Blessed Wind

Back at the Magic Council, Deen scratched his head violently. "Aaagh, what do I do nooooooooow?!" He banged his head against the wall in frustration—only for a friend; Kinos Lagoon; to catch him; scolding him.

"If you wanna get to know her and maybe –something else- you gotta fake like you're in love." All of a sudden, Kinos took another rune knight's hand, looking him in the eyes while enlarging his eyes to look like a puppy's. "Just look her in the eye, start crying and say "'I've never been so happy.'"

The other rune knight retracted his hand instantly, completely repulsed. "...Dude, das gay."

Deen snarked, "Dude, that's the most gangsta shit I've seen all day. Hmm, teach me how I can get her to open up that way."

In the span of an instant, Kinos had set the dorm room up to appear similar to that of a classroom.

"...How did you do that so fast!?" Deen was absolutely amazed.

"Mah man, you should never underestimate the power of lust! Alright, here's what you have to do! Since it's your second date so to speak, give her champagne, flowers, and indulge in a lame conversation!" Deen couldn't tell whether or not Kinos' advice was legit or stupid as hell.

"OK, you're on a date. What's the first thing you do?"

"Ask her to lighten the hell up." Deen was rather...blunt about this.

"Wrong! Tell her she's special."

"...You know that Kaguya is a stuck-up little bitch, right?"

"...Er, well, tell her that. And then?"

"Then she has to lighten the fuck up."

"No. Make up some feelings and tell her you have them." Kinos was very, very serious in this manner.

"Is the desire for her to stop bleeding everywhere a feeling?" Deen...didn't really understand all of this.

"GODDAMMIT MAN YOU'RE NOT EVEN TRYING!"

Deen suddenly buried his head with his hands, groaning. "Okay, let me tell you something! Girls scare me! They're such complicated things and you know!" He was kinda dorky about the subject of girls. "It's all so complicated with the flowers and the romance and the lies upon lies!"

Kinos rested his hand upon Deen's shoulder. "Let me handle this."

Nailed It
Outside of Kaguya's decorated and expensive-looking dorm room, Deen stood before the door—like before, he was dressed as his sexy alter-ego, Dianne Ranto. "Dianne" straightened her hairclip in worry, fretting over whether or not she'd see through his ruse. Thankfully, Kinos was hiding behind the wall, waiting for the blue-haired young woman to pick up, supporting his friend the whole way.

"Oh, hello, Dianne." Kaguya answered the door—her hair was hair down. Her clothes were those cute ones worn by girls her age. It was Deen's time seeing the graceful and mature Kaguya Kobayashi wearing boots.

He actually thought she would wear sophisticated clothes more mature women would wear.

Kinos whispered from around the corner, "Start with a compliment. Talk her she looks thin."

"Dianne" scratched her head, sheepishly asking, "You seem malnourished. Are you suffering from bulimia?"

Kaguya glared at "Dianne" suspiciously, answering, "Why, yes. Thanks for noticing."

"Now ask her how her day was." Kinos kept 'em coming.

Deen whispered back, "Why would I wanna know?"

"You wouldn't. Ask anyway."

Deen then turned around, asking, "So....uh, how was your day?"

Kaguya pressed her finger to her lip, "Well, first, I woke up, and then I had some breakfast, and then I had a shower, and then I brushed my teeth, and then..."

Deen swirled around, about to flip his lid at Kinos. "Dammit, look at what you did! NOW SHE WON'T SHUT UP!"

"That's normal. Just nod your head and say "Uh-huh"."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh." Deen was nodding like an idiot.

"...And then you came to get me. You know, Dianne, it's crazy but when you talk this way; it seems like you're a guy."

Deen froze up at this notion, before replying in a high-pitched tone, "Ahaha, that's silly. Now, you wanted to...go somewhere...because that is what people on a date do...?"

Fun Things Are Fun
And, after walking for a while around the markets, Kaguya let out a soft voice. "Dianne, Dianne, look at that! It's a ring toss. Let's go and try it out?" While saying that, she pointed at a fair stall-like space. There were many goodies lined up on a red carpet.

"....Huh, ring toss?" Deen was actually surprised.

"Yeah. Which one do you want—? I'll get it for you!" Kaguya seemed excited for once; it was actually unnerving.

"Eh? Eh…then, that one." Deen quickly got lost by that question and, pointed at the silver ring with an emerald gemstone shaped like a wind cut placed relatively before him from his stand point.

"Wahahaha! Leave it to the Heiress of Doma Enterprises!" Kaguya rolled up her sleeves, showing her determination as she paid the ring toss girl beside her; the girl had given her a triad of plastic wheels.

Something wasn't right. The ring toss girl seemed so unusual; it was impossible to point to any particular motion that was definitely non-human. Deen had the sense of watching an imitation of living motions which had been very well studied and was technically correct: but somehow it lacked the master touch. And he was chilled with something that murdered the zone between realism and stylization.

"Hyaaaaaa!" She threw the first one together with screech that'd be similar to something out of a shōnen anime. The wheel flew toward the day after tomorrow.

"Haii! Soryaa!" Not giving up, She threw the remaining two...and as expected, the wheel didn't even touch the prizes, as they fell on the ground.

Deen had to stop himself from laughing because of such a spectacular failure.

“Oh my....this is frustrating."

But. If Kaguya couldn't do it, then Deen would have to be the one to win the ring. When Deen laughed dryly, his right ear's eardrum shook with the sound of Kaguya's whining. "Hey……hey Kaguya, if it's okay—"

As Deen was about to talk to her, Kaguya once again talked with the host of the ring toss game.

At first he thought she was going to try one more time but, like everything about his assumptions about Kaguya, he was wrong, the words that Kaguya Kobayashi had told to the manager were;

"I order you to give me that ring."

The manager didn't argue, only responding with a blurred face, "Please wait a moment." Quickly, the manager took the ring on top of the carpet before giving it to Kaguya.

"Here you go, Dianne." Kaguya attempted to hand Deen the ring with a smile.

"……No, what are you doing?"

When Deen responded in such a way, Kaguya tilted her head as if she could not understand what "Dianne Ranto" said. "Was it not this? Then, I'll change it—"

"No, that's not it. What you just did wasn't the right thing to do."

"Eh!? Then what am I supposed to do?" In an expression that had no accusations of ill intent or good will able to be seen, Kaguya asked back at him.

Deen felt the same thing yesterday; he felt a preposterous bad feeling. "……The goods, you have to throw the ring and win them fair and square."

"Ehhh!? Then, what am I supposed to do if I can't get it—!?"

"You have no choice but to give up."

"But whyyyy!?' Kaguya was about to throw a tantrum.

"Why? It's because that's the rule of the game. If you were to overlook that, then it'll make the girls working on the ring toss look like lazy bastards."

Kaguya opened her eyes in surprise. "Bad? Isn't that girl happy for me to get the ring?"

"Uh, no. If you didn't win it fairly then there's no point to the game."

"But that means I can't get you a present!"

Deen sighed, as he responded, "...Ah, it's fine. It does look nice though—I'll take it. Thanks for that, Kaguya." He really didn't want her causing a scene.

As the two began to walk away from the ring toss game, the girl who hosted it showed an absolutely terrible expression. Her clear blue eyes shifted from azure to a terrifying gold; as the whites of her eyes changed into pitch-black with corruption.

"...It seems that the key to the past is here. Being the heiress of the council, she has the authority to reveal the secrets about our kind...Let her reveal to the world about how we were wronged!"

Just As Planned
Walking through the bustling streets, Kaguya seemed at ease with herself—though she was a bit put-off by "Dianne's" now-male aura.

In the middle of the stalls—smack-dab in the center of the small market, water began to gather. It was really...off-putting. It was like something out of a horror movie—dark clouds formed in the air.

...All of this was out of nowhere.

In the span of an instant, the water pooling condensed and shaped itself into a consistent form.—humanoid, five feet tall with bright red eyes. Its brain was visible through its watery exterior. A pulsating aura of blue surrounded the demon as it took upon a fighting stance.

This was...

"Kaguya!" Deen exclaimed—as she wasn't paying attention, he dashed over to her as watery tentacles shot from the demon's body—aiming towards the Heiress of Doma Enterprises, the creature's scarlet eyes shone menacingly.

"...Eh!?" Kaguya only turned around in time for the myriad of tentacles to grasp her; slowly winding their way around her arms and legs, creeping up her snow-white skin. These tentacles were incredibly slimy, the moment they made contact with her skin, it caused her to shudder. The slime stained her snow-white skin, as Kaguya Kobayashi wailed. To onlookers, it appeared to be something out of a hentai anime, with their naughty tentacles. "SAVE ME, DIANNE!"

Deen just...stopped in his tracks. Not because he was scared. Not because he was powerless.

He didn't know why; but he wanted to watch. Why on earth was he just watching?

Being suspended like this, Kaguya felt incredibly ashamed, screaming at the innocents, "Egh! I feel so unclean...Don't look at me!" However, none fulfilled her wishes, continuing to stare at the sight. The tentacles brought Kaguya face-to-face with the aquatic demon, whose monstrous maw opened, revealing thousands of gigantic, razor-sharp teeth. The tendrils suspended her in mid-air, as all she could do was stare up at the sky, before drawing her closer to her death.

A sharp *bzzt* rang though Deen's head as he heard a voice. "...Oi, Deen. Can you hear me?" That voice—it was Giselle Mercury's.

Deen glanced around in fright, surprised. "Eh!? The hell are you!? Don't hide from me!!"

"I'm using Archive, but there's no time to explain." Giselle answered. "Now, I know how you mook types can't deal with the supernatural. You may be called the Rune Knights, the City Guard, or the patrol. Whatever the name, your purpose is identical: it is, you bastards rush into the room, attack people like Tsuruko one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks you if you wanted to. Step back so you don't get hurt. I'm sending Tsuruko over immediately."

Deen hissed, "Shut up. I'm gonna show them all. Even though I'm not cool, or strong, or attractive, I want to defeat those cool, strong, and attractive people just to show that I won't tolerate anyone making fun of us humans. Even though I wasn't blessed with talent, even though I'm stupid, I'm misguided and I'm a good for nothing, I want to defeat those talented, smart, likeable, overachieving people to show that I'm worth something. I want to defeat those with friends when I have no friends of my own. I want to defeat those who are victorious when I'm unable to even gain the upper hand. I want to defeat those who are full of joy when I'm down in the dumps. Even if I'm hated, even if I'm despised, even if I'm useless, I want to prove that I'm a goddamn human being, not some sideshow!"

With that, Deen Lhant tore his disguise off—in an instant, he revealed his usual attire; mostly eastern themed, with jet-skates. Quickly running over to Kinos, Deen took his weapon—a sword of average length characterized by its mechanical nature and looks. It sported a notably long handle wrapped in bandages, ending in a large pommel with an arched outer part. The sword's blade was double-edged, and is notable in the fact that it lacked a sharp tip, instead ending in a squared section. "Hold on, Kaguya! I've got this!"

Aiming the sword upward, Deen transformed the weapon into an assault rifle, firing numerous rounds towards the aquatic menace; however, it was to no avail, as the magical bullets merely phased through its amorphous body. Despite this, Deen knew about what a mistake this was—it was mainly a distraction.

"Oho, water evaporation is caused by the heat of the sun. The sun's warmth causes the water molecules to turn into water vapor, a gas, that rises into the atmosphere. If I overheat the Chain Blade, then I can eradicate it."

As the water demon waltzed over to him, Deen noticed that Kaguya was still clutched in its slimy grasp. Despite his lack of magic, the Rune Knight Commander, Deen Lhant, set his brilliant plan into motion.

Deen rushed forward, cranking the lever on the Chain Blade as he moved—nimbly evaded the attacks of the water demon—zipping around it, he leapt into the air, cleaving straight downwards with the Chain Blade and cutting the tendrils grasping Kaguya clean off as the Chain Blade sliced through the tentacles like a hot knife through butter, with Kaguya landing safely in his right hand.

The aquatic demon's crimson eyes blinked in disbelief—as Deen smirked, cranking the lever one final time and shoving the Chain Blade into the demon's face, piercing the brain. The heat surrounding the Chain Blade flowed into the demon, separating the hydrogen from the oxygen in the demon's body. Beginning to walk off, Deen kicked the lever of the Chain Blade one final time nonchalantly, causing an enormous explosion as Deen left the aquatic demon with the words—

"Don't mess with us humans."

Cyclone Effect
Walking away unflinchingly, Deen stated in a cold tone, "Mission complete."

....Only for everything to go straight to hell.

"You bastard!" Kaguya was blue with shock. "...WHERE ARE YOUR BOOBS!?"

Deen chuckled nervously. "Ahahaha, the thing about that is....Well, my mission was to infiltrate La Pucelle, and you see, I had to—"

"That has nothing to do with this!! That has nothing to fucking do with thiiiiiisssss!!" And just like that; any and all semblance of Kaguya being a mild-mannered yet jerky woman was thrown out the window.

Deen joked in a deadpan manner, "You know how in situations like this, people don't usually get along at first, but then gradually grow closer?"

Kaguya furiously retorted, "I'm never EVER going to feel that way towards you, just so you know!"

Remaining aloof, Deen dedicatedly stated, "I feel the same way."

Snapping, Kaguya angrily raved, "I'll make sure the circumstances never ever come to that! If it does, I'll rip those flags to shreds myself!"

Exhaling for a brief moment, Deen nonchalantly ended the conversation with biting sarcasm, "Sounds great. I'm looking forward to it."

As the two were arguing, the ring girl from before swooped down in front of the duo; at least now, her looks could be witnessed easier. She had short orange hair and hazel eyes. Her clothing was a mix and match of some sort, with different colours and different themes.

She wore a black vest with a large collar that ended at her waist. Under the vest were two layers of clothing coloured red and light blue respectively. She also had a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart with a white detached sleeve on each arm.

The woman sported a pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh and wears a pair of colour matching fingerless gloves and white detached sleeves on both arms. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces. She also seemed to wear some sort of armour that began in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ended by the waist. It seemed as if there were two axes on the armour as well, but the "axes" extended all the way around her waist and appeared to be quite flexible.

"So there you are, child of the council!" Her voice was absolutely filled with venom; and yet, there was something so...off, about her.

Kaguya snapped back, "Wahahahaha! Here I am, you butch! Aren't you the peasant from the ring toss!?"

The young woman gritted her teeth, responding in a hostile manner, "It seems that you're dumber than I expected..."

Right about now, Deen had to physically restrain Kaguya from trying to attack the woman. "...But what do you want, anyway? Is she really that important?"

"Oh, you have no idea. The Heiress of Doma Enterprises knows everything that's going on. Let me tell you a little story. The Magic Council has been experimenting upon the otherworldly. Scooped up from their dimension and thrown into this world, the otherworldly are experimented upon and tortured, forced to seek a suitable host. That...is where we began." The girl had a certain scowl about her.

"...Then why do you need her!?" Deen was absolutely shocked.

"Nobody would believe people like us. As the heiress, she can freely speak whatever she knows about the truth of the council's wrongdoings. Normally we would be obliterated from orbit, but if we take the heiress...then one false move and the council comes crashing down around you."

Deen's first instinct was to stop Kaguya from attacking this woman, as he withdrew a pistol from his belt, pointing it at the woman. "The hell I'll allow you to take her!" However, that was an empty threat. The woman's aura was certainly unnatural—a crushing abyss surged forth, as Deen himself struggled to stand.

As the woman prepared to attack both Deen Lhant and Kaguya Kobayashi, she was suddenly stopped; pushed back by an invisible force.

Standing before Deen and Kaguya, a figure cleaved her attack. Their purple hair was splayed out in all directions at the ends, reaching down to their waist. Several large clumps of hair stuck out, some curling away horizontally. Their bangs framed their face, though they had two 'layers', with the behind layers falling to rest upon their chest. There were a few locks of hair kept in the middle of their forehead; there was a slim curled forelock of hair at the top of their head. The wind gently blowed their hair, while everyone was watching her.

Small hips, white long legs and thighs, and a nice curved rear; there were several impossibly attractive women in the universe, though this person's body was far more beautiful than all of those, from past, present, and future, absolutely stunning. It could be classified as art; a body with perfect shape. Clad in a tight black jumpsuit with red linings that clung to her body and a white scarf that reached down to her knees; her hair was tied back was a butterfly shaped hair accessory.

"...Tsuruko?" Deen was genuinely surprised.

Tsuruko Sejren didn't even respond to Deen, only focused on the woman. "....Hmph, you're one of those mergers, am I right?" Her voice was sharp as a blade—a complete contrast to the ditzy and dorky girl seen in her downtime.

The ring-toss girl felt slightly put off at Tsuruko's mere presence. "...If it isn't the Ringed Magician. I knew that you would become a problematic variable in our plans someday. But like any spanner in the works, you must be uprooted and tossed away like the trash you are."

Tsuruko thrust her hand out, not willing to listen to any more of her words. The ring that Kaguya had bought for "Dianne Ranto" resonated with Tsuruko's magical power, as it flew from Deen's pocket and slipped itself upon her finger. A powerful surge of winds echoed forth; surrounding her figure as she completely changed form.

Her clothing gained a green tint to it; as miniature cyclones surrounded her body, while two wings shaped like a phoenix's erupted from her back. Overall, she had a ninja-esque new attire; the elongated helmet, high collar, and two wing-like scarf attachments. Several silver wind-shaped patterns appeared on her clothing; as her hair became a faint shade of green; for weaponry, Dragredder transformed into a large buckler shield attached to her left arm, which was shaped similarly to that of an fūma shuriken.

"Hurricane Style! Now, it's showtime!" Tsuruko prepared to dart forward...

...Only for the woman to smirk. "Ahaha, I know when to cut my losses and run, thank you very much. My name is Sion Kenzaki. You'd do best to remember it; it may be the last words that leave your blood-stained lips." With a snap of her fingers, the enigmatic woman teleported away; leaving the trio absolutely dumbfounded.

"Hey, Tsuruko? Thanks, again. You've saved my arse twice now, you know." Deen approached Tsuruko, placing his hand upon her pauldron-clad shoulder.

Tsuruko seemed to experience a sharp jolt down her spine—her sharp eyes burning with determination that she showed in battle immediately drooped down. "W-Wha? What do you mean...?"

Deen scratched his head, puzzled. "...Why did I NOT think of that before. There must be something wrong in her brain. That explains why she shifts her personality!" At last, somebody had made a correct assumption between the radical shifts in personality that Tsuruko Sejren possessed.

"O-Oh, Deen...what just happened?" Tsuruko herself was back to her usual shy persona—and to be fair, from what he saw of Kaguya, Tsuruko was number one.

"You know I can't tell you that. But thanks again for saving my arse. I owe you twiceover, though."

Tsuruko didn't know what to say about that—all she did was smile radiantly. "Uh-huh! Then I'll think of something you can help me with!" Tsuruko took Deen's hand, as the two instinctively shook hands with a reverse hand grip, with Deen tapping Tsuruko's fist on the top; Tsuruko's fist tapping Deen's on the bottom before they bumped fists.

"And all's well that ends well, r-right?"

Kaguya could be hear screeching in the distance, "DEEEN LHAAAAAAAAAAAAANT! I'LL KILL YOU A HUNDRED TIMES WITHOUT MOVING A FINGER FOR LYING TO ME, THE HEIRESS OF DOMA ENTERPRISES!"