It is often said that a free press is the best shield society has against the looming specters of oppression and despotism, but whoever had made this optimistic quotation obviously forgot that there is times when discretion and censorship are indeed appropriate. Unfortunately, the Japanese media, not exactly radical, but with no less hunger for a good story as a result, had been following the exploits of the Witch Blade with jealous abandon. Ever since Tokyo News Network had gotten first crack at the horrid truth behind the Great Quake and the ExCons, the other media outlets decided to pounce on the Witch Blades further exploits and regain the advantage.
On some fronts, they had succeeded, as Yuusuke Tozawa, who had made a name for himself by first coming out with the truth during the Battle of Tokyo, was now the Press Liaison for Dreizhen Industries, and he had given a rather thorough press conference the day after the Witch Blade Asagi Watanabe had defeated an ExCon in a manner that still awed cameramen who still weren’t believing what the phosphor dots had showed them, as it seemed too incredible and over the top. Not that the other Witch Blades weren’t interesting, but she did take up most of their attention, which was reasonable, given how over the top things had been at the finale.
That aside, the press conference had made public that the Witch Blades were working in concert with the JSDF and Tokyo Police to make sure the ExCon threat was eliminated, and they were still examining all the data and equipment they had seized from the former premises of the NSWF, now under military seal. They found out that until the investigation was finished, the press wasn’t going to get a damn thing, mostly because the army had censored any disclosures. They did find out about most of the employees on the anti-ExCon team, however.
They had yet to learn much more, and the press conference had ended explaining that the Witch Blade who had destroyed the ExCon had been physically overwhelmed, and was currently recovering. When the question of the young man who intervened on the Witch Blade’s behalf came up, Tozawa immediately informed them he knew, but he was not going to reveal that information for any reason, as it was not relevant to the discussion, and he would not be responsible for said young man’s privacy being invaded by the media, mostly at the young man’s father’s request.
After that, the press conference was adjourned, and the media decided to get the answers it hadn’t gotten from the source through alternate means. That said, much shoe leather was burned, and many interviews conducted with all the people the newshounds could find from the beach incident, and they found out that the young man on the motorcycle was one Dante Long, son of police officer Togusa Long. Attempting to follow this up with his boss, Chief Nakata, had been met with a stern denial, and Nakata said he agreed with Tozawa that he was not going to violate the privacy of a private citizen simply so they could generate copy, and all he would say is that said young man had done a somewhat foolish yet brave act of heroism, and that it was rather admirable, but that was all he would say. They tried to interview Officer Long, but found he had already invoked a restraining order on the press, and found his house under scrutiny by the cops, who immediately told the newsies to get lost. Not fazed, they tried to approach Marry’s, where they had learned through various customers of the institution apparently doubled as the Witch Blades quartering arrangements. Excited, the press decided to see if they could get their answers.
This time, it wasn’t cops, but soldiers in civilian dress who caught wind of them, and told them to leave the area, as the Witch Blades were under their protection, which including protecting their private lives from the media. A few unscrupulous journalists attempted to enter Marry’s and pump her for info, but were escorted out by some cops, who were patronizing Marry’s at regular intervals to keep that from happening. Thusly frustrated, the more reputable papers decided to gracefully cede defeat, while the tabloids kept firing potshots about a gigantic conspiracy to keep them all in the dark, and how it violated the public’s right to know, conveniently forgetting that the Japanese Army, which had approved the gag order, had every legal right to do so, and the government agreed. And besides, the irony of their bitching was that the only thing that was actually hidden was that the Witch Blades were currently seeing some mental health professionals as a result of the horrors they’d been through, and since it would have been a gross violation of their professional ethics to betray their oath to the JSDF and their professions, said military paid therapists kept mum on this, and this secret stayed blacker than black.
Another more minor secret was that both Dante and Asagi had been physically overwhelmed (Asagi more severely), and really did not need their recovery from the shock of the night they met disturbed by flashing cameras and assholes with more microphones, few manners, and no tact.
As for the Witch Blade nakama, their week had been interesting and dull. Dull in that a lot of it wasn’t really all that new, and interesting in its developments.
Asagi had been a semi comatose zombie for a full day after her battle, and had slept like the dead. Aoi and Maria learned what they had missed by seeing it on TV, and had occasionally peeked in Asagi’s room from time to time, wondering if they should be scared of the WMD (Woman of Mass Destruction). Masane, Reiji, Shiori, Aoi, Marry, Maria, Yuusuke, and Cho and had been mostly spared press scrutiny, but one particular media asshole had jumped Reina when she was helping Rihoko take the trash out (as they had dolled up a chore list a few days ago, and it was her turn), and started asking her a bunch of pointed questions. For those who wondered how he ducked the cops and military bodyguards, it was night and he had apparently pulled a Solid Snake and stealthily made his way to the alley behind Marry’s. Said asshole immediately was armed with a steno pad, and was asking Reina asinine shit about the Witch Blade’s power, like did it make do weird occultist feeding rituals or allow her to speak with aliens.
Obviously, said dipshit was from a particular crackpot tabloid, and when Reina decided to ignore him, he turned his attention to Rihoko and asked her if she was the daughter of bunch of lesbians, and was she scared to be around a bunch of women who had killed. Rihoko ignored the crude ass wipe, and Reina decided enough was enough, and had told Rihoko to go back inside. Asshole tried to follow, and Reina kneed him in the groin. He crumpled, and she followed up with a fist to the temple, and then dropped a stiff right hand through his back, knocking his wind completely out of him. By this time, some of the Dreizhen provided bodyguards caught on, and took the asshole off Reina’s hands, and apologized for not dealing with the prick sooner. Before she left, she forgave them, and merely asked that he be turned over the authorities for trying to force his way into a private residence, and she wanted the strictest restraining order possible put on him for his stupidity.
Considering how even some of them had been harassed for a scoop by some of these nitwits, they were all too happy to comply.
That one incident aside, the week was fairly free of mishap. Also, as a happy side effect, the media frenzy soon died, as most of the media had been horrified one of their own number had been such an asshole, and by midweek, the media blitz had tapered off to nil, and most of the bodyguards had been recalled, much to Marry’s chagrin, as a lot of them had patronized her establishment, and her business had been booming.
Speaking of business, Colonel Toijira showed up soon afterwards with an attorney, who informed Marry that the Dreizhen was now the legal owner of her establishment, and had extended her lease indefinitely, which nearly sent Marry into a heart attack (in a good way). He did inform Marry that the JSDF wanted to make several alterations to the premises, such as installing anti bugging devices in the walls and security cameras that would monitor the outside against intruders, and Marry lodged no complaint, seeing as she was paying for none of it, and besides, she agreed with wanting to make sure the residents of her building stayed safe.
While he had visited, Reiji asked to speak with him privately, and thus they met in Masane’s room, where he confessed that Rihoko was his legal daughter (he knew this already, but he had been waiting for him to say it), and he was wondering if he couldn’t do most of his paperwork at home so he could spend more time around her, seeing as his job involved making sure material requisitions were kept up with and managing the personnel’s concerns and forwarding their needs to the appropriate parties, and he could do most of that paperwork at home and fax it to HQ. He agreed to let him work at home, barring emergencies and times where his physical presence would be required. Reiji was also informed him he’d probably have a suitable private tutor ready for Rihoko by the following week. Speaking of Rihoko, he actually met the young lady in question, who told the Colonel rather bluntly,
“You seem really stern, but I think you’re a good person.”
Toijira was a bit surprised, and actually asked Masane, who was present if he really did seem stern, and Masane honestly answered yes. He took that rather well, even telling Masane she had a rather sharp little girl, and merely told her that all present were more or less granted the next few days off.
(Wednesday, latter half of the day)
As Edge entered to the Other Realm, he felt an extreme sense of trepidation.
Of the Thirteen, he and Daemon had been the lone dissenters in the idea to banish Angelus and Darkness for causing the Great Quake, Daemon because he was sympathetic to their reasons, Edge because he thought banishment was overkill, but the majority vote was how they made collegial decisions, and thus the banishment commenced, and though he had been selected over Daemon (for reasons deemed more than obvious) to let them know it was at a probationary end, he was still a little worried. He didn’t think he’d be in danger, and he knew Darkness would at least be somewhat civil to him, but he knew Angelus had one hell of a temper, and Edge was not the type of guy who easily handled situations involving highly pissed women. As the throne room the two banishees came into view, he saw an interesting sight.
Witch Blades, all in various colors and varieties of armor could be seen, some practice sparring with each other, some relaxing against the many crystalline structures of the Other Realm, and some who seemed to be on guard duty noticed him and tensed guardedly, which grabbed the attention of the two entities on their respective thrones, and all activity stopped as Edge walked up to the thrones, hands up in peace.
“I come on behalf of my colleagues, and I wish to speak with you.” he said simply. He didn’t bow, as he was of equal stature as they, but he tried hard not to show disrespect. Besides, they knew he hadn’t been on board with the banishment thing in the first place.
Apparently, Angelus was in a good mood today, as she merely sighed and said,
“You may speak.”
“As you may know, the Thirteen have been observing the actions of your servants on Earth, and we not only have come to the conclusion their services had been a great help in the defense of humanity, but would be willing to grant you two clemency as a result.”
As he finished, he noticed neither had reacted, so he asked,
“Is that not to your liking?”
To his slightly creeped out surprised, Darkness lazily asked him,
“You had reason to believe we wouldn’t help humanity?”
Edge ran a nervous hand through his cobalt hair as Angelus fixed her gaze on his matching eyes, and he realized that he’d better tread carefully with his next words.
“Not at all. We simply feared you would be greatly angry with us, and some of my colleagues were”, and Edge snorted as he himself had never thought this (which was a frail lie), “afraid you might want to seek retribution on them.”
He cringed as both Angelus and Darkness looked at each other ruefully, and then began to laugh their asses off. Angelus quickly regained her composure and sarcastically replied, “Originally, this prison was so well constructed that even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. And by the time our child cracked the door to our cell open, we decided it would be waste of our time.”
Edge’s left eyebrow quirked upwards, and in fit of daring pique, asked, “So, what was a better use of your time?”
Darkness spoke up, gesturing around the room, “While the True Bearer, and some of those who have borne the heaviest complicity in the Trespass went back to atone for their sin, we as parents decided to adopt these children as our own, and allow them experience the happiness of family without the Trespasser’s taint on their minds and bodies.”
Angelus now: “And if they are needed, they shall be our warriors, aiding our already chosen servants in making sure no one violates the safety or compact made with our child. They were by large forced to be servants of one who chose evil, and if the day comes when they are needed, they shall be warriors of light who shall be the crucible that burns away evil, and shall be the vanguards of Order and Chaos, helping to restore the balance.
Darkness, once again, “Does that answer your question?”
Edge felt a bead of sweat trickle down his skull. “I guess so. I do have to ask one more thing before I take my leave.”
Angelus: “Go ahead.”
“Do you accept your release from your banishment?”
To that, Darkness rolled his eyes, “Of course, but we’ve developed an affinity for this place, and wish to remain here a while longer, and enjoy the happiness of our new family.”
“Couldn’t blame you in the least for that.”
At this, Edge bowed and said, “I will convey your message.
(Thursday, noon, Reiji’s office)
Reiji had barely gotten back from lunch when the receptionist informed him she had a visitor, who was currently waiting in front of his office door. He made his way there, and saw a serious looking gentleman appearing in his late twenties with blue hair and eyes pantomiming looking at a watch. He looked up as he approached, and extended his hand,
“I’m Edge, and I’m here on Migura’s behalf.”
He shook his hand, and insisted he step inside. As he did, he pointed to a comfortable chair against the wall beside his desk. Edge declined, as he wasn’t staying.
“I take it Angelus and Darkness got the memo, correct?” he asked, correctly guessing part of his raison d’être
“Yes. Also, before I leave, I’m going to be hanging around from time to time as an observer. Not that we don’t trust you, but we do want to keep on top of any unexpected developments. Basically, think of me as a guardian angel, if you will.”
Reiji regarded this neutrally, merely asking, “I assume you don’t want me to say anything.”
“For now, yes. I don’t believe there is anyone stupid enough to try attacking the Witch Blades other than ExCons, but I’d like to be an extra set of eyes, just in case.”
“Fair enough.”
At that, Edge turned to leave, adding,
“I’m not sure why, but I’m sure that the very events we have just played out have happened in other universes many times, and in one of them, we are but fictitious characters on a stage for the entertainment of the masses.
He waited a beat, letting that sinking in, and then added as he left,
“Scary thought, isn’t it?”
As the door shut, Reiji thought,
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
(About an hour later)
As Edge gave his report to his now pardoned colleagues, Darkness told him, with hefty doses of snarky irony “We’re just heading out for a brief excursion. Feel free to inform the worrywarts among the Thirteen we aren’t going to perform any more involuntary landscaping.”
He nodded sardonically. “Will do.”, and with that, he took his leave. As he did, Angelus called two of the assembled to stand before them. One was a Witch Blade who had really long hair and orange armor, the other a very rare male whom had been turned into a monster by a now gibbering lunatic, wearing a male modified version of silver Witch Blade armor, whom Darkness told,
“We shall soon be making a brief excursion to the mortal realm. We will be placing you two as temporary guardians in our stead. We’ll be back soon; we just decided to pop out and remember what fresh air smells like.
The male and female nodded obediently.
“Good.”, added Darkness. “We won’t be gone long, so feel free to keep our chairs warm for us.”
Angelus gave her counterpart an “Are you insane?” look, but said nothing.
Later, when it was time for them to leave, they got up, preparing to warp to Earth. As they did, Darkness, in a disturbingly accurate Mike Brady impression, called out,
“Your mother and I won’t be gone long, so be good kids!”
As he said this, Angelus yet again wondered if Darkness was crazy, and the Witch Blades of all ages, highly amused at the dissonant hilarity of a dusky piece of estrogen brigade bait sounding like a 1950’s suburbanite father, collapsed in a fit of laughter, and Angelus, despite herself, broke out into a smile as they warped away, glad to see these formerly tortured women knowing what joy a true father could give them.
As they warped away, the male plopped on Darkness’ throne, and the female Angelus stand in face palmed as she told him,
“Enjoying yourself, Yagi?”
Yagi smirked back at Nora, “Compared to the bastard who treated me like a peon and later turned me into an ExCon,
I totally enjoy my new boss.”
Nora, bowing to the logic of the situation, took Angelus’ seat, sighing wistfully as she replied,
“True. Besides, I’m still playing high class gofer for Lady Angelus and Lord Darkness like I did for Furumizu, minus the whole “vessel for mother” thing. However, I hope we get to revisit Earth someday.”
Yagi leaned back and smiled, “I’m sure we will. Until then, I’m glad I got to meet you here.”
Nora leaned back herself, watching her Sisters taking a nap.
“Same here.”
(Friday morning, 8:30 A.M.)
Dante Long was in total heaven, and as far as his father could see, the boy had yet to snap out of it, though given his reasons, Togusa found himself torn between wanting to ask what the hell his son had gotten mixed up with and being utterly proud of him, even though it had nearly been a full week after said event.
A week ago, his son had apparently gotten involved in a life threatening situation armed with little more than his motorcycle and a crazy hero complex, and though his insane gambit to buy the Witch Blades time had succeeded, it was still nuts, though considering he had seen his son get one hell of a lip lock from the young woman whose life he just saved, he couldn’t really bring himself to berate his son for lack of thinking. However, all throughout the subsequent week, when the press went totally nuts and forced him to invoke a restraining order, Dante complained he was pissed off because all he wanted was to visit Asagi, but the media assholes wouldn’t go away, and father had reminded son part of it was his fault, which hadn’t pleased him, but was nonetheless true. Thankfully, the media blitz dropped off to nil by Thursday, and Dante was all fired up to go find Asagi at Marry’s (he found out she lived there courtesy of his father finding out from Nakata).
In fact, he heard Dante’s motorcycle already pulling out of the driveway soon after he said this.
Father knew his son was obviously smitten with the lovely young super powered warrior, and wasn’t even about to try stopping him from trying, merely hoping that his young love would last, and no harm would befall him as a result.
(Friday Morning, Marry’s, around 9:00 A.M.)
Asagi was drumming her fingers on the kitchen table, impatient as hell.
Yesterday, Colonel Toijira told the whole team he was letting them have a brief vacation, which the military was paying for. In the meantime, he told them he was extending an offer to the team to go to a hot springs resort not far outside the city that he had booked several reservations for. They, of course, accepted, and Asagi was hoping he would call them and let them know when they were going. She knew it would be sometime late in the afternoon, as he have to arrange things with his bosses, inform Nakata they’d be out of town (but ready to return at a moment’s notice), and make sure everyone at the company got the relevant memos.
Meanwhile, everyone else was dealing with their impatience slightly more constructively. The other ladies, save Marry, who was currently calling Michael and Naomi to see how they were doing, were out shopping for swimwear. Reiji was finishing up some last minute paperwork, per Colonel Toijira’s request, so he could go along too, and Yuusuke was currently at his office, trying to see if Kyoko wanted to come along (as the Colonel was being fairly generous in regards to extra guests), merely asking he know who they were ahead of time. Besides, this was an overt vacation, so no classification or censorship was needed. As for Asagi, he just told everyone to get her a few outfits in her size, preferably in black or dark blue, as she didn’t feel like going out, merely wanting to enjoy a little peace and quiet until it was-
She heard a motorcycle pull up outside, and as she broke wind for the door, realizing who it was, Dante flung it open, and the two of them almost fell over each other as they hugged each other.
(Friday Morning, around 9:30)
Meanwhile, Colonel Toijira was currently bent over a desk, filling out paperwork for the upcoming vacation venture so the various parties involved would be accounted for, and was trying to make sure it was all done ASAP.
That said he was currently going over the list of people invited on the trip in his head. The Witch Blades, Rihoko, Reiji, Cho, Yuusuke Tozawa, Kyoko Sasaki and her daughter Yuuki.
As he decided to shoot the next asshole that put anymore paper on his already clogged desk, his cell phone rang. The number was Marry’s.
“Colonel Toijira here.”
“This is Asagi. I was wondering if I could invite someone along on the trip.”
“It’s cutting it a little close, but I think I could manage to squeeze another party onboard. Who?”
“Dante Long, the guy who saved me on the beach.”
A bit of a pause, and Daisuke asked, “Not that I have an objection, Sergeant, but are the others aware of this?”
“No. He just asked me if he could.”
“I see. I’ll be officially blessing this request with my personal seal of approval, but make no mistake, Watanabe, I do want neither you nor your guest to give me any reason to regret this request, and bear in mind that anything work related should not be mentioned while we’re out to non cleared parties, understand?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Good. I won’t have everything ready on my end until around 3:00 P.M. anyway, so just tell him to pack the appropriate clothing for a few days, and make sure he’s present at Marry’s when we pick everyone up, and let Mr. Long know the tab is being taken care of in advance, so he doesn’t have to reimburse us.”
“You don’t know how much this means to me, Colonel.”
“I have a good idea. See you later, Asagi.”
With that, he hung up.
As Asagi hung the phone up herself, she told Dante. “He said yes.”
“Awesome! When do we go?”
“This afternoon. She told me you need to be here by 3:00, packed and ready to go.”
“Will do!” and as he was about to head out, Asagi gave a quick peck on the cheek, telling him to back soon. Vowing to never wash his face, he hopped on his bike, and headed for home, thinking about his glorious reunion.
After he and Asagi had exchanged hugs and “It’s good to see you again”, he flat out asked if she’d be his girlfriend, and he almost passed out again as she told him yes, and informed him she was kind of irritated she didn’t get to see him sooner because of the mediatards. He agreed, telling her it was much the same for him. He then asked her about her earlier comment about killing ExCons for a living, and she told him the civilian approved version of her mission in life, minus any bits about the Thirteen.
She had been totally surprised when he asked if he could join up and help out to some degree, and she told him she’d see what she could do. After all, considering the balls he’d shown facing off against a super powered beast with little more than a motorcycle and some really foul language, she figured she’d love to have someone like him watching her back. Once that was over, she asked him if he would teach her the fine art of motorcycle riding.
He obviously reciprocated.
She had told him about the vacation her boss was taking her on, and the rest was history.
As he headed for home to get ready, he was wondering what dad would say to his totally awesome morning.
(Later that afternoon, a little after three)
Masane was totally geeked out of her mind to be getting a vacation. Even better was the fact she didn’t have to hear any news about how the Witch Blade would eventually kill her to go with it like last time.
Everyone had changed to casual attire, and Masane still occasionally had to double take at the sight of Reiji in white shorts, tennis shoes, and a yellow T-shirt. Reina and Shiori were wearing pink and blue sundresses, and Shiori looked like she was all of five years old as she fidgeted nervously, and from the looks she was giving Reina, Masane figured she was imagining just how hot Reina would look in a bathing suit.
Or nothing at all.
On that note, Cho was probably thinking the same thing, and he was apparently wearing the same outfit he wore the last time they had gone to the beach.
Aoi and Maria were wearing orange and red versions of Reiji’s attire, and Asagi was wearing black shorts and a dark purple shirt, and was apparently unconcerned when Rihoko, in a miniature clone of Reiji’s outfit, told her that the dark colors would make her really hot. As for herself, she was wearing the same, albeit the shirt was white and the shorts red.
They were currently waiting outside Marry’s for Toijira, who said she’d show up in about 15 minutes. As they continued to wait, a motorcycle turned the nearby street corner and pulled up next to the curb, and as the backpack and helmet clad rider removed his helmet, Masane recognized him as that guy who-
-and any further thought was cut off as Asagi and Dante lip locked in front of God and everybody, and most of the audience in attendance blushed, and Dante told her,
“Packed and ready to go.”
“What does that mean?” Masane asked, directing the question to Asagi.
“Colonel Toijira told us we could bring who we wanted with us, and I called her and asked if Dante could join us, and he approved it.”
Masane was about to press the issue, wondering why the hell Asagi hadn’t bothered to inform HER, but her rebuke was cut off as she noticed a few vans with the Dreizhen logo on them, Yuusuke at the wheel of one of them. As they pulled to a stop, Colonel Toijira stepped out of the passenger side. They also noticed Kyoko and Yuuki were already in the van with Yuusuke, and Masane assumed they had picked her up first.
“Everybody ready?” asked the Colonel
“Yes sir!” replied the group.
“Good……………and by the way, since this is a vacation, and the JSDF is paying for it, just enjoy yourselves. We have people on standby at all times to bring you back to Tokyo if anything goes down, but otherwise have fun. You earned it.”
Everyone nodded, and he motioned for everyone to climb in.
(That evening)
Everyone had disembarked, and the staff carried their bags to their rooms. The Ura Netto Hot Springs was a fairly spacious resort, so everyone was given their choice of room, and apparently they were the only people here aside from the staff and a few other guests, so they basically had the place to themselves.
As everyone chose their rooms, everyone by some common, unspoken consent decided they might as well get in the aforemented springs before they shut down at 10:00 P.M.
Later, in the men’s bath, Dante was asking Yuusuke if he was the boyfriend of the hot looking reporter lady,
“Well, Kyoko and I were romantically involved for awhile back, but we basically drifted apart and we just became really good friends, and neither of us is feeling like potentially screwing that up. Besides, her daughter has thought of me as a family friend long enough it would be too much hassle to explain getting back into a relationship with her.”, and as he finished saying this, he asked Dante,
“So, I know you and Asagi like each other, but what are your intentions?”
“Huh?”
“Well, I’m sure you have a good idea of all the hell she went through, and though I’m not related to her, I consider her and the others my friends, and I just want to make sure no wants to hurt them, okay?”
Dante regarded the reporter with a solemn look, “Hey, I don’t plan to hurt Asagi. That sick old bastard Furumizu did enough damage. Besides, I’m not stupid enough to try pissing off a woman who goes toe to toe with super powered monsters and wins.”
Yuusuke smiled, “Good to see you’ve got smarts, Long-san.”
“You can call me Dante, Tozawa-san.”
“Fine. Name’s Yuusuke, by the way.”
While those two were doing some male bonding, Cho was near the solid wooden partition separating the male and female sides of the bath, looking minutely for a way to peep in. Since the spring had a roof and walls, he couldn’t try looking around, and the front door had nowhere to hide, and he noted to his dismay that someone had caulked any divisions in the wall with water resistant rubber sealant, so he’d be noticed if he made a hole.
Dejectedly, he tried to sit down and broil, figuring it could be worse. After all, there could have been steel walls, sentry guns, and landmines barring his efforts. Or worse, there could be a hole, and as he looked through it, a gun barrel winked back.
Imagining he was actually lucky, though, was doing shit in regards to consoling his missed opportunities for fan service though.
Meanwhile, on the female side, Aoi had brought a hairbrush with her, and was combing Maria’s hair while Maria leaned against her, almost asleep herself. On top of immensely enjoying the physical contact, she was overcome with curiosity and checked the roots of Maria’s hair.
They were, not that she was greatly surprised, naturally purple like her mother’s.
Speaking of her mother, Reina was relaxing against the side of the spring sitting right next to Shiori, and both of them were also watching the kids, and as a contented smile spread over her face at the joyful looks on Rihoko and Yuuki’s faces, she looked up at the sky and told Angelus and Darkness she was grateful they had given her a second chance to enjoy the happiness that was seeing the smiles of children.
By this point, it was turning into a running gag, and both Angelus and Darkness thought to themselves it was the least they could do, not bothering to waste their breath.
Back on Earth, Reina noticed Shiori had slipped her arm around her waist, and before Shiori lost control of herself,
Reina decided to give in to Shiori, and leaned over towards her ear, whispering,
“Wait until we go to bed tonight. You’ll get to go a lot farther than that.”
At those words, Shiori was overcome and fainted from the pleasant shock, a small trickle of blood dribbling from her nose in arousal, causing Reina to get extremely flustered. Meanwhile, Kyoko, who had been on the other side, watching the kids from a different angle, looked around at all the women she had gained as friends, and considering what they went through and what they did now, she could never think of them as monsters. If anything, she found herself a bit jealous she couldn’t defend her child like Masane had, showing the ultimate motherly loyalty by slaying an entire army almost completely by herself for the sake of her daughter.
Masane, who had been watching everyone else with marked amusement, crossed her arms over her ample chest and thought to the Witch Blade,
“You know, I may never know the person who used to be Yasuka Ohara, but I do know I am Masane Amaha, proud mother of an adorable little girl whose real mother was kind enough to allow me that right. I’m also able to provide for that little girl, I have her father back in her life, and I can protect and provide for her, and I also command other Witch Blades who defend an entire city against the monsters that a bunch of idiots created, and I get to live life again, this time with a better destiny than the one I had before.
“I agree, Masane. You truly have gotten a better lot in life. You’ve gone through the fire, and have emerged with the tribulations burned away, and what was left was someone who I can rejoice found happiness, and who my parents can rejoice in the fact that she bears me, and does them great honor. Like Yuri, Sara, Joan, Cleopatra, Itagaki, and many, many others who have borne me, you are already a true hero in my eyes, and your history with me I shall cherish forever.”
Suddenly, Masane went silent, and the Witch Blade was concerned for a moment before it heard Masane once more.
She was crying.
“Masane…………?”
“I-I’m fine……it just that was really sweet of you.
If the Witch Blade could blush, it would’ve gone scarlet.
“You’re welcome, Masane. I truly mean that.”
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