Once Dachii was in the car, Xar drove him further down the streets of Asuka, taking him into a quiet neighborhood.
After a few minutes, a bland-looking silver mansion could be seen, with a large garden in its front yard.
"So, this is Grandfather's other place…" Dachii thought, and Xar pulled up to the mansion.
"Go on," Xar said. "He should be inside."
Dachii got out of the car and walked up the steps to the S-3 Mansion, knocking on the door.
"Hello?"
He saw someone creak open the door, and then they threw it open. "Dachii! What are you doing here?"
Dachii immediately noticed who it was. "Nishi?"
To his surprise, she hugged him. "Great to see you again!"
Dachii's face began to feel hot, and he looked away. "Uh, this is new…"
As the soldiers in the common room began to take notice, Nishiyama stepped back, embarrassed. "So…just wanted to thank you for saving me back at that island, it totally helped me a lot."
"Yeah, no problem…" Dachii said, still looking away. "So, I see you're in good spirits again."
She beamed. "Yep! Not only can I paralyze people, now, I can paralyze anything I WANT!"
She held up her hand, and Dachii saw sparks come off of it. "Woah, that's cool! What do you use it on?"
She snapped her fingers, and a net with Tomoko inside fell from the ceiling. "You know, nothing much."
"What the—-? TOMOKO?"
She leaned into Dachii's ear. "To be fair, I was considering leaving him in the fridge instead, but Sir wouldn't let me."
Dachii looked at Tomoko, who waved. "Dachii! Haha!"
Nishiyama snapped her fingers again, and Tomoko immediately went still.
"So, Nishi, do you know where my Grandfather is? Dachii asked.
She thought for a moment. "I think he's on the roof. He has a garden up there that he's always watering."
Dachii began to head up the stairs. "Alright, I'll…go see what's up."
She waved. "Okay! Come back when you're done!"
Tomoko got up again, trying to get out of the next. "Haha! May I leave this trap?"
Nishiyama snapped her fingers, giving Tomoko a death stare. "No."
Dachii walked upstairs and saw a ladder at the end of the hall. "No elevator or anything? Is Grandfather that old?"
Dachii climbed the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor leading to the roof. When he was able to get his head up, he saw Morino tending to a large garden. The flowers were taller than Morino himself.
"Grandfather?" Dachii called out, climbing onto the roof.
Morino stopped watering his plants and turned his attention to Dachii. "Dachii! Made it to my stop, eh?"
"Yeah," Dachii replied. "After an ENTIRE WEEK. Oh, and Nakada says hi."
Morino laughed. "That silly girl. Come over here Dachii, I'd like to show you something."
When Dachii got close, Morino pointed to a pink flower. "Smell that."
"It's not poisonous?" Dachii questioned.
Morino shook his head. "I want you to smell it. It will help with the lesson for today."
Dachii leaned in close and smelt the flower, and he felt a wave of calm watch over him, combined with a sweet peach scent.
"It smells like a fruit," Dachii remarked.
"Indeed," Morino stated. "It's called Queen's Radiance. It's said to be the favorite flower of a powerful ancient goddess. Also good for making Queen's Revenge, but you're too young for that talk."
"So how will it help me in my training?"
Morino squeezed the flower, and what seemed like a thick pink cloud of mist came out of it, shrouding Dachii's vision.
"You've trained in various things by now, but I'm sure none of them have trained you in the most important tool you need for survival. Your senses."
Dachii began to cough, looking around for Morino. "What? What am I supposed to do?"
"It's simple, kiddo. Just find where I am inside of this cloud. Remember your battle with Vapron, and utilize your senses."
Dachii punched the ground, clearing part of the cloud away.
"Don't use your powers!" Morino ordered. "Use your MIND."
"Great," Dachii thought. "These old man games."
As Dachii walked through the hazy garden, he heard a rustle behind him and immediately turned around, but there was nothing there.
"Grandfather?"
He saw a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye, but when he turned again to investigate, there was still nothing in sight.
"Okay, he's playing tricks," Dachii thought.
Dachii took a step forward, scanning through the pink mist. "Where could he—-?"
He heard footsteps behind him and immediately spun around, but a chain wrapped around him from the side.
"Got you!"
Morino held up a small fan, blowing the cloud of mist away. "We need to work on your senses, kiddo! Can't let the enemy sneak up on you like that!"
He unwrapped the chain around Dachii.
"So, how do I improve my senses? Wouldn't it be easier to just bash the ground and disorient the opponent?" Dachii asked.
Morino walked toward the Queen's Radiance flower. "That might work in a straight-up fight, but fights are rarely so straightforward. As with Vapron. He could cloud areas in smoke."
Dachii stood next to him. "We still won, though."
Morino sighed and reached into a nearby crate. "Here, put this on."
He handed Dachii a blindfold. "We'll do a little practice."
Dachii wrapped the blindfold around his face, his vision now completely dark. "Done."
"Now, I want you to concentrate. I'll try to creep up on you, and you try to use all of your senses to detect when I am approaching, then move out of the way before I tap you."
Dachii put his hands in front of him, making sure he wasn't close to a flower. "Okay."
And just like that, he felt a breeze of wind as Morino disappeared. "How can he move so FAST?" Dachii wondered.
As the area around him grew quiet, he attempted to listen in for any sound or movement.
"Hmm…"
He could hear the sound of a bee, but the rest of the roof was completely silent. "Listen…listen…"
Just then, he heard a noise and jumped away.
"Did I—-?"
And he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Nope, kiddo."
Dachii took off his blindfold and saw Morino next to him. "How? I just heard you!"
Morino pointed across the room, where Mashimo was busy trimming a large sunflower. "That was Mashimo. He offered to help me with the plants."
Mashimo gave a polite nod to Dachii. "Good day to you, Dachii."
Dachii shook his head. "Yeah, this is rigged."
Mashimo and Morino broke out into laughter, before resuming their activities.
"How did you even get to be a General anyway, Grandfather? To my knowledge, you're a normal human." Dachii pointed out.
"That's true," Morino said, picking up a watering can. "I was born here, decades ago. When I was your age, I attended the Tryouts in an attempt to move out of Batango, due to the harsh conditions and abuse."
Dachii stayed quiet for a moment. "So the Voltians bullied you?"
Morino had an awkward look on his face. "Well, technically…yes?"
"So, why are you so dedicated to them? What made them see you as a hero or something?"
"There was a girl that I liked. She was a Voltian of high status. We were friends and planned to attend the Tryouts together, but when she prepared to fight, a monster attacked her, and I had to save her. She and her family were grateful, and even though I lost the Tryouts, they still made me a soldier."
Dachii pointed to the axes hanging off Morino's belt. "That still doesn't explain the inhuman things you do."
Morino chuckled, and a sad smile crossed his face. "Just call it a gift from her."
He gripped Dachii by the shoulders, leaning down. "Be honest with me, Dachii. What do you think of them?"
"The Voltians? Well, most of them are rude and pretty condescending, but some of them have a nice charm to them, and the girls are pretty cute. I guess…they're…tolerable. Humans would be preferable, but it's always pretty cool to see magic in action. Arata seems like a jerk to me, though."
Morino finished watering the plants. "I can't blame you, but Dachii, they aren't so bad once you start to know them better. You'll see."
Dachii took a moment before responding. "So, why hasn't Mom ever liked them?"
Morino sighed. "That…is a story for another day. Let's do some more practice, for now."
As the day went on, Dachii continued to practice blindfolded, getting closer and closer to spotting Morino.
"Missed me!"
Morino tapped him on the shoulder. "Timing was a little off. Let's redo it."
After a couple more drills, Morino called it a day and they went downstairs.
"Alright people, who's ready to eat—-?"
Morino stopped speaking as the door was kicked open, and Kia and Marachii were standing in the doorway.
"Dachii! Father!" Kia greeted. "Here's some food for you two!"
Marachii held up three pizza boxes. "We thought you two would be hungry from the training, so Mom bought food!"
Morino took the boxes. "Wow! Thanks, you two! We can feed the entire squad with this!"
Kia's face immediately shifted to a cold and hardened expression. "No. Don't give those little monsters a single slice. I bought this food for my FAMILY."
Marachii just awkwardly stood behind her as soldiers looked at the food.
Morino nervously laughed. "Oh, alright. Take care, you two!"
Kia hugged Dachii. "Call me if you need anything, son!"
"Alright!" he replied. "Bye, mom!"
As the two left, Dachii opened one of the pizza boxes. "Pepperoni! I wonder where they got this from?"
As he took it and sat down on the couch, Nishiyama plopped next to him. "Ooh! I can have some, right?"
"Uh, my mom did say no…"
Tomoko sat on the other side, taking a slice and eating it. "Haha! It's good!"
Nishiyama clenched a fist and calmly put a hand on Dachii's shoulder. "Dachii. You wouldn't let Tomoko get a slice over ME, would you?"
Dachii looked in between the two, and he saw Nishiyama's calm but cold look. "Uh…you know what? Here you go!"
He handed her one and she ate it almost immediately. "Thank you! What a good friend you are!"
Morino and Mashimo shared a look, and Morino took another pizza box. "Well, guess you guys can have the other one."
Mashimo gave Morino a polite bow. "Thank you, sir. I'm hopeful your daughter will accept us soon."
As Morino walked away, he muttered under his breath: "I hope so too."
As soldiers began to fight over the last pizza box, Nishiyama scooted closer to Dachii. "One more wouldn't hurt, right?"
Dachii groaned and handed her another slice. "Women."
He looked around the room, but he noticed someone was missing.
"Any of you seen Atomu?"
Nishiyama gobbled her slice down. "Nope. In typical Prince fashion, he requested a week of private training. Probably in an attempt to catch his sister."
"Oh," Dachii said. "I wonder how that will go."
Mashimo bit into a slice of pizza. "The Prince is a dedicated young man, I wish him all the best."
After eating, Dachii headed into a guest room to sleep, but not before witnessing Nishiyama drag Tomoko down the hallway by his leg.
"Nishi?" Dachii blurted out, a bit nervous. "Everything…okay?"
Nishiyama turned her head to look at Dachii, and he saw her eyes were glowing white.
"Everything's fine, Dachii!" she insisted. "Goodnight! Sleep well!"
"Haha, Dachii!" Tomoko laughed. "I am being taken away!"
She continued to drag Tomoko down the hall, and Dachii quietly shut the door. "Poor Tomoko."
The next day, he and Morino continued to practice with the blindfold. After several hours of failed attempts, he managed to get out of the way before Morino touched him.
"You did it, kiddo!" Morino exclaimed. "I guess that means you can move on to Himeka! I'll contact Xar."
"Hikari's sister?" Dachii asked. "What's she gonna teach me?"
Morino winked. "You'll see. Head downstairs."
Once he made it to the door, Nishiyama clasped his hand in hers. "You'll come back, right? To see what cool moves I've learned?"
"Sure," Dachii answered. "Whenever they let me free."
She and Tomoko waved goodbye to him as he walked to Xar's car, and right before the door shut she used her magic to paralyze Tomoko.
"Now, time to deal with you."
As Xar pulled out of the driveway, Dachii took one last look at the mansion. "Bye, Grandfather."
Xar drove down numerous roads, passing many mansions and office buildings in the process.
"General S-2 should be a cakewalk for you," Xar remarked. "She's so naïve and immature, you might be the one training her."
Dachii looked at Xar, confused. "What does that mean?"
Xar kept his eyes on the road. "When you meet her, you'll realize."
After driving down more roads, a mansion with a white and pink theme came into view. "There's her place."
Xar pulled up into the driveway, but when they got close enough, they saw Hikari standing by the door, looking very worried.
—-