Dante opened the car door as softly as he could. He leaned in, gently pulling Kristina towards him. He lifted her into his arms and tip-towed towards the house. She looked so peaceful.

“Ain't she a cutie?” Dante whispered, to which Sai responded by taking a picture. “Dude, I get you like her, bu--”

“It’s not that! This is I could make fun of her later!” he said, glaring at Dante.

Dante turned around, covering her from his dirty camera.

“Relax. We can just distract her with some goodies until she forgets about it!”

“You really think that?”

“Yeah," Sai said, going stiff as a log when he heard her mumble. “Probably,” he said a little bit quieter.

Dante walked into their house slowly, careful to not have her legs hit the wall. He was so careful about the walls, in fact, that when Feisty came around the corner Dante nearly fumbled Kristina out of his hands. His entire body was covered in cold sweat.

"Maybe I should carry her, Dante," Sai said, even paler than Dante.

"You would, wouldn't you," Dante said, his heart drumming. 

"Yes, I would like to live to be older than twenty," Sai said, picking up Fiesty. "Why did you get a cat again? Actually, when were you able to get one?"

Dante took each step even more carefully. Kristina was a bomb. She might have been a cute bomb, but she was still a bomb. Carrying her was more taxing than carrying that boar was. He was only able to breathe once he laid her down on the couch. "I found Fiesty outside the house when I came in. So what's the plan?” 

“I’ll get her favorite snacks," Sai said, handing Fiesty over to Dante. "You prepare an episode of Tower of Deity or whatever its called.”

“I meant how we’re going to complete Jarckals challenge,” Dante said. He sat Dante on his lap as he went about pulling an episode on the laptop. If the capsule wouldn’t catch her attention then hopefully this would.

“I mean, we have her figure that part out. It’s not like we went through all this trouble for no reason,” Sai said, nodding to himself.

“Yeah, it’s not like you’ve liked her for a few yea--”

“Would you stop about that!” Sai said sharply. He looked out of the kitchen window with gritted teeth.

“Are you going to run away forever, or are you going to ask her out?” Dante said, returning his look.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Ask who out?” Kristina quietly said, causing Dante to jump up on the table with Fiesty pressed against his chest and for Sai to juggle the plate he was holding. “What’s this about?” she yawned, though when she tried to stretch her arms she noticed the blankets that wrapped around her.

Sai walked in with a plate containing every decent gummy brand in the market, and some off the market, with on one hand and a six-pack of Beast drinks in the other. He laid them on the ground in front of her. He sat down with his legs folded underneath him and with his hands resting on his thighs. “Our offerings, my lady. Would you like to begin the show?” he said, giving her a slight bow.

Getting the hint, Dante climbed down the table. He accessed the bookmarks and brought up the not so legal anime-streaming website. He pulled open the show's episode list and sat next to Sai with Fiesty beside him.

"Finished this one yesterday," Kristina said, looking around the room with half-opened eyes. She pressed her lips tightening, frowning when she tasted her breath. "Oh that's cute," Kristina said, smiling when she saw Fiesty, though when she looked behind Dante her entire face lit up. She jumped to her feet and hopped towards the capsule with droll in her mouth. She didn’t even bother to discard the blankets enveloping her.

Dante turned around, sighing in relief. Seeing her happy made Dante happy. Sai’s smile was frozen on his face, but Dante could see the joy underneath. He leaned in, a largely inappropriate grin plastered on his face. “Think she’s nak--”

Sai didn’t let Dante finish his words. He grasped his face and pushed him away. “Keep your filthy thoughts to yourself.”

“So you were think--”

Sai’s fingers might have been tiny but his nails were not. They dug into his skin, silencing him.

“Is this...what I think it is?” she said, rubbing her cheeks against one of the glass doors.

“Just for you!” Dante said, clapping with Sai.

“Open sesame!” she yelled, then hopped back as the capsule lifted itself up. She leaned in and began sniffing it. “A three dive unit. No wires in our neck or a headset. Just gas to send the electronic waves at instantaneous speeds. No lag, no latency...”

“Yup!” Sai said, nodding. “Just for you. I mean, it’s for all three of us, bu--”

Kristina broke free from her blankets like a butterfly. She tackled Sai and Dante to the ground, wrapping her arms around their necks. She pressed their cheeks against her as she giggled. “Oh my god, I love you guys! Is this where we’re going to make the molla?!”

“Yeah” Dante said, struggling to breathe. She wore a dirty white shirt and shorts as usual, but her adorableness did not extend to her smell. She smelled like mold, something that Sai’s nose was probably going to selectively forget. “Jarckal will let us inherent his stupid company plus Sai as a side-deal if we can make the best guild. "

“Infinite skies? No, don’t tell me--”

“Yup it’s--”

“Seventh Spire?!”

“It’s--”

“Oh my god, no fucking way. It’s Dreamworld?!”

“No!’

“War of the East?”

“B-

“Broken realms?” she said quietly. At first Dante thought she was disappointed, though when she saw back with an incredulous look in her eyes she knew he'd gotten her interest. “I mean, I was sent a key, because why not, but how did you two get them?”

“Yours truly,” Sai said, giving her a peace sign. “Barely an inconvenience, really. Just forged some names, made up some articles, exaggerated the truth here and there. Dante is a Ninjutsu prodigy and I'm a super hacka! "

"A what?" Dante said, turning towards him. This was news to him.

"A super hacker. Did you not wat--"

“Let’s go in!” Kristina said, dragging both of them up. Excitement filled her voice as she spluttered word after word at them. “Spawn location is location-based. As long as we pick the same race we’ll start together. Humans are boring and elves are a no—orc is gonna be too hard for you two, especially Sai, so I’m definitely doing feline—Sai you be a birdy and Dante you can Feline but I suggest you do the Minotaur so we can make you into a fine tank!”

“Before that can you showe—ow ow ow the hell Sai!”

Sai shook his head. Too soon, he whispered.

Oh right. Kristina didn't know Dante started orc. Tehehe?

"I missed you guys,” she said, pulling them in for another group hug.” This time even Fiesty joined in. Kristina held their cheeks in her hands, gently pushing them towards her.

Dante smiled. They were finally back, and Dante’s gamble worked. “I’m really glad,” he said. He really was.

Kristina leaned in, her gentle hold on their cheeks turning into a clutch. “But if you ever pull something like that again,” she said in a low drum, freezing Dante’s smile and Sai’s giggles. She leaned in closer and whispered acts of violence no living creature should hear, much less experience. Fiesty ran away under the couch, covering her ears with her paws as best as she could.

“Capche?” Kristina said with a bright smile as she stepped back.

“Y-Yeah...Haha...” Dante said, pushing down the shivers. Poor Sai was too pale to even speak. He just slowly nodded.

“Awesome! Let’s go kick some ass!” she said, jumping into the unit nearest to her.

“S-Sai has something to tell you!” Dante said, and before Sai was able to snap out of it Dante closed his glass door with a command. “Start!”

He wasn’t running away or anything—he was just allocating a task to the individual with the highest chance of survival. Plus, at any chance of bodily harm, the 50% pain was going to work in his favor.