Before Karin and Juuzou could begin trying to tear each other apart, Eva decided to put her foot down, turning to the former to say, "Karin, what's done is done. Though it will take some time for the Gateport to be repaired, those most affected will be the Merchant's Association and the Guild. Normal people don't benefit much from items passing through the gate, and, due to the war, the cost of transferring to other cities has become exorbitant."
Hearing her Master's words, a conflicted look marred Karin's face, not because of what Eva said, but because the smile on Juuzou's face was really beginning to annoy her. Fortunately, Eva wasn't quite done speaking, turning to the idol-like swordsman to add, "And Juuzou…I understand your passion for battle, but you shouldn't antagonize your own allies. As I stated previously, you will have plenty of opportunities to test your skill in the future. The Sage Dragon Emperor, in particular, is someone who has reached an incomprehensible level of swordsmanship. If you can avoid offending him, you will have the opportunity to refine your skill even further. He hides it well most of the time, but he is also a bit of a battle junky…just don't piss him off…if you actually managed to offend him there is no category of immortality that can protect you from his wrath…"
Though he found it difficult to believe Eva's words, Juuzou knew she wasn't the type of woman to embellish things. Some of the most powerful people he had ever faced were at Eva's behest, and, at several points throughout their history, she had proven her own strength time and again. There was even an instance where she had frozen him in a pillar of ice for an entire year, so, while he was very confident in his skills, Juuzou was equally as confident of Eva's. If she said the Sage Dragon Emperor had reached an incomprehensible level of swordsmanship, that was more than sufficient reason to be excited about the future…
With that thought crossing his mind, Juuzou placed his right hand atop his heart in a gentlemanly manner before politely bowing to the two women, his voice calm and smooth as he stated, "Forgive my indiscretions, Lady Evangeline. It has been many years since I proactively associated with others so my sociability and etiquette seem to have suffered. It was never my intention to provoke, much less offend my own colleagues…to that end, I will endeavor to keep your words close to my chest…"
Finished with his apology, Juuzou raised his head, offering a less-than-sincere smile towards Karin in the process. This caused the latter's brow to twitch, but, with her Master's words still fresh in her mind, Karin was ultimately able to restrain her anger, her expression turning cold and emotionless as she began willfully ignoring the man. This, of course, didn't bother Juuzou in the slightest, as, in his mind, her most redeeming quality was that her immortality was one of the few things he was, at least for the time being, unable to cut…
Fortunately for everyone present, Juuzou rarely spoke his true thoughts aloud, so, despite a notable tension still permeating the air, everyone simply ignored it as Jinbei chimed in, asking, "So, where to now, Kit-?"
Before Jinbei could finish uttering her old nickname, Eva appeared next to him in an instant, an icy aura erupting from her body as she grabbed his wrist and hurled him into the ground with enough force to create a crater 10m in diameter. Then, with a face redder than a tomato, she exclaimed, "I told you not to call me that! I'm engaged now and I don't want you giving people strange ideas by referring to me with a pet name…!"
Despite having his body planted in the ground like a bamboo shoot, Jinbei continued to smile with his characteristic half-lidded expression. He had grown used to being rag-dolled by Eva a long time ago, and, during the seventy or so years she had a crush on him, he had become intimately familiar with the ground…
With Eva releasing his hand, Jinbai rose to a seated position, and, after coughing up a small amount of blood, he looked up at her with a trace of amusement apparent in his gaze as he mused, "What a shame…it seems like little Eva-chan really is growing up. I wonder if this is how a father feels when his dau-"
Without waiting for Jinbei to finish expressing his sentiments, Eva kicked him hard enough to send him crashing through the surrounding trees. At this point, it was possible to see steam rising from her head as she began to seriously rethink her decision to bring Jinbei and Juuzou along with her…
—
Due to most of his vessels disappearing whenever he entered his Realm, the only exceptions being those who entered alongside him, Vahn was unaware of the 'danger' that was approaching his not-so-secret hideout. As a result, he found himself at the mercy of Asuna, who, after their return from the beach, donned her usual shirt and panty combo. If it was just this, Vahn would have been okay, but, after twenty minutes of snuggling up at his side, like usual, Asuna very casually asked, "Can I sit on your lap? It feels like it's been a while…"
Not thinking much of it at the time, Vahn ultimately agreed to Asuna's request as she had always been fond of sitting in his lap whenever they viewed his memories. What he didn't expect was for Asuna to straddle his waist, her back facing away from the three-dimensional memory projection as she leaned against him with her full weight, hugging his body. He actually used to hold her like this all the time when she was younger, but, now that she was fully grown, Asuna's rather large breasts squashed against his chest. At the same time, he could tell she was putting a bit of strength in her legs as her muscular thighs held his waist like a vice as something soft pressed accurately against his lower body.
At first, Vahn was going to have Asuna move, but, before he could voice his complaint, she hugged his body tightly, her chin resting on his shoulder as she whispered, "I missed being able to hug you like this…thank you…"
Though he was absolutely certain that Asuna was up to her usual antics, Vahn had always had a soft spot for sentimentality. As a result, it wasn't long before he released a faint sigh, his arms wrapping around her body to both embrace her and lightly pat her back. This caused Asuna to bury her face in the nook of his neck, but, as this was pretty common whenever they hugged, Vahn just closed his eyes and enjoyed the brief moment of peaceful intimacy.
If things ended there, Vahn wouldn't have minded if Asuna wanted to continue hugging for the rest of the day, but, after around thirty minutes had passed, he became aware of the fact she was slowly grinding against him, nigh-imperceptibly, in harmony with her heartbeat. She disguised the act as a natural biological process, and, if not for her body gradually heating up, especially around a certain region, he might not have noticed it until a stain had begun to form on his trousers…
Exhaling a sigh, Vahn was about to make Asuna get off of him when she held him even tighter and muttered, "Please…I just want to be with you…I won't do anything else…" in a pitiable tone.
Though her tone was very affective against him, Vahn was unable to stop his brow from twitching slightly as he internally remarked, ("This rascal is steadily becoming a temptress…").
Shaking his head, Vahn opted to allow Asuna to continue hugging him, but, rather than continue tolerating her mischief, he simply 'removed' the focal point of her assault. This caused the young woman a great deal of confusion, and, for a brief moment, she abandoned her pretense entirely, wiggling her hips probingly as if she was searching for something. Then, failing to find what she was searching for, her hold on his body relaxed so that she could stare at him with an accusatory look on her face.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Vahn just smiled radiantly at the dissatisfied young woman, his voice unable to hide his amusement as he asked, "What's wrong? I'm not going to force you to get up. If you want to continue, I don't mind holding you until you are completely satisfied~."
Though her expression didn't change much, Asuna couldn't hide the subtle twitch of her right eye as the words forming within her mind failed to reach her lips. It was one thing if Vahn outright told her to stop, but, once again, he decided to handle her in a roundabout manner. This made her feel more than a little frustrated, as, even when she was younger, she hated being teased…
After seeing the smile on Vahn's face grow to a smug grin, Asuna was unable to prevent a smile of her own from developing. This immediately caused the former to adopt a more sober look, but, not willing to let him backpedal, Asuna's smile only grew as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her first instinct was to try and kiss him, but, knowing Vahn would have anticipated that, Asuna put a bit of strength in her arms, pulling his face into her chest. At the same time, she traced her finger atop the gemstone of her bracelet, using the opportunity when Vahn was 'distracted' to prepare a bit of a surprise…
Feeling that Asuna had gone too far, Vahn was preparing to remove her by force, but, the moment he placed his hands on her soft waist, she immediately released her hold on his head. At that exact same moment, Vahn realized Asuna had completely removed her clothes, and, taking advantage of his momentary stupor, she didn't hesitate to embrace him tightly. Then, as if stating a simple truth, Asuna's lips nearly caressed his ear as she whispered, "You shouldn't have a problem with me being naked if you don't even have a penis…"
Without responding to Asuna's words, Vahn allowed his body to simply fade out of existence the moment she attempted to bite his earlobe. As a result, she plopped onto the sofa, and, before she could make sense of the situation, a new version of Vahn appeared behind her, his face fixed in a stern expression as he muttered, "Asuna…" in a heavy tone.
Hearing the uncharacteristically deep voice from behind, a shiver ran through Asuna's body as she slowly peered back over her shoulder. There, she found Vahn staring down at her with the closest thing to a livid expression he had ever directed toward her. She quickly realized she had gone more than a little too far, and, before she even realized what she was doing, Asuna activated the State of Nothingness in a vain attempt to try and escape.
Though it was exceptionally difficult to influence Asuna with his Divinity, Vahn wasn't going to just let her escape. She had grown too bold over the last couple of weeks, and, if he didn't at least try to punish her, his instincts told him she would grow even bolder in the days to come. Thus, despite the drastic reduction of his mental and spiritual energies, Vahn forcibly locked Asuna within Space-Time before reversing the order of entropy to pull her out of the floor.
Asuna was greatly flustered by the fact her body was moving in reverse, and, when she saw Vahn's face, all the color drained from her own as she immediately gave up trying to run away. Instead, she began to tear up against her will as she resolved herself to face whatever punishment he was about to give her. She knew it would only make things worse if she attempted to escape, and, though he was obviously very angry, Asuna knew Vahn wouldn't punish her too severely.
After rewinding time to a point where Asuna was no longer naked, Vahn allowed the Space-Time lock to dissipate as a throbbing pain spread through his head. He could even feel a trickle of blood attempting to escape his right nostril, but, with Asuna abruptly becoming obedient, he managed to stymy it by activating his Magia Erebea constitution. Then, with the anger already beginning to fade away from his countenance, Vahn looked down at Asuna seated in a seiza position on the sofa.
Seeing that she had prepared herself, Vahn found himself wondering whether or not spanking was considered a reward or a punishment for someone like Asuna. It seemed like everyone he had ever spanked came to enjoy it, and, though he was absolutely certain it was painful, even Nobunaga had a phase where she enjoyed having him strike her butt with increasing intensity…
Just as Vahn was beginning to contemplate the existence of 'spanking laws', assuming they were a sub-set of 'taming', several powerful auras spontaneously appeared within his domain. This caused his eyes to widen in surprise, Laev-tan manifesting out of thin air as Asuna immediately donned her battle attire, Ko manifesting from within her chest. Fortunately, among the group of powerful auras, Vahn sensed one he was intimately familiar with, instantaneously relieving his tensions and causing him to look toward Asuna with a teasing smile and remark, "I'll let Eva decide your punishment. I've always been too soft when it came to meting out disciplinary actions…"
Since she could also detect Eva's presence among the group of powerful auras, Asuna's expression immediately darkened into a look of dejection. Eva was a lot stricter than Vahn, so, not only would she come up with a 'suitable' punishment, but, now that the former had returned, any chance she had of tempting Vahn before her birthday had vanished in its entirety…
Understanding Asuna's thoughts, Vahn couldn't help but smile as he plopped his hand on her head and said, "Let's go welcome our new friends and colleagues…"
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The hauntings of the past…','Someone needs to teach Asuna that silence isn't the same as consent…','RIP')
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