“Sarasa! I missed you so much!” I reached for the girl beside Ririna, but the only thing I grasped was air. “Wait, where is she?!”

  Carol and I had to leave Balterra after our little celebration yesterday. We have responsibilities and people waiting for us back at home, so we couldn’t stay overnight. That meant I couldn’t hang out with my new adorable girlfriend, Sarasa.

  I had to make up for it, so we returned as soon as possible to meet up with Ririna and her. However, Ririna was alone.

  “You’re still doing that dumb routine… At least you missed this time. It’s a nice change of pace.” We were back at that garden with the statue. There was a quiet corner surrounded by flowers and bushes where we could talk without bothering anyone. Carol followed me with a sigh, while Ririna tapped my shoulder sympathetically.

  “Sorry, Iroha… I was with her earlier, but she kinda vanished out of nowhere. Well, that’s just how she is. Just get used to it.” Ririna walked around me and gently raised my head. “If you wanna hug someone, you’re free to hug me whenever you like.” She extended her arms.

  “*Nod!* I think I will!” I jumped into Ririna’s arms and squeezed her hard. This is the life… More… I wanna squeeze her more and more!

  “Hey! That’s unfair!” Carol grabbed my arm and tried to separate us. “Let go! You can’t do- Mhmph!?” With my new skill, counter-grab, I grabbed her instead and squeezed both of them at the same time. I just made that up. There’s no such skill.

  After a couple seconds of holding them tightly, I gave them a little room to breathe. “That’s unfortunate, though… Why did Sarasa have to disappear today? I wanted to spoil my new girl today.” The keycard we helped her retrieve was an important item in her hometown, wasn’t it? Maybe she just went back…

  “That’s not allowed.” Carol wiggled for a while before she finally found a comfortable position. She had a hostile look on her face, but she didn’t try to break away.

  “What do you mean ‘not allowed’?”

  “You can’t play favorites. I don’t care if she’s the new girl or whatever. It’s unfair if she’s the only one getting special attention.”

  Ririna nodded in agreement. “Yeah! We wanna get spoiled too.” That’s what Carol was thinking, but she couldn’t say so directly.

  “More than this?” I’m pretty much cuddling with both of them. If we were to do more, I don’t know if I could handle it… “But you’re right… I gotta keep things balanced… I spent yesterday with you, so I should give some time to Hecate today.”

  I might be the one getting doted on with her…

  “Are you going back then?” Ririna asked.

  “Sorry, I think we’ll return to our world today. I know! You could come with us! Why don’t we all hang out together again?”

  “Ahhh… I wanna see more of your world, but… I’m a bit busy today… I have some ideas I wanna study today…” Ririna flashed an awkward smile.

  “Next time then. It’s not like I can stay away from you for too long. We’ll see you soon then.” I finally let go of them so we could walk comfortably. “Let’s go, Carol.”

  “Go on without me.” She stood still. Huh? “I think I’ll spend the day here today. I wanna practice some more.”

  Carol looked completely serious. She wants to practice, huh? We’ve fought a couple dangerous things here, but Ebrilyon is not a very dangerous area…

  “Don’t push yourself, okay?” I briefly leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. “Good luck.” Naturally, I couldn’t say goodbye to Carol without doing the same to Ririna. “You too. See you later.”

  I left them both surprised and blushing. Not that I was any different. I waved back with red cheeks and left.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  …

  “Hecate? You here?” I entered the dorm and immediately looked to the right. According to the ‘Finding Hecate Guide,’ it’s a 50/50 to find her near the entrance. Today was a miss. She wasn’t near the dining table, and she wasn’t in the kitchen either. It was too early for that.

  She wasn’t to the left either, where the couch and living area are, so I went deeper inside. I peeked into the supply closet at the entrance of the hallway, and… “What are you up to?” There she was.

  “Iroha? I just finished sorting some stuff. Were you looking for me?” Hecate was looking up at some shelves with a duster in hand.

  “You!” I entered the closet and approached her. “If you’ve just finished, that means you’re free, right?”

  “Free… Is there anyone who can truly claim that? We all have our own chains…” She giggled. “I have nothing pressing going on right now, you could say. There are still things to do around the dorm, though.”

  “If it’s not pressing, can you do them later? I wanted to hang out with you.”

  Hecate didn’t immediately reply. She smiled and took a step closer before brushing my hair with her hand. “If you’re the one asking, I guess I have no choice. I’ll make some time for you. Is Carol with you?

  “No one. It’s just the two of us today.” I grabbed her hand, she smiled, and we returned to the hallway.

  “Now you’ve really got my attention. What do you have in mind?” We suddenly heard footsteps from deeper in the hallway. I quickly let go of her hand.

  “Hey, Iroha. What are you two up to?” Katja showed up out of nowhere. She was wearing her pink hair up in a ponytail and wearing some pants. Looks like she’s going out.

  “Hi! We were just talking. That’s all. What about you? Going out?” We stood to the side so she could pass, but she stopped for conversation.

  “Yeah… Something came up.”

  “You’re really not going with Iroha? You always follow her around like a puppy… A bit too much even.” Two girls stayed behind at the garden used for their meeting. Ririna didn’t know what Carol was thinking and teased her, hiding some bite behind her words.

  “Like a puppy? Do you think you’re funny or something?” Carol retaliated with an annoyed glance. She put one hand on her waist but quickly let it go. “Just so you know, I actually don’t spend that much time with Iroha. I just don’t like the idea of you getting ahead of me.”

  “Must be rough… That sounds really exhausting… I’d much rather enjoy her company than worry about things like that.”

  “Sarcastic much? *Sigh…* Forget about it. I’m not interested in picking a fight. I actually wanted to talk to you.”

  “With me?” Ririna was surprised by the sudden lack of hostility. Other than the fact they were rivals, Ririna had no problem with Carol. They had looked out for each other multiple times, and they were allies in many ways. They shared the goal of bringing happiness to Iroha and, more recently, of saving both worlds. Though it was mostly Iroha on their minds right now.

  “Yes, with you. How do you feel about yesterday? About the fight with the headless monster. Are you satisfied with the way things panned out? With your contribution?”

  It could have sounded like criticism, but there was no hint of judgment in Carol’s voice.

  “Well… I can’t say I’m completely satisfied… There were a lot of close calls… Things could have gone better, but… I’m just an alchemist. There isn’t a whole lot I could have done differently… I guess I could have prepared a bit better…”

  Carol’s worries, the ones that showed through her questions, were likely directed at herself. She was upset she wasn’t able to play a bigger role. In that, she wasn’t wrong about asking Ririna. Alchemists aren’t meant to take the spotlight, but the desire to be helpful, especially to her special someone, was very much present.

  “You know what? I hated it.” Carol said plainly. “I hate being a burden, and I hate having to rely on her without being able to do anything. We did our part, sure, but that’s not enough. I want to do more for her. I want be capable of being there for her!”

  Ririna heard her without saying a word. She understood her quite well.

  “I still remember… My body completely froze when she stood between me and the headless monster… She pushed him back, not giving a single inch, and I could only stay there, frozen… I thought I was doing well, but she was completely out of reach…”

  “Are you scared she’ll abandon you?” Ririna asked with a reassuring smile. “Don’t… Iroha would never abandon you because of that.”

  Carol looked at Ririna and felt her worries slip away, at least a bit. She wasn’t expecting the sudden kindness, so the urge to act up suddenly took over. “Who said I was scared?! It’s not like that… Don’t put words in my mouth! I just… You know… First, she starts dating Hecate, now even Sarasa’s going after her. We may have been the first ones, but at this rate, we might lose our spots. I don’t like that, do you?!”

  Carol made an excuse to hide her true feelings, but Ririna understood. “Is that so? Maybe you know she won’t abandon you no matter what, and that’s why you’re unhappy. You wanna repay the favor. To thank her for that certainty.” Ririna’s smile became a bit forced. “I’m the same… I think I also haven’t done enough…”

  Carol became embarrassed as she heard Ririna put things into words. “Shut up! Don’t act like you understand me! Aren’t you embarrassed to say things like that?!” She looked away with her arms crossed but then looked back to Ririna.

  “Anyway, this doesn’t even matter! Now that I know we’re more or less on the same page, I have a proposition for you.”

  “So… Where you going? Has a monster showed up? You need any help?”

  Katja caught me staring at her waist. She had heard her sword there in its compact form. It was concealed well enough, and it didn’t look like anything, but she still adjusted it to hide it better.

  “No… I haven’t heard of anything, at least. There’s just someone I have to meet.”

  “Someone?” If she didn’t specify, maybe I shouldn’t have pried. But it turned out not to be a secret.

  “It’s just someone from the PSF. They have questions about our work in the harbor and the cruise ship. Shinji’s struggling to handle all that by himself.”

  “How irritating…” Katja explained things quite casually, but when the PSF was mentioned, Hecate grew visibly displeased.

  “Is everything alright? Are we in trouble or something?” I looked between the two of them, and Katja responded.

  “It’s a crisis. An emergency, even.” She exaggerated. “They’re probably looking for excuses to shut us down again.” With a small laugh, she toned it down. “But don’t worry. We can handle it. I’ll see you later.”

  After that playful smile, Katja waved and left the dorm.

  “Will she be alright?”

  “You can have faith in her. Katja knows how to handle herself in these kinds of situations better than any of us.” Hecate and I were leaning against the same wall. She took a step forward and stood in front of me with a twirl. “Now, about us… Where were we?”

  “Date! Let’s go on a date!”

  She giggled. “Very well. I approve! Do you have something in mind? I actually had some shopping to do. It’s not the most impressive idea, but how about it? Want to come along?”

  “Yeah! Wanna hold hands?” We turned to leave and started walking side by side.

  “Wait until we get away from the House, okay?”