83 Vol 2. pt. 20 Patch 4.0: The First Round (1/2)

Fenrir is the last one to wake up below deck and roll out of his hammock, and Cassiel is the first one to greet him. ”What took you so long, you bastard?! Do you know how close you are to being too late?!” she shouts at him.

”I know, I know. Sorry,” Fenrir replies.

Cassiel's hands look tempted to grab onto his collar to shake him around, but instead, she drops her hands to her sides and looks away. ”Are – are you feeling better now?” she asks with a quieter voice than before.

”Yeah, I am. Thanks. Guess I'm just a sore loser, so between that prick getting underneath my skin and then breaking my promise to Nell, I was being immature. Not used to losing,” he explains. Looking around, he sees that Cassiel is the only one below deck with him. ”Where's everybody else?”

”You better be alright now… and they're up above.”

”So you've been waiting down here for me by yourself?”

Cassiel's hands end up grabbing onto his collar after all. ”Sh-shut up! I was worried since you were taking so lo—”

Fenrir sneaks in a quick kiss on her lips since she's placed her face right in front of his own. The sudden kiss lights up her cheeks and causes her hands to drop from his collar. ”D-don't do that without warning me, you bas—”

He kisses her again.

Cassiel shuts her lips, forms fists at her sides, and makes a noise that sounds like she's trying to angrily shout at him but it just sounds like angry squeaking thanks to her closed lips.

”Come on, we've got a tournament to win,” Fenrir says, grabbing her by her hand and leading her above deck.

”Told you he'd make it,” Serra says as soon as she sees them.

”I'd never miss this. Hey, Serra, is it me or,” he starts asking while looking at her waist.

There was a load of screenshots in his Fiscord chat with her when he woke up today. The screenshots featured the two girls, mainly Serra, with all sorts of seafood.

Now he sees the result of that.

”Ma-maybe practice moderation next ti—” he continues saying but is wise enough to stop when he sees Serra looking at him with a glare that usually only Cassiel gives him. ”A-anyways, is everybody ready?”

Looking over The Shoebill, he sees everybody ready and… he looks down at himself. His clothes are still all torn and bloody from the other day. ”Being an anime protagonist where my clothes are somehow always the same and repaired instantly after every fight would be really convenient right now,” he says. Only Serra and Oleander seem to understand what he's saying as the rest look confused. Well, there is one other who seems to understand.

”What sorta stuff ya watch?” Tabitha asks.

”You – do you watch anime?” Fenrir asks her.

”Course I do!”

”What sort of stuff do you watch?” he asks. When he thinks of Tabitha and anime, he thinks sci-fi and mecha. After all, she's a total gearhead, so wouldn't it make sense for her to like mecha?

”Magical girls,” Tabitha proudly says with a nod and her arms crossed over her chest.

”You – seriously, you watch magical girl anime? Like, the stuff made for kids?” Fenrir asks, trying to keep his jaw from dropping onto the deck.

”Course I do! Most anime is just full of edgy harem-loving boys like yourself, always goin' around and savin' girls for 'em. I like my shows where it's the girls savin' themselves, and no better genre than magical girls for that! More girls need to be watchin' magical girls to learn how to stand up for 'emselves.”

Thanks to Tabitha's explanation, it totally makes sense now for her to like magical girl anime, even if it's tailored to little kids. Then again, she does look like she's hardly a teenager herself. ”By the way… how do rebirth counters work if you – if you uhh, you know, look underage?” he asks her.

”Don't beat around the bush. You can say I look like a kid if ya want to. Anyways, it depends on where ya live. If ya live in a country or state where fictional depictions of pedo stuff ain't allowed, then you're stuck tryin' to get them in the other and way harder ways.”

”Doesn't that mean anybody who plays underage looking characters, if they live in a place where that sort of stuff isn't allowed, is pretty disadvantaged compared to everybody else?”

”Yup! But you're given that warnin' when ya make your character, so ya have nobody but yourself to blame for dealin' with it.”

”How many counters do you have?”

”Seven!”

Anybody who wasn't paying attention to their conversation is now. ”How?” Fenrir asks.

”Don't worry about that, wolf boy. Like I said earlier, a girl has gotta know how to help herself!” Tabitha explains.

Fenrir looks at Serra and Cassiel. They're both nodding and look like they're taking mental notes.

”Anyways, aside from magical girls, do you at least like mecha?” he asks Tabitha.

”Nope,” Tabitha answers, making it even harder for Fenrir to keep his jaw from dropping.

”Seriously? I would've bet money on that being one of your favorites.”

”It is. I'm just screwin' with ya. I've got tons of models I've put together and painted in my room!”

”Alright, that makes more sense.”

Tabitha smiles a wide, cheeky smile. It's the kind of smile that makes him want to protect her in an almost fatherly way, but then he realizes that she would probably kill him if he starts seeing her as somebody who needs protecting, so he shakes that idea out of his head.

”Anybody not participating in the tournament is to get behind the yellow lines painted around the harbor!” a feminine voice announces using Blackstache's owls that are circling around the city. ”This is the final chance for participating crews to board their ships!”

Five minutes after the announcement and mighty horn blares throughout the city.

A dome of electrical energy rises around the harbor out past the tower near the entrance to the city.

While the dome cackles with electricity at first, its bluish hue not allowing anybody outside of it to see what is within, it calms and becomes almost perfectly transparent.