I think the song is supposed to be about reality and how it's all an illusion. Probably." Upon hearing her new explanation, Tatsuya lit up—he quickly returned to his depressive state upon hearing the last word of her statement. Yong's face immediately lit up and she changed her explanation once again. "Now that I think about it, the song is actually about the divorce of a man and woman after they had their first child!" she announced. Once again, Tatsuya thought that she had finally came upon an answer. "As if!" Yong told him dismissively.
Tatsuya sighed and said, "This is going nowhere."
"Then how about you tell what you think the song means?" suggested Yong.
"I'm not sure," Tatsuya told her honestly.
"How about this? Once we meet again, tell me the true meaning behind the song," proposed Yong. "If you do, I'll give you a reward. If you can't, then you will get punished." She flashed him a very mischievous smile.
"You talk like you do know the song's meaning," said Tatsuya with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course I do!" replied Yong, slapping Tatsuya on the shoulder. "If I didn't, then why would I be singing that song?"
"I thought you said that you only like it because the melody is beautiful and the lyrics are profound," recalled Tatsuya.
"Geez, kids these days and their superficial reasons," said Yong, shaking her head.
"But—," protested Tatsuya.
Yong brought a finger to his lips and said, "I'll take that as you agreeing to our deal."
"Wait a min—," started Tatsuya again.
"Good!" declared Yong with a smile. She turned around and smiled at the bright full moon in the night sky. "There is no such thing as normal," she told him wisely. "Everything is normal and nothing is normal. It does not matter whether it is accepted by society or by yourself based on your own subjective experience. Normal does not exist at all, yet it is a very real thing. If you can understand this meaning then you will come to your answer." She took a step forward and then turned back around to face Tatsuya. "Before I go, I'll leave you with one more piece of advise," she told him. "At the center of your being, you have the answer; you know who you are and what you want." She then spun back around and walked off. "Till we meet again, Owatatsumi Tatsuya," she called back with a wave.
Tatsuya watched as she disappeared into the night. Her words settled deep in his mind and he found himself thinking through them with the careful precision of a philosopher. They carried to them a weight like the wise words of sages. Everything she had told him was well worth thinking and meditating over. 'There is no such thing as normal,' he repeated in his mind. Could this be the answer? If so, then that means Tatsuya will have to reconsider his choices.
The next morning, Tatsuya woke up and got himself ready for the day. As he walked on to the kitchen for breakfast, he hummed the song that Yong was singing last night. He entered the kitchen while still humming and was greeted by Ingrid. He resumed his humming and opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. Ingrid listened to the melody and was completely taken aback upon noticing what it was. "Owatatsumi-sama," she called to Tatsuya, "may I ask what you are humming?"
"Huh?" responded Tatsuya, tilting his head in confusion. He then understood what the maid was asking and said, "It's…something I heard last night."
"Where did you hear it from?" inquired Ingrid.
"I was, er, just walking down the street and I heard someone singing it," he told the maid. "I thought that it was a beautiful song and it kind of gotten stuck in my head, heh heh." He smiled awkwardly in an attempt to abate her suspicions. Ingrid appeared to have fallen for his lie and nodded her head. Tatsuya quietly exhaled a breath of relief. He looked at the maid and, judging by the way she reacted to the song he was humming, assumed that maybe she would know more about the song and what it means. "Do you know the song?" he asked her casually.
Ingrid nodded. "It's a song of wisdom from the dragon realm," she told him.
"What's a song of wisdom?" asked Tatsuya.
"It is a song that contains the wisdom of the gods," explained the maid. "Many of these songs have been reputed to have been written and composed by the Celestial Dragons themselves. And that one that you were humming is a very popular one. It is called "The Song of Reality". The song is taught to children during their very first year in primary school and is important to our culture."
"Wow," said Tatsuya in sincere surprise. He hadn't expected to learn that the song was very significant.
"Although it is one of the more well known songs of wisdom, it is not normally sung for enjoyment," continued Ingrid. "The song is typically only ever sung during religious gatherings and on certain holidays."
"Do you know the meaning behind the song?" asked Tatsuya expectantly.
Ingrid shook her head. "Songs of wisdom have two meanings: one is didactic and the other is esoteric," she told him. "Everyone is taught the didactic meaning of the songs, which are general understandings of the songs' lessons made easy to understand for the general public. On the other hand, the esoteric meaning of the songs are reserved for members of the clergy. It is said that the esoteric meanings are the real mystical teachings behind these holy songs. Other than the clergy, the only other people who possess such knowledge are the Celestial Dragons."
"Can you tell me the didactic meaning then?" pleaded Tatsuya.
Ingrid nodded her head. "To put it simply, the song explains the nature of existence. Everything and nothing are but two sides of the same coin. Everything is nothing and nothing is everything. Basically, the world is impermanent and always changing."
"Nothing is permanent," muttered Tatsuya to himself. "So that must mean the idea of normal too. Is that why she said that there is no such thing as normal?"
"Owatatsumi-sama?" asked Ingrid. Tatsuya quickly looked up at her. "Are you okay? You're mumbling to yourself."
"I'm fine!" reassured Tatsuya with a smile and laugh.
Everyone had gathered for breakfast. Since today was the beginning of the weekend, the entire household took their time enjoying their breakfast together. Tatsuya had finished his plate of tamago kake gohan (cooked rice mixed with raw egg and soy sauce) and miso soup when Sunaji quickly got up and brought out another dish and set it in front of him. Tatsuya took a look and saw that it was hayashi rice (thick beef stew with rice). The exquisite aroma completely enraptured his nose and filled his nostrils with pleasant smells; the dish was practically begging to be consumed! He could already feel his mouth watering. The vibrant colors of the dish also invited his eyes to take it all in and start first by consuming its delectable image. Tatsuya gulped and casually asked, "Is this hayashi rice?"
"It is," answered Sunaji with a smug nod.
"And this is for me?"
His words completely caught Sunaji off guard and she quickly turned away with her arms across her chest. "I only assayed the dish for what my class is doing for the school Summer Festival," she told him. "We're doing a restaurant and since I knew how to cook, I took the role of chef and asked my classmates to make a menu. Hayashi rice is just one of the menu's dishes and intelligence has told me that it is a popular Japanese dish. I just thought that it would behoof me to have someone try a dish I have never made before and provide me rede so I can make any revisions if necessary. That's all! I didn't do it specifically for you. I just thought that since you know Japanese food well, it would behoof me to have you judge my dish." ("Assay" = "trial/attempt"; "intelligence" = "news"; "behoof" = "benefit/advantage"; "rede" = "counsel/advice").
Tatsuya thanked her for the food and dug in. The flavor of the dish exploded in his mouth like a bomb of deliciousness. The sauce caressed his tongue and stimulated his taste buds, the meat was tender and its texture was like satisfying velvet, the vegetables colored his taste buds with indescribable umami flavors, and the rice perfectly complimented the dish like the most perfect soulmate. The dish acted like a beautiful symphony that drowned him in a concert of pleasure and satisfaction. "Delicious!" he happily declared with a satisfied moan upon finishing the dish.
Suddenly, another plate of food was set in front of him. This time it was Aika who presented him the dish. "Here you go Darling!" she told him with a big smile. "I practiced my cooking and made this dish for you. When I heard that Princess Lady was preparing a dish for you, I decided to prepare one for you too!" She then turned her face away and quietly added, "Of course I couldn't let her show me up and steal your heart away from me."
Tatsuya glanced at the dish in front of him and almost jumped back in terror. The food was a dark red color like hot burning coals and carried a very pungent smell that made his nose hairs wither inside his nostrils. "W-What is this?" he asked in the nicest way possible.
"Curry rice!" said Aika. She took the spoon and picked up a spoonful of the food and presented it in front of Tatsuya's lips. "Here, I'll feed it to you," she told him excitedly.
Tatsuya was having horrible flashbacks of the last time he tried her cooking. He seriously didn't want to eat it and desperately wanted to run away as fast as he could. He gulped and carelessly opened his mouth to speak. "Listen, Aika, I—," he was quickly interrupted by Aika placing the food in his mouth.
The food touched his tongue and Tatsuya believed that he saw Death gesturing for him to follow. A huge fire encased his tongue and indiscriminately burned his taste buds to ashes. The first and only thing he could taste in this "dish" was a hellish spiciness that made his head numb and his throat crying for water. He could just barely feel the texture of the other ingredients, but the spiciness made the other ingredients feel insignificant as if they were nothing more than mere background characters. Tears were literally streaming down his face and mixing with the sweat that was profusely produced by his body as a result of the dangerous rise in bodily temperature from the spicy curry. "W-Water," he gasped ghoulishly, "Please, water."
Kanjomizu immediately rushed to his side and presented to him a glass of water. Tatsuya grabbed it and quickly doused his throat in the cool liquid. He could feel the fire lessening a bit. Breathing heavily, he turned his face to Aika and shook his head with a pained expression. "H-How many peppers did you put in this?" he asked her after his tongue had cooled a bit.
"Well, I was told that curry is better spicy and it is a spicy dish to begin with, so I used whatever I can to spice it up!" answered Aika happily. "I used cayenne pepper, jalapeño peppers, Serrano peppers, habanero peppers, and Thai chili!" she proudly recounted.
"That's too many peppers!" cried Tatsuya.
"Oh, and I added a hint of wasabi too!" she added.
"H-How big of a hint?" he asked her worriedly.
"A spoonful," she told him.
"That's bigger than a hint!" he cried. That's it, he's done with Aika's dishes. Her cooking skills have not improved one bit. And if he's being honest, he genuinely feels that sooner or later he's going to be killed by one of her dishes.
"Princess Aika," said Sunaji, standing up, "how do you expect someone to eat something so spicy and so ridiculous as that?" She crossed her arms over her chest and added, "It appears that you are pardi a lurdan at cooking." ("Pardi" = "indeed/verily"; "lurdan" = "a stupid/foolish/incompetent person").
Aika clenched her fist and shook it in front of Sunaji and angrily said, "What did you say, you uptight priss?!"
"Vulgarity will get you nowhere, you malapert strumpet," said Sunaji in a mature tone.
"Strumpet?!" cried Aika furiously.
As the two princesses were fighting with Tatsuya literally caught in the middle, Kanjomizu stood up to rush to Aika's aid but was quickly stopped by Arashi. "Can we talk?" asked Arashi. She led the water dragon princess into the hallway.
Kanjomizu was afraid of being alone with Arashi. Her fear of the air dragon princess was already set in stone ever since their first meeting. Oh how she desperately wished for Aika to be beside her right now. "What did you want to discuss?" she squeaked.
Arashi focused on a spot on the ground and avoided Kanjomizu's eyes. Her expression was uneasy and awkward, a foreign expression that Kanjomizu had never witnessed the Quetzalcoatl princess wear before. Arashi wrapped one arm around the other and rubbed it. "Listen," she started, "I want to ask you something."
"W-What is it?" asked Kanjomizu meekly.
"Where do you think you're at in your relationship with Tatsuya?" asked Arashi.
Kanjomizu noticed that the expression on the latter's face was genuine and had no trace of malice to it at all. She exhaled a sigh of relief; for the first time ever, Arashi wasn't pulling her leg or setting her up for a very vicious joke. "Well," she began, "I think that we're progressing at a good pace."
Arashi quickly turned her head to face Kanjomizu and bluntly said, "Really? It sure doesn't look like it."
"I—." Kanjomizu had no answer or response to Arashi's words.
"I know that you made an alliance with the Draco princess for Tatsuya's heart," revealed Arashi. "It was kind of obvious with how much you two have been helping each other to get Tatsuya's attention."
"I-I-I don't k-k-know what you mean," stuttered Kanjomizu.
"Let me just tell you this," said Arashi with a small smile, "I suggest that you end this alliance. You love Tatsuya, don't you? Don't you think that the alliance had been holding you back from advancing your relationship with him? If you really do love him, then you'll be using every ounce of your own power to make him look your way."
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Kanjomizu with a gulp.
Arashi leaned forward and said, "Because if I'm going to be fighting you, I want to do it fair and square. Otherwise, it wouldn't be interesting." She flashed the water dragon princess a playful smile and then walked back into the kitchen.
Kanjomizu stood there in a daze. The conversation she just had was very strange, yet the words Arashi had spoken were the truth. Kanjomizu had been waiting for a chance to take the initiative for once and show Tatsuya how much she had grown and how willing she is to advance their relationship to the next level. However, that chance never came. She thought that maybe the alliance would help her, but nothing happened. Could it be that the alliance was the cause of this? Maybe Arashi was right—maybe she (Kanjomizu) needed to end this alliance and learn to depend on her own power to win her Love's heart. It all became clear to her—this alliance was indeed the obstacle that hindered her chances to take the initiative. She now knows what she needed to do.
After breakfast had ended, Kanjomizu pulled Aika to the side. "I have something I need to tell you, Aika," she told the Draco princess.
"What is it, Mizu?" asked Aika.
Kanjomizu hesitated a bit and twiddled her thumbs. "I…I want to end our alliance," she announced clearly and boldly. She put on a serious and strong expression to show Aika that it was over.
Aika took a few seconds to process those words and then replied, "And why would you do that?" She wore a very suspicious frown.
"I want to do everything in my own power to win My Love myself," Kanjomizu told her confidently with a nod.
Aika listened to her words and nodded. "Alright then. Good luck," she told Kanjomizu with an understanding smile and a thumbs up. "I'll feel better too if I can beat you and everyone else fair and square for Darling's heart."
Unbeknownst to the dragon princesses, Arashi was listening to this conversation from the hallway. She smiled a small smile to herself. After her own revelation about her feelings for Tatsuya, she viewed the alliance between Aika and Kanjomizu as a major threat. Now that it has been terminated by both parties, she feels that she has an equal fighting chance for Tatsuya's heart. 'Things are about to get interesting,' she mused.
Ryujin stood in the front yard and gazed at the moon shining brightly in the night sky. The night was quiet and clear. A light breeze brushed past him. He had on a smile—he deeply enjoyed basking in the moon's beautiful glow. It's peaceful and beautiful nights like these that make him appreciate all of existence.
A new shadow appeared next to him. He didn't need to detach his gaze from the moon to know of this—he could sense its presence as clear as the night sky. "You're here," he said to his guest.
"It's been a long time, my sire," replied the guest. The guest was a young middle-school girl with shoulder length-black hair and a side ponytail with a red hair band and heterochromatic eyes: her right eye was a chocolate brown color and her left eye was a beautiful bold amethyst color with an emerald green slit pupil. On her forehead was a bottle-cap sized purple dragon tattoo. It was Yong.
"I heard that you were in the area," said Ryujin.
"And I you," added Yong.
Ryujin turned to his guest and smiled upon seeing her new form. "Who did you possess this time?"
"A young girl by the name of Hanazawa Kira," she answered.
"What made you chose her?" asked Ryujin with a laugh.
"I just felt like it," answered Yong with a shrug.
"You know, I've heard my son humming a song of wisdom today," said Ryujin. "I was wondering where he had heard it from and then I realized what song it was. I had also remembered just whose favorite song this was, too."
"My, I guess I'm found out," said Yong with a bow. "I didn't know that he was your boy."
"What did you tell him your name was?" asked Ryujin.
"Take a guess," said Yong with a playful smile.
Ryujin laughed heartily at her joke. "It's been a long time, Imoogi," said Ryujin with a smile.
"It's been a long time since someone used that name, my sire," said Yong.
"Have you been going around telling everyone your name is Yong?" said Ryujin with a raised eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, it was because of your introductions that have made humans elevate the yong to godly levels instead of your own namesake."
"It's very entertaining to test humans," admitted Yong with a shrug.
"You and your pranks," sighed Ryujin with a shake of his head.
"Well, the yong is still me, just not exactly me," said Yong. "If you want to blame anyone, blame the humans of the Baekje kingdom," she added in a joking manner.
Ryujin laughed again at the dragon's joke. He calmed his laughter and then his face became a little more serious. "Would you mind telling me what you and Tatsuya talked about?" he asked his guest.
"He was lost," Yong simply told him. "I just gave him some advice. That's all."
"I see," said Ryujin with a nod. He looked at Yong and asked, "So, how long are you planning on staying in the human realm?"
"Until I get bored," answered Yong straightforwardly, throwing her hands behind her head. "The fun is just getting started," she added with a knowing smile and bright twinkling eyes
"The battle has only just begun," agreed Ryujin with a nod. They both gazed at the moon together in the cool embrace of the night. This peaceful night will be the last of its kind before the occurrence of an Earth-shattering battle that will disrupt the balance of the universe. And so, the two dragons decided to make the most of it and enjoy this last night of peace to its fullest.