With a towel over his head to clean off the damage caused by the wet sand attacks from earlier, Izuru looked down at the beach from the large balconny behind the house.

Well he was more focused on someone but the beach was there.

And by his side was Aimi, who was staring at him in pure judgement.

"Staaaaaaaaaare."

"Whatever you think I'm doing, I'm not doing it." Izuru said.

"I think you're staring at Ban's sister." Aimi stated.

"...well when you put it like that, I guess I may, perhaps, in pure coincedence, have my vision focused on that certain-"

"Go clean the griller."

"Yes, ma'am..." Izuru drew his water guns and started blasting the griller with water. "What's up with wanting me to cook aswell? Has everyone lost their minds or something?"

"I thought you were all about flexing your fake cullinary skills. Did learning how to cook properly took that away from you?" Aimi asked, looking at a small piece of paper that had everyone's suggestions for what to prepare. "This is more fried chicken that I expected..."

"That's fine, Taira taught me how to do that." Izuru shrugged.

"That- Wait, you mean the branch manager?"

"No, I mean the lazy slob that somehow got promoted that high alongside my brother. It was part of the Ansei Family training guide. That's also I got these smoking hot babies." Izuru smirked, putting on his sunglasses. "How about that?"

"Creeeeeeeeep." Aimi muttered, staring at Izuru.

"Yeah, you and Minami really are sisters, alright..." The black haired deadpanned. "Risei-san also taught me some other things, you know? I finally learned that I can fix things without trying to triple kick someone."

"Oh? Sounds like you had some fun this summer." Aimi chuckled, a small smug forming on her lips.

"S-shut up." Izuru muttered, blushing slightly. "He taught me violence is never the answer." He rapidly turned around and aimed his water guns at Aimi. "It's the solution!"

A moment of silence followed as Aimi stared at Izuru, and he soon returned to cleaning the griller after getting his water guns snatched and smacked on his head.

"Well? That still doesn't answer my question. Why me to help you cook? Even I'm aware my cooking is still crap compared to Minami's."

"Oh, me and everyone else knows that." Aimi deadpanned.

"At least pretend you're not disappointed in my existence..." Izuru sweatdropped.

"With everyone down at the beach, I can talk to you properly."

"Oh, is this about our earlier agreement? So you're finally ready to have me teach you all you need to know about how to-"

"I didn't had the guts to ask Tate-kun." Aimi said with a small blush.

"Oh, so I really was the second option... W-well then, I'm still gonna stick to my word nonetheless! By the end of this beach house vacation, you're going be great at socializing, or at least decent enough to talk with the people we know without any problems!"

"Hoory, decent enough!" Aimi cheered, arms in the air. "But how? Even I know how boring I am."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. First, let's go over the fundamentals of how to make friends."

"Right." Aimi nodded.

"...well?"

"Hm? I'm waiting for you to say which they are."

"You don't know them either?!"

"You're useless, Izuru." Aimi sweatdropped.

"Man, I made friends because Tate adaopted me in middle school..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, that's when a social guy or girl becomes friends with the unapproachable person, and through said social person, the unapproachable person becomes friends with the friends the social one already had. Pretty common stuff."

"Does it happen alot in anime?"

"...why did you had to call me out like that, that's how I learned about it too..." Izuru sweatdropped. "Well, I guess we can always just try to... Hm... W-well... There's always-! Ngh..."

"Hm..." Aimi rubbed her chin. "How did you and Ban became closer after your little war?"

"If I remember right, that was because... That's right! We were both filthy gacha whales! Wait, that's it!"

"I'm not going to start playing gacha games."

"Not that! Though, good choice, this is a torture we keep returning to. What I mean is that me and Ban got closer as friends because of shared interests. We just need to figure out some things you and the rest of the group both like!"

"Hmmmm..." Aimi looked at the beach and back at Izuru. "Let's try something else."

"Come on, no need to be that pessimistic. Everyone can find something they both like, no matter how small it is. Why not music? Someone down at the beach probably likes the same music as you, so why not give that a shot? So? What kind of music are you into?"

"..." Blushing, Aimi turned away. "L-let's try something else!!"

"Oh please, how bad can your taste be?"

"M-my taste isn't bad but you don't need to know about it!!"

"Well then. This is one of those times something Sumireko said actually ends up being useful." Izuru said, cracking his knucles.

"I-izuru, what you- Pfff, s-stop it!" Aimi whipered.

"Sumireko's knowledge and that one Interspecies Reviewers actually were legit." Izuru snickered. He was tickling the back of Aimi's neck, which he knew was a sensitive spot for her thanks to one of Sumireko's unneeded comments. "And now I'll just take this, thank you very much." He said, snatching Aimi's phone from a pocket in her shorts.

"N-no, please don't do it! I beg you!"

"Nope, this is for your own good. You'll thank me later!"

Without a lock screen stopping him, Izuru easily got to the music app Aimi used on her phone, and with just one single glance at the playlists there, he stopped, staring blankly at the screen.

All the songs on Aimi's phone were songs of old, sung to raise the morale of the crewmates during their arduous voyages across the seven seas many centuries ago, in search of land, glory and fortune.

"For real?"

"F-for real..." Aimi nodded slowly, blushing redder than ever.

"I know sea shanties with the boys are an existing thing but I don't know about sea shanties with the girls..." Izuru bluntly said. "W-well, we can always just try something else." He said, giving back the phone to its owner.

"I'm a lost cause..."

"Oh, that's it! What do you like to eat?!"

"Yakisoba bread. Oh, and pancakes with black cats drawn on them."

"Movie type?!"

"Hard boiled action movies with tons of guns and explosions."

"Anime genre?!"

"Mecha."

"Male anime character?!"

"Toudou Aoi."

"Your tastes just literally translate to the 'Bro'..." Izuru deadpanned, gripping onto his head. "Hm... Let's take a break from the cleaning and cooking, I need to rest." He sighed, sitting down on a chair that was in the balcony.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this." Aimi said, sitting aswell.

"Don't go aplogizing over this. Of course I'd go out of my way to help, we're friends, you dummy." Izuru chuckled, lightly smacking Aimi's head.

"That's true." Aimi chuckled a bit. "How did we even kick things off?"

"Literally speaking, a shared interest for the student council, and the rest just happened. But I'm glad it happened. That's why I ain't letting this vacation end without completing my end of the bargain!"

"Don't waste your break on that. It's fine, really. I can just be, how did you put it, socially adopted by Minami."

"That's the easy route and only wusses take the easy route!"

"Don't you go on social media with your pain pekos after you don't get what you want from gacha?"

"We're not talking about gacha now! I can't believe I'm taking a page out of those events to get the kids interested in the game but fuck it, let's fight! You and me, right here, right now! Card games are the key to anyone's heart!"

"...you heard yourself, right?"

"...yes, let's just get fighting, we'll think of something as we fight, I'm sure of it. Besides, we both play the same nation now, it'll be fun. Magallanica will forever be the nation with pirates, mermaids and seamen, right? Right? Of course."

"Of course fucking not."

"I left my deck on my bag, let me go get it." Aimi said.

"Okay, I'll just be here shuffling my deck." Izuru took out his deck and shuffled as he waited. But the moment Aimi was gone, Izuru walked up to the edge of the balcony. 'Eheh, Summer Nero, eheh...'

"Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep." Minami hummed as she stepped out of the kitchen, with a cold soda in her hand, and her eyes focused on Izuru.

'Eheh, boing boing, Summer Nero...'

"You're really the worst..."

The pink haired girl sighed and shrugged. She grabbed the edge of Izuru's trunks and pulled them back, then began spilling the soda into his behind until he snapped out of it.

"COLD!" The black haired squealed, moving away from his attacker and turning to face her. "W-what the hell?!"

"You're a weirdo, you know? Checking out a kouhai like some dirty animal. Learn some manners!"

"I-i wasn't- I was checking if you were still there! Yeah, that's right!"

"Siiiiiiiiiip." Minami hummed as she sipped what was left of her soda.

"..." Izuru snatched the can out of Minami's hands and raised it in the air.

"Wha- Give it back, you creep!" Minami called out, taking small jumps to reach the can. 

"There's a saying in Asakusa that goes like this: Talk shit, get boned. Wait, maybe that ain't right." Izuru hummed.

"You... You creep stupid idiot!" Minami blushed.

With a leap bigger than those before, Minami finalled grasped the can, but with her feet off the ground, and the can being slippery from being in the fridge for so long, she ended up falling forward, but was caught by the sheer presence of Izuru's chest.

'S-sturdy...'

"Strawberry lemonade is just strawberry juice with attitude." Izuru said, squishing the empty can with his hands.

"Sheesh, you could have saved some for me..."

"I'm ba- Oh, Minami-nee." Aimi said, looking away from the two. "I thought you were still at the beach."

"N-no, t-t-this isn't-!" Minami pushed Izuru away and rushed to Aimi's side. "This creep was staring at Rio, I caught him in the act!"

"He wasn't trying to hide that either way." The student council president deadpanned. "I got my deck here." Aimi took her deck box out from a small handbag she brought. "So huh... Why is there strawberry lemonade dripping from your trunks?"

"I was born with a special condition that turns my sweat into any soda I like whenever I being super cool, and I'm always sweating strawberry lemonade." Izuru said bluntly, with a thumbs up included.

The two sisters stared at him and then shared a glance, in which they nodded.

Izuru was gunned down by a pair of soda cans being hurled at him by Aimi and Minami.

"I'd appreciate if things stopped being thrown at me today..." Izuru coughed as he redrew some of the cards in his hand, rubbing the red mark on his face.

"It's what you get for saying creepy things." Minami pouted, crossing her arms.

"Why don't you go back to the beach and leave this to us?"

"I'm here to support Aimi-nee, of course! Besides, it's not like your Schmucksanoo has any chance of winning this."

"Why does everyone think I'm that bad of a player..." Izuru deadpanned.

"Izuru, let's begin now." Aimi said.

"R-right, let's do that." Izuru nodded and grabbed his starter. "This deck would be so good if we somehow could guarantee our ride targets, but I digress. Stand up, vanguard! Blue Wave Recruit, Kosty! (6000)"

"S-stand up, my vanguard... Undying Departed, Grenache! (6000)"

"I'll take the first turn. Let's see here, stand and draw, and... Ride this! Blue Wave Senior Soldier, Beragios! (8000) Kosty let's me draw one and then I search for a grade 3 from the top five of my deck with Beragios and... Got nothing, these get shuffled back. Passing it over to you."

Izuru
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Aimi
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Then, it's my turn." Aimi nodded. 'I haven't played much since I got separated from Minami-nee, but I hope I can still do something decent...' "R-ride, Witch Doctor of Powdered Bone, Negrobone. (8000) Grenache let's me draw one... And then I get a Quick Shield."

'Seems like she hasn't played in a while. That's still no excuse for me to go breezy on this. Well, this is Japan so at least I don't need to worry about-'

"Then I call Ripple Banshee and Skeleton Sea Navigator. (8000) (7000)"

'OH I'M DIE, SHE ACTUALLY PLAYS A GOOD NIGHTROSE DECK!' Izuru began sweating heavily.

"Hm? Is something wrong, Izuru?"

"N-no, I'm just thinking of something unrelated to this, d-don't worry about it!"

"Well, then I'll use Navigator's skill. I rest him and Banshee... And then mill five cards." 

The revelation of the five cards lying on top of Aimi's deck was enough to make Izuru become free from his worries and Aimi to stare blanky at her drop zone.

"W-well, I-i use twelve critical triggers, losing five isn't going to be a hindrance in the long run..." 'So this is how Izuru feels when playing his games...'

'Nightrose is just a giant gacha game, how did I never thought of picking it up...' Izuru sweatdropped.

"Moving on... I'll attack with Negrobone. (8000)"

"Hit me."

"(Pirate Swordsman, Colombard) Oh, this is nice."

'On second thought, some kind of guaranteed ride deck would just make getting Bard and Nightrose not a problem...' "Damage check. (Steel Whip of Turbulence, Gheorghe)"

"Turn end."

Izuru
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Aimi
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OXX

"Stand and draw. I'll ride this one, Blue Wave Marine General, Galleass! (9000) I'll also call nothing and just attack. (9000)"

"No guard."

"(Loading Bullet Brave Shooter - Draw) Nice, a draw! All on Galleass and I draw one. (19000)"

"Then is my damage check. (Ripple Banshee"

"That's all I got. Passing it to you."

Izuru
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Aimi
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OXX

"Stand and draw... I ride Pirate Swordsman, Colombard. (9000) I'll use his skill too. I counterblast one and put Stormride Ghost Ship into my drop zone, then call it. (9000) I also rest Navi and Banshee to mill five again."

And this time, none were triggers.

"Colombard attacks...! (9000)"

"No guard!"

"(Rampage Shade - Critical) I got a critical trigger! I put the power on Ghost Ship and give Colombard the critical! (19000) (9000/2)"

"Tch, getting to three this early, sheesh. (Terrific Coil Dragon) (Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir - Heal) This is the sacking I like! I heal one and give the power to my- Eek!" Izuru tensed under the intense glares coming from Aimi and Minami. "W-what's up with those looks...?"

"It's true that clans have more than one heal trigger, right?" Aimi asked.

"Y-yeah...?"

"Then why is yours the cute doctor girl? Are you trying to imply something?" Minami asked in her more threatening sounding voice.

'S-shit, they're on to me!' "I-i don't know what you speak off, power to Galleass!! (19000)"

"Ghost Ship. (34000)"

"N-no guard. (Battle Siren, Dolcia)"

"Ghost Ship is retired and I draw one. Turn end."

Izuru
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
OXO
OOO

Aimi
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
OXO
OXX

"Stand and draw." 'Sheesh, this sucks. I really wanted to burn a turn on setting up for Valeos but I'm gonna get hit with a quad Skull next turn. If I don't get sacked on, I could probably somehow squeak outta there alive... Ah to hell with it, this shines better on turn four and dammit, I'm living until that turn four!' "I'm gonna ride Steel Whip of Turbulence, Gheorghe! (12000) But that name is stupid so I'll call him Gogy from here on out! And I get the best gift in this game, Accel II! Draw! And attack! (12000)"

"No guard."

"Twin drive! Gambling gods, don't fail me now! (Blue Wave Senior Soldier, Beragios) (Riptide Dragon) Ah dammit, I got nothing."

"Damage check. (Undead Dragon, Skull Dragon) Eh...?" Aimi stared blankly at her damage zone. "Wasn't the five crits in drop enough...."

'I GOT A SURVIVAL CHANCE, LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!' Izuru's inner voice squealed in happiness, but the outside one spoke sternly. "Turn end."

Izuru
Hand: 11
Damage: 3
oOXO
  OOO

Aimi
Hand: 8
Damage: 2
OXO
OXX

"Stand and draw... Hmmm..." Aimi started blushing.

"Do you... Need to G Assist or-"

"I-i have her in hand, it's not that I'm concerned about!! H-here it goes then... T-those aware of ruin, the fortuned souls who've been granted some semblance of solace...! H-her loneliness, her revolt... B-before the crimson beauty under the moon, experience it well! Ride! Vampire Princess of Night Fog, Nighrose! (12000)"

'Yeah, that's how I thought ride chants would realistic go...' Izuru sweatdropped.

"I-imaginary Gift, Protect I! I put it into my hand. And then I use Navi's skill to mill five again... T-there it is!"

"Hm? There it is what?"

"I soulblast one and retire Ripple Banshee to superior call Samurai Spirit from the drop zone! (8000) And then add 4k! (12000)"

"I mean that's a way to do- Oh no, the calcium's in the drop zone..."

"That's right. I discard a card and put Negrobone in the bottom of my deck to superior call Colombard. (9000) I counterblast and put Skull Dragon into the drop zone, then call him. (12000) I use Cutlass' skill from the drop zone too. I bind a Cutlass and mill one to call another and countercharge. (6000) B-battle! Boosted by Samurai Spirit, Colombard attacks! When my unit boosts or attacks, Nightrose skill gives it 5k in exchange of retiring after the battle! Hollow Starlight! (31000)"

"Medical Officer, guard! (32000)"

"Colombard and Samurai Spirit retire! N-now Skull Dragon attacks! Nightrose's skill will boost him, and his own skill will boos thim even further! For each card in my drop zone, add 2k! There are eighteen cards, so that's.... 36k! (53000)"

"No guard! (Blue Wave Marshall, Valeos)" 'Oh of all the times for this to happen! I'm still gonna have to tank another Skull Dragon but at least that'll be the last attack!'

"Skull Dragon retires too. Boosted by Cutlass, Nightrose attacks! Her skills boosts Cutlass, and then I use her own skill! Counterblast, call Skull Dragon and Beatrice to the same column! (12000) (12000) And Beatrice's skill, I soulblast to call Ghost Ship too! (9000)"

'DAMN YOU, CLAN SELECTION!'

"Your vanguard is grade 3, so Nightrose gets buffed too...! (33000) Crimson Rose Romantia!"

'Dammit, she's hitting over 33k, that's a magic number right there... If I drop this sentinel on this one, she'll stack all the crits on Skull and just up and kill me! Goddammit, this damn card game is just gambling with attitude!' "Ah, no guard!" 'GACHA GODS, DON'T FAIL ME NOW!'

"T-twin drive! (Stormride Ghost Ship)"

'There's one!'

"S-second check...! (Witch Doctor of Powdered Bone, Negrobone) No trigger..."

"Alright, I live! Damage check! (Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos)"

"Cutlass retires. Ghost Ship attacks! (29000)"

"Guard with Wheel Assault and Dolcia! (32000)"

"Ghost Ship retires and I draw. Now finish the game, Skull Dragon...! Nineteen cards, that's 38k! (55000)"

"Paschal, perfect guard! I'm not dying to a double Skull this soon in the game!"

"So it would seem. Skull Dragon retires. Turn end."

Izuru
Hand: 6
Damage: 5
oOXO
  OOO

Aimi
Hand: 11
Damage: 2
OXO
XOO

'Oh man, even with Valeos, how am I gonna break a hand that fat and still deal four damage without pulling out my ass...' "Stand and draw. Hm..." 'Still, this fight was supposed to make us thing of something to connect Aimi with the others and that's been going downhill... With tastes like- Wait... Wait...! Wait, that's it!' "Oi, Aimi!" Izuru called out.

"Hm?! W-what is it, is everything alright?"

"I'm gonna win this turn with my superior multi-attack combo. But! As a show of kindness, I'll only left you half-dead right now. I have one question for you!"

"Y-yes?!"

"Where are you going with this..." Minami deadpanned.

Taking in a deep breath and inhaling enough oxygen to make his next words be heard loud and clear, he made his question.

"WHAT KIND OF MAN IS YOUR TYPE?!"

Izuru's words roared loud and throughout... Even reaching the ears of those down at the beach, who all looked up in confusion and began making their way back to the beach house.

"W-w-w-what type of question is that?!" Minami asked, hiding her blushing face behind her hands.

"We heard someone ask something weird, what are you- Oh, Miyuki and pres are throwing down!" Tate said. He got there first.

"Oh sweet, Nightrose against Susanoo. Bet he died to quad Skull already." Ban snickered.

As the rest of the group made their way to the balcony and surrounded the table, Aimi looked up at Izuru.

"Why would I talk about that with you of all people?"

"Don't think too much about it, just answer the question. If you like girls, that's fine too."

"Alright, fine." Aimi sighed. "I guess what I'd look for in someone would be... On second thought, it's whatever. I don't have a particular taste. Aslong as they an unshakable character, I don't see the issue in it, really."

"What a great answer, president! To ignore someone's outer shell and care about their feelings, I wish I can become someone like you one day!" Yumi cheered.

"I knew it..." Izuru muttered, tears rolling down his face as he grit his teeth. "I KNEW IT!"

"The hell's he crying about?" Yukiko sweatdropped.

Those were fake tears, getting into fights all the time in middle school made him learn how to cry on command.

"You're truly... Someone with poor tastes, Aimi! Let me explain! Since the dawn of mankind, a person's fetish have revealed everything about them! Those who like older girls tend to actually believe the are single mothers in their area and those who are into kouhais are those dumb gorillas who act like they wanna play the dominant role in the relationship but just wanna have her look down on 'em with a smug look and call them trash!"

'Who're you calling a dumbass gorilla?!' Ban thought.

"It's only logical that those with boring tastes and boring people themselves! And I hate people with poor tastes! By the way, my type is a tall woman with a big, thick, gorgeous-!"

"You're talking alot of smack for someone in Holy Maiden Beatdown distance, ehe." Yukiko smiled.

"ROMAN EMPEROR THRONE!" 'Nailed it!' 

"I can see what you're trying to go for perfectly, but there's a hole in your plan." Aimi sighed. "We got in this situation because I was self-aware of being boring." She deadpanned.

"T-THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT! Ah dammit, just watch!"

(Media - OST Give me a break)

"Unshakable character! Unrivaled spearman coolness! The strongest, most unbeatable and undefeated champion of the north star! The instant this cold and unstoppable spear strikes in the trillionth of a second of a blow, the world will freeze over and these fists will flash black! Ride!"

And then Izuru went out of his way to describe how it all happened in his head, because coming with a cool entrance sequence for Valeos was part of his training with Taira.

It started with the current vanguard blasting into the skies, where it shined like a star of an ice blue colour, and then crashed into the ground like a comet, freezing everything around.

Ice pillars blasted through the grounds, entertwined with slim streaks of red and black lightning, and in the center of the it all, the so-called spearman of unrivaled coolness put his spear on his shoulder as small flashes of red and black lightning ran through the cold air that surrounded him.

But in the real world and not Izuru's clunky imagination, he just threw a card into the air, and then caught it as he clapped his hands.

"Blue Wave Marshall, Valeos! (12000) Imaginary Gift, none! Call, Beragios! (8000) Check top five, add Valeos to hand and then discard Terrific Coil! Valeos' first skil! Black Spade Frozen Star! Your vanguard loses 5k power, and then gets stuck at that power for the turn! Now, Valeos' second skill! Black Spear Distant Sea! I discard a Valeos and get rid of all my Accels to call any five units from my drop zone! Riptide and Wheel, to my left column! (12000) (8000) Terrific Coil and Dolcia, to my right column! (9000) (8000) And behind the vanguard, Gogy! (12000) This is it! My ultimate weapon! My-!"

"I'm not sure oversized paragraphs are something to be proud of, Miyuki-kun." Chika sweatdropped.

A moment of silence passed as Izuru's soul died on that day, right there and then.

"M-my Septuple Riptide Kick! I never once in my life said an oversized paragraph!"

'I'll be the judge of that.' Aimi, Minami and Chika thought.

"A-anyway! Let's start the showdown! Terrific Coil attacks! Since it's the first battle of the turn, I soulblast to restand him and he gets 5k off his skill! (14000) Wave One!"

"I guard with Knight Spirit! (23000)"

"When your vanguard's power is different from what's originally, Dolcia can swing from the backrow! (8000) Wave Two!"

"Greed Shade! (13000)"

"Terrific Coil! (14000) Wave Three!"

"This time Valeos attacks! (12000) Wave Four! This spear needs no second strike! Frozen Star Killshot! Black Flash!"

"Protect I, perfect guard!"

"Twin drive! (Loading Bullet Brave Shooter - Draw) Riptide! (22000) (Blue Storm Marine General, Despina - Critical) On Riptide again! (32000/2) Four waves have gone by, so Riptide's lock and loaded! Attack! (52000/2) Wave Five!"

"N-no guard! (Rampage Shade - Critical) (Ripple Banshee)"

"And now, showcasing for the first time ever, Valeos' third skill! Black Flash Retribution! Or how we like to call it-!" Izuru clapped his hands.

"BOOGIE WOOGIE!" Tate and Ban yelled out.

"That's right! After any battle I made, I can swap two units on the field! Riptide and Gogy will be switching zones! Boosted by Wheel Assault, Goggy attacks! (20000) Wave Six! And with his skill, Gogy restands Riptide since he's in the back!"

"Knight Spirit! (23000)"

"Wheel Assault's skill!" Izuru clapped his hands again. "Gogy and Riptide change places! Riptide, again! (52000/2) Wave Seven! And with that, Septuple Riptide Kick!"

In their minds, that last part of the fight played out in a different manner.

The naval ships of Valeos' fleet intercepted the galleons that belonged to Nightrose's fleet.

In a surprise attack, units fighting for Valeos' side blasted into the air from among the small spaces between the ships participating in this naval war.

"This is my Septuple Riptide Kick!"

Izuru's words roared and were heard all the way throughout the battle zone, even reaching Aimi's flagship, where she fought off the Blue Wave soldiers that had sprouted from the waters.

Izuru jumped onto Riptide Dragon's back, and by riding him like a surfboard, the two blasted into the skies, so far up that they covered the sun and flashed their shadows down on the flagship.

"Frozen Star Killshot!"

Jumping off his trusted ride, Izuru began descending towards the flagship, but not before dragging the bottom tip of his spear against Riptide's metal body, which ignited it like a firework that he hurled down at Aimi.

Aimi unveiled her neon green bat-like wings and took off into the skies herself, where she slashed through the spear, but in doing so, a cloud of frigid air was unleashed upon her.

And then, as streaks of black and red lightnig creeped through the greyish cloud, Izuru stepped out of it, clenching his right fist.

"BLACK-!"

He slammed his fist into Aimi's torso, unleashing all of that built up energy into her and making the black and red streaks run through her body.

Aimi's body became more tense under that pressure, making her grit her teeth.

But then, the moment she stopped resisting the raw strength of the blow, all of it flowed through her body and was unleashed down upon the flagship, completly decimating all of it, and blasting a hole through Aimi's torso in the process.

"-FLASH!"

"I lost and we didn't even get what we wanted." Aimi sighed.

"I thought you and the rest could fangirl about what you like in dudes but even that was a bust." Izuru nodded. "Back to the drawing board it is."

"So it would seem."

As Aimi placed her deck box back in her handbag, a small notebook fell off and landed on the ground, open on a page that had an illustration of Nightrose.

"Hm? What's this?" Kasumi hummed as she picked up the notebook. "A-aimi-san, you dropped this."

"Eh? D-don't look at it, please!"

"The heck's this?" Izuru asked, snatching the book from Kasumi's hands. "Goddamn, this is amazing! It looks like the real deal and it's not even computer made! Since when was drawing a thing?"

"G-give me that back!!" Aimi took her notebook back and used it to hide her blushing face. "W-well... I can't do alot when I take breaks from the council paperwork, and with so many papers and pens around, I-i thought I'd give it a go whenever I had the time... I-it's not amazing, just something to pass the time before I get back to the paper work..."

"Damn, those look pretty nice, though. How much for you to draw Angelica with a scythe instead of a staff?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh oh, Aimi-senpai! Can you draw me as Coral?!" Yumi asked.

'I want a copy of that- No, bad Katsuhito!' Ban thought.

"Your work is something else, Aimi-san." Chika chuckled.

"I-i-it's nothing special, I'm telling you...!"

"Nothing is special at first, but it's doing it because you like it that makes it special." Izuru said, a crossing his arms with a confidant smile.

And a wave of silence and weird stares followed until Tate spoke up.

"Wow, you actually said something that lame..."

"It's not lame, you're lame! Now shut up, we got some fried chicken to make! Go back to doing your boring beach stuff or whatever! Chop chop, the god of cullinary school has chicken to fry!"