Unlike most Knight Sub-divisions, the Rebel Trio didn't have a proper headquarters inside the Third Division's massive complex.
There simply wasn't room.
Sixteen Sub-divisions already occupied the building, leaving the newly created seventeenth with nowhere to go.
So the Council had handed them something else.
An abandoned structure several minutes away from the main headquarters.
It had once served as the Third Division's headquarters decades ago, back when the Royal Knights were still small enough to fit inside its aging walls.
Many believed the assignment was yet another attempt to make the troublesome subdivision miserable.
Instead, Dom and his team had turned it into a home.
Within its old, yet sturdy walls…
Dom took the last of his clothes off in the large bathroom and dropped them into a basket. He walked across the room before stopping at a cracked full-length mirror. He took a closer look and ran his fingers over the multiple scars on his well-toned body.
For a split second, he could feel that pain again… the wind slicing through his skin like a knife through butter… his blood splattered across the dirt.
He frowned as he recalled Xavier's voice all those months ago, the words he had spoken still fresh in his mind… just as his hand stopped at a familiar claw scar on his chest.
He smiled at it before moving to the showers and letting the hot water run over his aching body.
A brief moment later, he was scrubbing himself when he heard the bathroom door open over the rushing water.
Assuming it was Dae, he continued to wash himself… until the door to his shower creaked open, then something warm and impossibly soft pressed against his back.
Dom stiffened; that texture was something he immediately, although shamefully, recognized.
"L-Lucy?" He asked nervously, unable to see with the soap covering his face, but her laughter answered his question.
He quickly washed his face and turned around to find Lucy smiling at him; water glistened across her skin beneath the falling stream.
"You shouldn't be here. This is the guy's bathroom," Dom said, his hand now covering his eyes.
"But I want to bathe with you." She moved closer, but Dom moved back, nearly tripping over a bucket with his eyes still covered. "Come on, you've already seen me naked before."
Dom shook his head, a faint flush on his cheeks. "That was an accident."
She placed her hands on her hips. "It's okay. And…" Her eyes shifted down to the now stiff organ between his legs. A proud smirk formed on her lips. "I'm happy that you're happy to see me, too." She chuckled as she reached for it…
But Dom yelped as he covered his member and slipped past her.
"Wait." She said as she left the shower just in time to see Dom slip on the wet floor and tumble face-first to the ground.
But he quickly pushed himself up and left through the open bathroom door, his naked body still covered in soap and water.
Lucy stood motionless beneath the running water, her damp tail slowly drooped as the bathroom suddenly felt much larger than before.
A few hours later…
She happily devoured a meal at the dining table, her earlier sadness evaporated as she splashed sauce everywhere.
"At least use a spoon," Dae grumbled as he shifted his plate away from Lucy.
"You can't blame her," Dom said as he arrived with two more plates of food in his grasp. "My meals may not be on Pops' level, but it's still amazing."
He dropped another plate for Lucy, who immediately picked it up.
"I'm just glad one of us knows how to cook." Dae sighed as Dom sat opposite him.
As Dom took a bite, Dae looked around.
The dining room carried the scent of fresh food and recently cut wood.
Repairs were still ongoing, some chairs didn't match, and several sections of wallpaper were missing, with freshly hammered boards covering cracks in the walls.
"With most of our funds going into repairs, it's more economical to cook for ourselves rather than ordering meals," Dae added.
"And because Dom is growing more food for us in the back, we don't have to spend a lot in the market, right?" Lucy said before gulping water.
Dom grinned confidently. "I told you we'd be fine. Other than combat training, Pops taught me different ways to make things easier for a team." He commented.
Dae nodded with a little smile on his face. "Your guardian really is an impressive man."
Dom's eyes softened as Pops' face crossed his mind. "Yeah. He is." He muttered, realizing just how long it's been since he'd seen the old man face-to-face.
Lucy loudly dropped her half-empty plate to the table. "I like him already." She said with a grin that showed the vegetable stuck in between her teeth.
Dom stared at his food with a nostalgic smile. "Even though we've been sending each other letters since the Academy, I've not had the chance to actually see him." He mumbled, then looked up at them. "I was actually thinking of going back to visit soon."
"Can we come?" Lucy asked with a sudden gleam in her eyes.
Dom glanced at Dae, who shrugged.
With a smile, Dom picked up his spoon. "Sure. Why not?" He said as he scooped some rice. "I can even show off my new squad to my old friends back at home."
Lucy laughed with pleasure while Dae rolled his eyes...
Later that night…
Dae stepped out of his room in a familiar white training robe, along with two wooden swords in one hand.
As he quietly moved down the small hallway, his eyes caught sight of a certain someone seated outside Dom's room.
"What now?" Dae asked as he stopped beside her.
"Dom doesn't want to sleep with me," Lucy mumbled with a pout, her tail idly sweeping the floor behind her.
Dae looked at Dom's door before looking down at Lucy, who used the claw on her index finger to mindlessly draw markings on the floor. Even though it wasn't his problem, Dae couldn't help but feel pity for her.
A couple of minutes later…
Lucy grinned as she now sparred against Dae in the fenced garden beside the hideout.
After a dozen more drills, Lucy lay on the ground with a laugh while Dae narrowed his eyes at his training swords, which were now littered with claw marks.
"Maybe this was a mistake." He whispered as one of the swords suddenly snapped in two, with one half falling to the floor.
With a sigh, he dropped the swords aside to pick up his water bottle.
"You know…" Lucy said as she sat up, getting his attention. "Even though you act like you don't like us, you can be really nice sometimes. I like you."
Dae looked away, an attempt to hide the embarrassed look on his face, which made Lucy laugh.
A sudden cool breeze passed them, and Lucy stopped laughing as her eyes followed a leaf that danced in the air and right into a window of the building—ironically, Dom's room.
"Hey…" She said, and Dae turned to see her frown as her eyes remained fixed on the window. "Does Dom… hate me?"
The question came so quietly that Dae almost missed it.
Dae remained silent for a moment, then smirked teasingly. "I mean, you did make him run around naked," He said, but his smile quickly faded as he saw Lucy's frown deepen. "I was just joking." He quickly commented. "Dom doesn't hate you."
"Really?" She asked with her eyes wide with hope.
He nodded.
She smiled with relief, but then frowned again in thought. "Then… why does he not want to mate with me?"
Dae rubbed his neck with a conflicted look. "I think you're just coming on too strong." He commented.
Lucy furrowed her brows. "I don't understand." She replied.
Dae hummed in thought as he tried to find the right words to explain.
"It's… when a person expresses their love for someone too openly or directly. The recipient, that is, the other person, feels… pressured and usually runs away as a defense mechanism."
He noticed Lucy looked even more confused.
"Why?" She asked. "If one person loves you that much, shouldn't you just love them back even more?"
"It's not always that easy." He sighed. "Besides… there could be other reasons why they wouldn't just love them back."
"Like what?" She asked, curious.
Dae folded his arms, his brows furrowed in thought before remembering something. "Like those girls earlier." He said, and she recalled the girls that tried to ask for sword lessons. "… the sake of my goals, I've dedicated myself to only doing the things that will help me achieve them. Anything else is a distraction."
He looked at the hideout.
"Since Dom was trained similarly for his goal, maybe it's the same for him."
Lucy's expression fell again, and her tail stopped moving. "So… I'm a distac… tion?"
"Distraction." Dae corrected, then shrugged. "And yes… In a way."
Lucy suddenly glared at him. "I changed my mind. You're mean, and I hate you." She scoffed.
Dae laughed softly.
Lucy angrily pouted… just as an idea crossed her mind. "Then… if he defeats his goal, that means there will be nothing to stop him from being with me, right?" She asked.
Dae rubbed his chin in thought. "Technically, yes. But Dom's goal isn't exactly something easy to achieve."
Lucy suddenly stood, clearly ignorant of Dae's words as she fell into her world of fantasy. "Then I have my own goal now." She grinned with pride. "I'm going to help Dom become the strongest. If I do that, he'll be able to do it in no time, right?"
Dae shook his head. "As I said, it's not that easy."
"But if I do it, he won't have any more excuses to run, right?" She asked, clearly not getting the picture while her tail wagged excitedly behind her.
Defeated, Dae shrugged.
Lucy giggled in victory. "Then it's fine with me. But I won't give up…" She then licked her lip with a cocky smile. "I'll use all my new tricks to get him to love me back."
Dae raised a brow. "Where did you even learn these tricks?"
Lucy gave him a genuinely innocent look as she answered. "Zoe's been teaching me. She said it's what she used for--"
"I've heard enough," Dae said, raising a hand as he immediately regretted asking before furrowing his brow in thought. "Well, since Dom is not that disciplined, it's possible that you'd be able to do it. And despite his best efforts to hide it, he is clearly attracted to you."
Dae flinched as Lucy suddenly grabbed his shoulders.
"Really?" Lucy asked with a sudden gleam in her eyes, her tail wagging happily.
Dae nodded as he gently pushed her away. "I mean, I'm no expert, but I think if you want to get Dom's attention, you'll just need to soften your approach."
Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion again. "How?"
"Perhaps you should stop attacking him with the mating thing first?"
She frowned. "But mating is the most important part."
Dae shook his head. "In human culture, some regard mating as an interaction between two emotionally close people. Seeing as Dom hasn't been with anyone since I've known him, he may fall into this category of people."
He moved aside to pick up his swords.
"If you can get him to feel that close to you, he won't feel uncomfortable about it." He took a moment to look at her, almost genuinely curious. "You love him, right?"
"Yes," Lucy replied almost instantly.
Dae glanced at her, noting her determined eyes and smile. "Then all you need to do is get him to admit that to you."
She suddenly hugged him. "Thanks. You're the best." She chuckled as she pressed tightly against him.
"Fine. But can you just-" Dae grumbled as he escaped her hold.
She laughed before stopping as another look of confusion covered her face. "But how can I get Dom to love me?"
Dae shrugged as he walked past her towards the building. "That's the limit of my knowledge. You're the one taking seduction lessons… so you should be able to figure it out."
Lucy turned to him with a curious look. "I don't mind it… But why are you helping me?"
Dae stopped with his eyes on the building again. He closed his eyes with a deep sigh escaping his mouth. "Because for 3 years, Dom has always annoyed me with that cocky attitude and jokes of his. You're the first person I've met that's able to completely shut him down."
He turned around, displaying the evil smirk on his face. "If helping you puts him in his place, then I'll support you any way I can."
Lucy's lips twisted into a similar smirk. "Oh. So we both win?"
"Exactly." He replied...
By breakfast…
Dom ate his meal while he stared at Dae and Lucy, who had both been suspiciously quiet and cheery.
"Did…something happen last night?" Dom asked, his eyes narrowed.
Lucy shook her head as she elegantly took a bite of food with a spoon, an act that made Dom even more suspicious.
"Lucy just asked me what to give you for your birthday," Dae said before taking a bite.
Dom's eyes widened in excitement; his previous suspicion completely evaporated. "What is it?" He asked.
Lucy winked. "It's a secret." She said as he sipped on her drink while Dae took another bite.
Dom frowned. "Come on, guys. Tell me. Please."
Despite Dom's plea, the two just shared an amused smile as they silently ate their meals.