It's about an hour since the frog incident.
I sat beside Megumin on a sofa facing the warm fireplace. Yunyun lies unconscious on Megumin's lap, her mind's been scrubbed clean from the whispers of the Axis Cult. It took a lot of work, Aqua's accidental doctrine was much powerful than I expected.
Yunyun blearily opened her eyes, she locked her gaze with Megumin and tilted her head ever so slightly. "M-mom?" she blinked a little and rubbed her eyes. "Me-Megumin? What are you…" she sat up and put a hand over head.
"Ah, my head…" she whispered before looking at her long lost rival. I scooted away to give them some space. "Megumin? What happened? Where am I?" she looked to her left and saw me sitting next to her. "Wh-who are you?"
Megumin smiled patiently at her rival. "Yunyun, you're finally awake, my husband found you unconscious at the foot of a mountain. You were trying to cross the border right?"
"Th-the border?" Yunyun grimaced and put a hand over her head. "Ahh… Did I fell off a mountain head first or something?"
"Perhaps," Megumin then turned towards me. "Oh, and let me introduce him, this is Satou Kazuma, he's my husband who found you during one of his travels."
Yunyun turned towards me. "Satou Kazuma san," she held out her hand and I shook it. "Nice to meet you, my name is Yunyun, please take care of me…"
"And my name is Kazuma, Megumin's husband, pleased to meet you," I told her before letting go of her hands.
"Ri-right…" Yunyun was about to make herself comfortable on the sofa when her eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Wh-what?!" she jumped off the sofa and looked between me and Megumin back and forth. "Hu-husband!? You're already married!?"
Megumin averted her gaze and blushed a little. She scooted closer towards me and leaned herself on my body. "W-well… Crimson Demon finds love in the most unexpected places…" she muttered shyly while I put an arm around her shoulder.
Yunyun's face turned bright red and she jumped around a little in agitation. "B-but we're still… You're…" she shook her head. "D-don't joke around Megumin!"
A sly grin appeared on Megumin's face. She put a hand around my neck and brought her face to mine. We shared a kiss for a moment before looking back at Yunyun.
Steam spews out of her head and Yunyun's face is almost indistinguishable with her crimson eyes. She looked between me and Megumin before curling up on the floor. "Waah! You win Megumin! You win this fight!" she exclaimed.
I tilted my head in confusion. "Fight? What's she talking about Megumin? Are you both racing to get husband or something?"
Megumin just shook her head. "No, it's just that, back in the school we used to compete in just about everything. You could say she's my rival or something like that."
Yunyun nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, Megumin is my rival! She was in the first place in academics back in school while I was in the second place! She's my rival and I have traveled far and wide to learn advanced magic to defeat her!!!"
You can't, trust me, I've tried… And I've learned a LOT of advanced magic.
Megumin smirked in response. "Hee, so you're asking for a competition huh?" she turned towards me. "Ne, Kazuma kun, how should we compete?"
You'd win by default, is what I wanted to say. "Good old duel I guess? Yunyun here seems pretty tough," I said.
Megumin nodded a little. "Yes, she does have many advanced spells under her belt," she stood up from the sofa and grabbed a crystal staff out of nowhere. "It's been a while since I have a fair fight, well, Yunyun?"
Yunyun blinked a little before gasping a little. "Megumin, could it be? Could it be that you've finally learned something, any advanced magic aside from explosion?"
"Well, you'll see…"
---
Yunyun and Megumin stood across each other. Both has a look of careful determination on their face. Neither knew the full capability of the other. Even Megumin who's already pretty powerful still isn't all that confident when facing Yunyun in a fair fight.
I stood between them, acting as the referee.
"Okay, Yunyun of Crimson Demon and Megumin of Fantastic Dreamer, on your mark…"
Yunyun held her silver staff in one hand and Megumin gripped her crystal staff tightly with both hands.
"Get set…"
Megumin made a defensive stance, expecting a preemptive attack. Yunyun seems like she has a spell just at the tip of her tongue. Neither knew about their opponent's level. Since both decided not to reveal the other's level.
"Go!"
Yunyun charged towards Megumin just slightly slower than Megumin's max speed. Her silver staff glows brightly as she charged it with magic. "Light of Saber!" she exclaimed and sliced towards Megumin with all her might.
Megumin jabbed her staff to the ground and literally rocket jumped herself to the air, narrowly dodging the light saber. She then flipped around and delivered a flying kick right at Yunyun's head.
Yunyun, was knocked away by the kick and almost lost her balance. She turned around and held out her hands. "Inferno!" a very, very large plume of white hot fire burst out of her hands like a tidal wave.
'BANG'
With a single swipe of Megumin's staff a shock wave knocked back the fire and returned it back to the sender.
Yunyun was quick enough however, jumping back at the last moment. She brandished her sword and charged towards her lifelong rival.
Megumin blocked her with her staff and an explosion appeared from the impact.
But neither budged from the power of explosion, they started to fight each other in a very loud, very dangerous, very powerful melee fight.
The fight lasts for around ten minutes before Yunyun's sword literally shattered into pieces. She jumped back and took a deep breath as if preparing for a powerful spell.
But Megumin was faster, numerous rings of light appeared behind her back.
A smirk formed on Yunyun's face as she started running through the perimeter of the combat area. However, the magic pattern followed Yunyun, making her smile falter a little. She watched the magic pattern in suspicion, not sure what to do.
"Cursed Lightning!" she exclaimed, shooting out a beam of light straight at Megumin.
The loli dodged the obvious attack and pointed her staff towards Yunyun.
The pattern above her flashed a little and Yunyun jumped back in alert, narrowly dodging an explosion. She looked back at Megumin and saw that the magic patterns are still strong and ready to shoot more.
And shoot more it did.
The magic patterns shot out mini explosion spells, resembling the lower level spells in the detonation series, like a freaking turret.
Yunyun tried dodging as best as she can, but soon the close scrapes became more and more frequent. Her breathing get staggered and she was hit head on once with an explosion.
Then, when it seems like it was all over…
"Teleport!"
Megumin turned around just in time to block sneak attack from Yunyun. She jumped back, a little bit out of breath before raising her staff.
The magic patterns floats high into the air and points down towards them like an impending ray of doom. The patterns then splits apart, covering every inch of the sky on the arena.
It looks like a freaking alien invasion or ritual to summon an eldritch abomination. Rings of light spreads all across the clearing, blotting out the sunlight and turning the bright blue into a crimson red sky straight out of hell.
Yunyun's eyes widened after realizing what's about to happen.
"Tele-"
"EXPLOSION!!!"
I shielded my eyes as dozens of beams of death shot down from the heavens, obliterating my backyard. It didn't shoot only once, but repeatedly, like each beams contains a certain number of bullets inside them.
When the explosion stops and the dust settles, I found Megumin standing tall above a kneeling Yunyun with one last flickering magic circle above her remaining.
"I win again…" Megumin said with a grin.
"And I'm not gonna lose again…" Yunyun said with an exhausted smile.
They held each other's hand before falling on the ground unconscious.
I walked towards them and decided not to say anything. I simply used drain touch to replenish their power.
---
It was noon, just an hour after out battle. Megumin and Yunyun shared stories of their adventures alike. Both has quite an interesting and fascinating tale. The only difference is that Yunyun's tale is more about her solo leveling though the continent and escaping any sort of social situation.
Seriously, Yunyun is almost a perfect model student of every school ever, except for the fact that she has a crippling social anxiety. I literally have to order her to stay just so she can sit down and have lunch with the rest of us.
Yunyun didn't say a word as she ate her food. Shooting awkward glance every now and then to Megumin.
Then, just before she finished the food, she looked at Megumin. "So, Megumin, you, you really love Kazuma huh?" Yunyun asked.
"Yes," Megumin smirked a little. "Are you jealous?"
Yunyun lowered her head and sighed a little. "I-I feel like I'm interrupting a family affair…" she stood up from her seat and started walking away from the mansion. "I don't want to intrude on your business anymore…"
"You're already welcomed here Yunyun, are you sure?" Megumin said from her seat. "How many times has this happened? You turning your back on people who genuinely wanted to be your friend, all because you're too scared take their hands."
"Ouch, Megumin, easy there…"
"Shut up, she's been telling me to grow up for years, I'm just returning the favor…"
The girl's hand trembled a little after hearing that but she refused to turn around. "I-I know that…" her voice hitched under her breath. "I can't… I can't take your hand… I'm scared,"
"You'll be alone forever"
"I am…"
Need me to come to the rescue?
No, I get what I need to do
Megumin stood up from her seat and walked straight towards Yunyun. She grabbed her hand from behind and gripped it tightly. She then pulled Yunyun towards her, forcing them to face each other.
"You will stay Yunyun and I will drag you back here kicking and screaming no matter how much you struggle."
Yunyun tried to pull her hands away, but Megumin's hand felt like an iron grip. "L-let me go, Megu… min…"
The girl went limp and Megumin dragged her to the sofa in front of the fireplace. "I'm not letting you live alone anymore…" the latter said before dumping her on to the sofa. "You are going to stay here and you will become the fifth member of the Fantastic Dreamer even if it's the last thing I do."
Your turn leader
I stood up from my seat and walked towards the crimson demons. There, Megumin is sapping her dry of her magic and forcing her to sit beside her. I sat down beside Yunyun and took out a vegetable stick. "Want some?"
Yunyun politely shook her head. "No thank you, thanks for the food…" she muttered.
"Must be really hard huh?" I said nonchalantly. "You look around and see complete strangers talking like they knew each other, you see people making friends left and right like it's a second nature to them, you see people laughing and playing together like it's the easiest thing in the world."
Yunyun said nothing, just looking down as she listened to my words.
"But when you tried to do it, you just can't seem to figure it out! Is it hello or hi? Good morning or morning? Is it thank you or sorry? Is it you asking their names first or should you tell your name first? Is it even… polite to ask a complete stranger their name?"
Yunyun simply nodded mutely as tears started streaming down her face.
"How long should you talk until they're no longer a complete stranger? If you know their name, are they even your friend? At what point can you start asking them to hang out? At what point can you introduce them as your friend? At what point can you start making fun of them?"
"You ask this question and everyone just told you to 'act natural' or 'just be yourself'. Then you ask them, how you're supposed to do that and they have no answer. You ask others how they make friends and they gave you vague explanation like 'it just clicked to me' or 'cuz he's a good guy or girl' and other stuff like that."
"As you wallow in your loneliness you started taking on a more direct approach. You give other people favors, expecting them to like you. You help others without being asked. You give out stuff to others so that they would like you, but… Even that is not right…"
Yunyun started sobbing but she still hasn't spoken a word.
"In the end people felt bad for hanging out with you. By being an over giver, people felt ungrateful for unable to return the favor. So you try a different approach, demanding something instead, like battle or competition."
"Even that is not right and you're getting more and more frustrated. You wanted friends, you look at a band of closely knit party and your heart screams with jealousy. You look at a couple and you'd imagine how happy they must be together."
"But you? You're a kind person, you don't want to ruin other people's relationship. You know how it feels like to be alone and you just can't let other people went through it. So you shy away from all potential friends, you accepted the fact that you're destined to be alone…"
I put a hand over Yunyun's chin and lifted her face up. Tears steadily streams down her face as she gazed at me with that longing look on her face.
"Be honest with me, that's not what you want, right? You don't want to be alone anymore…"
The girl slowly shook her head.
"Then it's alright for you to be a little selfish… It's alright for you to take some without giving some. It's alright for you to ask a little favor without returning it… It's alright for all of us to be just a little bit greedy…"
I let go of her face and held out my hand. "Yunyun, will you be my friend and make your beloved rival here jealous as to how close we are as a friend?"
Yunyun's mouth quivered and she answered, with a tearful face, as clear as a day.
"Yes!"
She shook my hand and I pulled her into a soft embrace.
"Welcome to the Fantastic Dreamers Yunyun."