Chapter 04: Between a Witch and a Bride
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"And you did that without telling me?" Barara's voice pops out of my tablet, sharp and full of that familiar pouty tone. Her pink hair bounces slightly as she leans toward the camera, glaring at me. "Do you have any idea how surprised I was when I got an email about beam cannon development out of nowhere?!"
Yeah… okay, that one's on me. I might've forgotten to tell her about the duel. Maybe.
"I'm sorry, alright?" I scratch my cheek and shrug. "I'll treat you to some bananas when we meet again, Barara."
Her eyes narrow, but a faint smile creeps in. "...You think you can bribe me with bananas?"
"It worked before, didn't it?"
Before she can fire back, a bright voice cuts in.
"There you are, Cadell!" Suletta bursts into the room, her usual bundle of nervous energy in motion. Miorine trails behind her, looking like she's already run out of patience for the day. "S-S-Sorry! Are you on a call right now?"
Barara blinks at the sight of the new arrivals. "So, you must be Suletta," she says through the speaker, her tone softening a little. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Young Master." She even smiles gently— which is weird, because Barara rarely does gentle.
"N-N-Nice to meet you!" Suletta stammers, her hands fidgeting like she doesn't know what to do with them. "My name is Suletta Mercury! I-I'm in Cadell's care when we're at school!"
I tilt my head. "What do you mean you're in my care? Weren't you the one showing me around when I got lost?" I grin, trying to ease her nerves a little.
"Y-Yeah, but still—!"
Barara chuckles from the other side. "You really are something, Young Master. You've already got such an adorable girl calling you her guardian."
"I-I'm not—!" Suletta waves her hands so fast I half expect her to take off. Her face turns cherry-red. "It's not like that! I just meant he helped me out during class!"
"Uh-huh," Miorine crosses her arms beside her, expression flat as usual. "You two sound like you're in the middle of a bad romcom audition."
"Wouldn't mind that," I smirk, leaning back in my chair. "Though I'm sure Mio-Mio here would start throwing tomatoes at us if it were true."
Her glare could cut through steel. "Stop calling me that!"
"See? Exactly like that." Barara's laugh fills the room. "Young Master, you haven't changed a bit."
"I try not to," I say, pretending to look proud of it. Then I glance at Suletta again. She's still standing there awkwardly, clutching the hem of her sleeve and avoiding my gaze. "Anyway, Barara, this is Suletta Mercury — Aerial's pilot and one hell of a nice person. Suletta, this is Barara Peor, my partner-in-crime from Venus Globe."
"You're the one who sent him here with a Gundam?" Miorine's voice cuts through the air like a blade, sharp and cold. "What were you thinking, Miss Peor? Do you even realize he could get expelled—or worse—for possessing one?"
"Wow…" Barara blinks, visibly taken aback. "You have very good friends, Young Master," she says, shooting me a look that's equal parts amused and impressed. Then she turns her attention back to Miorine, her tone softening. "Thank you for looking out for my Young Master."
I can almost see Miorine's expression tighten, the same one she wears whenever she's about to scold someone into the ground.
"But to answer your question," Barara continues smoothly, "it was his choice to bring the G-Self to school." She gives a light shrug, like this is just another Tuesday in the office.
Miorine practically explodes. "How can you be so irresponsible?!"
Barara doesn't even flinch. "I don't worry about his safety," she says, crossing her arms. "I worry about his opponent."
Her words hang heavy in the air, and I can't help but grimace. Yeah, that tracks.
"I heard you were the one who talked him out of using G-Self," Barara goes on, her tone softening slightly as she looks back at Miorine. "I thank you for that. Without you, I can't even imagine the PR nightmare I'd have to deal with." She sighs, resting a hand on her forehead and shaking her head like she's already picturing the disaster headlines.
"Alright, enough with the heavy topics!" Barara suddenly claps her hands, her tone switching like someone flipped a light switch. "How was piloting Aerial, Young Master?"
"It was amazing," I say, nodding without hesitation. "Having Eri handle all the small stuff makes everything so much easier."
"You've gotten close with Aerial, haven't you, Cadell?" Suletta chimes in, her voice practically sparkling. "Aerial was so happy when she came back too! She was even happier when I called her Eri!"
Huh? Oh, right. Suletta can actually talk to Aerial. Sometimes I forget that.
"You should've seen him," Miorine says, pinching the bridge of her nose like she's holding back a sigh. "He talks to Aerial like she's a person."
Correction, Mio-Mio, I think, glancing at her with a grin. She's got a child's soul in there. She is a person.
"Don't be so stiff, Mio-Mio!" I tease, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before she can step back. "You'll end up looking older than Shaddiq if you keep that frown up."
"Remove your arm from me," she says flatly, trying to pry me off — but let's be real, she's not exactly built for wrestling.
"I-I was just thinking," Suletta speaks up again, her voice small and uncertain. "Cadell gave nicknames to both Aerial and Miorine, but I—" Her words trail off, and she starts fidgeting with her hands.
I release Miorine and step closer to Suletta, gently taking her hands in mine. "I didn't give you one because your name is already beautiful," I tell her, holding her gaze. "But if you want one… I'll think of something fitting."
And then—there it is. A small, shy smile spreads across her face before it detonates into full-blown embarrassment.
Suletta's face goes bright red—like tomato red—and before I can say anything else, she stammers, "A-A-A—" and promptly faints right where she stands.
"…Huh," I blink, catching her before she hits the floor. "Low defense, huh?"
I turn my head toward Miorine, still holding the unconscious Suletta in my arms. "Want me to carry her back to her place?" I ask.
"She's staying at Earth House," Miorine sighs, arms crossed. "If you can handle their cold stares, then sure. Be my guest."
"You'll be coming with me, right?" I grin.
"Of course! No way I'm leaving her alone with you," she says, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.
"A shame," I say, shifting Suletta's weight in my arms until I've got her in a proper princess carry. Her hair brushes against my chest as I glance down at her peaceful face. "I thought we'd become closer friends."
"Dream on," Miorine shoots back without even missing a beat, striding toward the door. Still, before she leaves, she glances back and says, "Goodbye, Miss Peor."
The door slides shut, and the polite mask Barara wore for company vanished. Her posture relaxed, and she fixed me with a look that was all business.
"Someone's been snooping around about you, Cadell," she says, dropping the 'Young Master' the second we're alone.
I raise an eyebrow. "Eh, let them. Probably just some companies trying to send students to poke around for SU-Cord OS data." I shrug my shoulders, pretending not to care — though, honestly, I'm not completely wrong.
"If you say so," Barara replies with a small sigh. "But I'll still block as many of their attempts as I can. It's not worth taking chances."
"Goodbye, Barara," I say, smiling softly.
"Goodbye, Cadell."
This time, her smile isn't professional — it's genuine, warm, just for me. I can't help it; mine grows wider in return.
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Carrying Suletta in my arms, I walk beside Miorine toward Earth House. The hallway's quiet except for the echo of our footsteps and the faint hum of the station's life support system. We talk a little — small stuff — but it's awkward as hell. Hard not to be when our mutual friend's passed out like a sleeping princess in my arms.
"Mio-Mio," I start, trying to break the silence, "can you grab a canned coffee from the vending machine? I think I'm running low on caffeine."
She glances at me, suspicious. "Now that I think about it, why do you drink so much coffee?" Still, she goes ahead and buys one anyway.
"You could say it's how I function," I admit. "I get moody unless I have at least three cups a day. Or, you know, six cans of this liquid gold." I tilt my chin toward her, hands still full with Suletta, hinting for her to open it for me. "So, I'll apologize in advance if I ever snap at you," I add with a half-smile.
Miorine sighs like she's already regretting knowing me but pops the can open anyway. Instead of handing it to me, though, she takes a sip — a big one.
She instantly grimaces. "Ugh! Bitter! How can you drink this kind of filth?"
"Uncultured swine who prefers tea will never understand," I shoot back, half-teasing, half-offended. The caffeine deprivation might be kicking in because I can feel the irritation bubbling up.
"Hah… maybe you weren't lying about that moody part," she mutters and finally offers the can.
But instead of taking it, I bend down, lower my head a little — and lick the spot on her hand where the coffee dripped earlier.
She freezes. "W-What the hell are you doing?!"
"You drank my coffee," I say flatly, as if that explains everything.
Her face turns a shade redder than Suletta's hair. "You—! You absolute—!"
We keep bickering all the way to Earth House, me grinning the whole time. She glares, flustered beyond reason, and for some reason, that makes my day infinitely better.
Heh. Today's not that bad after all. I can tease Mio-Mio as much as I want — and I'll take that as a win.
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Author's Note;
A short bridge chapter before the Incubation Party. For now, the main girls are Suletta and Miorine, as I haven't decided who else to include as the love interest yet.