First steps

-POV: Sakura-

Waking back up from that wonderful visit, I found the changes made to myself were made physical. The growth I had was quite noticeable. That will take some effort to explain away. Unless..

Focusing on those two gifts, I manage to shrink back to normal height while retaining the previous changes. It was far easier to hide the beautification and developmental growth than my sheer height. Though once I release my strength, I feel like I'll grow back to one hundred and ninety centimeters. Oh well, I can simply play that off as a Kampfer change.

Making my way down to my newly built laboratory, I start to consider my plan. Some parts need revision. Mind control is unacceptable to one of my Goddesses and I'd rather not anger her. The Sakura I saw was so inefficient. Struggled to turn one boy over to her side and choose to be a female. He has potential and it was never reached.

~For Goddess sakes she had the ability to shoot fireballs.. Imagine what she could do once I train her instead of those moderately attractive women the other Sakura surrounded herself with..~ I thought of the destructive capabilities such a woman would have.

Stepping into my lab, I grab the tiger and the rabbit entrails animals plushies and feel a grin make its way on my face. First step is roping Natsuru in. Second is teaching her and making her smarter. Kind of like training a dog. Making my plans, I put on my mask and get dressed in my uniform. In my hands is the Harakiri Tiger I plan to give to Natsuru. Time to assess him.

-POV: 3rd-

Sakura walked out of her house and scrolled through the news on her phone while walking out to the bus stop where she often saw Natsuru wait at. There being nothing of real interest on the news, she put her phone away and saw the bus stop in front of her, Natsuru surely waiting. That was the only time she saw him besides the times where he'd walk home with her and enjoy her presence in silence. Arriving at the stop, she saw the tall-ish boy standing there as always, spotting her immediately and casually waving at her with a content smile.

"Sakura! Hey! I uh.. I missed you these few days. Are you okay? You look.. um.. very good too. Not that you didn't look great before but um.. It's just that-" Natsuru started to rant while Sakura maintained her innocent smile and listened.

~Hm.. Is it me or is his blatant infatuation more intense..? Red face.. Can't look me in my eyes.. Fidgeting body language.. Sweating. Yes, I think he's passed the 'love' assessment. Looks like the two days without me made him worry excessively. He's rather fixated on me~ Sakura thought to herself and smiled at Natsuru.

"I'm fine, Natsuru! Just a little cold is all. Thank you for the compliment but I don't think I did anything to effect my appearance..?" Sakura poked the bottom of her lip and tilted her head.

"Eh.. Is that so..." Natsuru was a bit too entranced at her cute display and shook his head of impure thoughts.

"Mm-hm! Oh, I got you a present, Natsuru. It's an entrails animal plush!" Sakura's eyes lit up in joy as she presented the tiger to Natsuru.

Natsuru had to hide his true opinion of the plush, fearing he may hurt Sakura's feelings. He took it gladly, smiling wide as he got a gift from his crush.

"Oh! So.. cute! Thank you, Sakura! I'll keep it forever.." Natsuru thanked her with a small blush.

"Right!? The contrast between cute animal and gore is so good!" Sakura went into a rehearsed rant about the plushies.

~I really couldn't give more of a shit about them but he's hanging on every word. So he's a good listener. Maybe he can take orders well? Time to get his opinions then~ Sakura ranted about entrails animals for a minute before stopping and scratching her head, poking her tongue out.

"Ehehe.. Sorry. I get so excited when I talk about the things I love. What about you, Natsuru? What things do you love? I hear boys our age like video games" Sakura asked, seemingly interested in Natsuru's likes.

"Eh!? Oh, yeah think nothing of it. I like it when you're passionate! As for me.. I'm kind of boring but.. Yeah, I like games and manga. Heh.. typical battle manga too" Natsuru self depreciated, making Sakura hum.

~So he's got esteem issues? Or is he humble? Let's try probing some more~ Sakura laughed next.

"I don't think that's boring! Sure, you're not a very sporty guy or super genius but you have the life of a protagonist. Your parents are abroad, right? Seems like something you'd find in a typical manga setting. Ah.. Sorry! You must worry about your parents, right? Being in countries currently at war. They're both doctors, right?" Sakura asked, seeing Natsuru deflate a little.

"Yeah.. I-I do worry.. There are dangerous machines and cybernetics used in those warzones.. I just wish those wars would stop so they could come home safely.." Natsuru uttered and Sakura latched on to his words.

~So he has a motivation up in that head of his after all.. Let's see if I can steer it a little..~ Sakura hummed.

"Yeah.. My Dad is super against wars too. Those countries have enough reasons to go to war.. But some people only instigate it to line their pockets.." Sakura responded sadly, seeing Natsuru's fingers clench.

"They... what.." Natsuru asked in a disbelieving voice.

~Oh yeah.. I can work with this. Now the question remains.. Do I rope him in before he gets all chummy with Kondou, Shizuku and Akane or after? He may get quite attached if I wait too long.. But too soon could mean he never gets their affections~ Sakura mused while she watched Natsuru forcibly calm himself, seeing the bus start to stop.

Sakura thought about her next actions as they got on board the bus. Sakura kept lightly prodding for Natsuru's opinion about mundane things such as his likes, dislikes and future plans. He didn't quite have any future plans but that suited Sakura just fine. As he was now, he was moldable clay. He seriously needed work but Sakura was determined to have the 'protagonist' by her side for the foreseeable future.

-Hours later, 10pm-

Sakura had spent the school day as she usually did. With the exception of gifting the black rabbit plush to Akane in the library. Aside from that, nothing apart from talking to Shizuku about her improved appearance. Though even that conversation lasted a few minutes thanks to Shizuku being busy as the Student Council President. The transformation would happen tonight and Sakura didn't want to miss it for the world. She stood on a roof across Natsuru's bedroom and observed until a faint blue glow dyed the room in its color.

The light causing him to wake up as his body morphed. Slimming his waist, expanding his chest, lengthening his hair, expanding the butt. He was now, a she. A rather beautiful, tall girl with shining blue hair put in a sporty ponytail. Wearing the pajamas he wore to bed as a male, her breasts were threatening to pop out of their confines. She, of course, started to freak out and checked on her underwear.

~Ah.. blue and white stripes. How fitting. She's about as beautiful as Shizuku.. Hm.. maybe more? She's taller and looks more unique. Though nowhere close to Mistress Artoria and Neo~ Sakura thought, watching as Natsuru talked to Harakiri Tiger.

~Apart from that, I sense her resonance with magic. 'Zauber' I see. Nothing different than what I saw so far..~ Sakura mused, seeing Natsuru throw the plush in the room's trash bin before looking down at herself, hand awfully close to her panties.

~Hm..? Of course, a lot of people in his place would be curious~ Sakura smirked as she saw her shake her head and complain to herself.

~Yes, best save that for when I can get to you~ Sakura hummed as Harakiri Tiger dropkicked Natsuru in the stomach, something that knocked her out, strangely enough.

~Well I think I've seen enough. She's perfect. I'll let her meet Akane and Shizuku before pulling her in~ Sakura hopped off the roof and smiled maliciously, making her way back home in the dark.

-Next morning, POV: Sakura-

Today, I woke up with an eagerness I didn't expect myself to have. I'll trigger Natsuru's transformation and start my 'love at first sight' plan using my mask. Slipping on my freshly cleaned uniform, I grabbed some buttered toast and made my way outside while eating. Flipping out my phone, I once again checked the news. Seeing nothing but the usual wars, I check any news regarding Desperado. To my surprise, it seems as if someone new joined my Father. Looking at the image files I could pull up, it looks like a cybernetic samurai.

Though he definitely wasn't Japanese. It appears he's Brazilian. Why anyone from Brazil would choose to wield a katana is beyond me. I've heard of weeaboos but he didn't really look like one. Oh well. He's skilled and if my Father ever tosses him aside, I'll take him. I'm curious what a cybernetic Kampfer would look like.

Making sure I was too late to catch the bus, I stopped at the bus stop and made a halfassed gesture at the departing bus. I then waited for Natsuru. He most likely slept in due to being knocked out by Harakiri Tiger.

"Pffft.." I struggle to keep myself from laughing at that absurdity.

Right on time, he showed up at the bus stop, sighing. Though once he saw me, his face brightened up. Waving over, he ran to me with his perpetual smile.

"Sakura! Didn't catch the bus either?" Natsuru asked.

"Hehe.. No I slept in a little. At least we can wait for the bus together again" I scratched my head with a false embarrassed expression on my face.

"Hehe.." Natsuru seemed pretty happy with that.

"Oh, how is Harakiri Tiger? Taking care of him?" I ask, seeing the brief expression of recollection written on his face.

"Oh! Yeah! He's doing so well his intestines are nearly flying out" Natsuru seemed to think that was an appropriate thing to say.

~What kind of weird things are going on in those two brain cells of yours, Natsuru..?~ I resist the urge to laugh or sigh at him.

"Oh, that's a beautiful bracelet" I complimented while activating the transformation slowly.

He looked down, seeming shocked it was there. Ah, probably thought it was a dream of some sort. No luck there. It started glowing blue and I put on my surprised face. He then seemed to remember what Harakiri Tiger told him as he clutched his wrist.

"Oh uh.. I've gotta go.." Natsuru exclaimed nervously.

Obviously, I was going to push this.

"Aww.. didn't you want to ride the bus with me?" I put on my best downcast face as I said.

"Eh.. er.. I just remembered I had something to do.. Something urgent.." He started sweating nervously as he backed up.

I kept on him though as I asked, "Are you okay? You don't look well.."

"I'm okay.. Like I said.." He looked to his increasingly bright bracelet.

Then, a bullet whizzed through the space in between us both. Seems Akane was here. I acted startled as a redhead walked out.

"So you're my enemy? Never thought such a girly-looking punk would be my enemy" Akane aimed her pistol at Natsuru.

~Hah..? Enemy? Are you not looking at his BRIGHTLY GLOWING BLUE bracelet? Are you an idiot? And girly-looking? Eh.. He's slightly androgynous at best~ I resist the urge to sigh as she tilts her head cockily.

"Say your prayers or something" Akane winked at him.

Then, right on time, a bus came in and blocked Akane's view of him and he made a run for it, likely to protect me. Akane chased after him and I decided to follow them at a leisurely pace, given I want to appear at the right moment. As I made my way over, I see Natsuru maneuver on top of a traffic light. Which was impressive, given that not many of the Kampfer could move like that and those that could were always melee Kampfer.

Ah, whoops. I barely noticed Akane aiming at me while I was assessing Natsuru's mobility and her butt a little.

Shouting at me as she aimed her gun at my head she said, "Outta the way, you stupid bitch!"

~The fuck? A stupid bitch calling ME a stupid bitch?~ I had to resist the urge to scowl as she started squeezing the trigger.

I briefly considered whooping her ass here and now but I bit it back as I watched Natsuru jump and throw a fireball, hitting the center of the street and cracking the pavement with its destructive power. I was impressed. This was just her at the beginning. What could she do once I trained her?

While pondering that, a street pole began to collapse and I see Natsuru charge in and save the idiot. On top of Natsuru, she finally pays attention and sees her blue bracelet, making the connection. She kicks Natsuru after she made a comment about her being heavy and quickly flees the area.

I run over to Natsuru and help her get up.

"Are you okay!?" I ask, pressing myself into her arm and flustering her.

"E..Ehehe.." But all too quickly, she runs off while blushing.

Licking my lips, I mutter, "Ah this is going to be fun.."