Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Two: Reika

Years ago…

"Hi, what's your name?"

A young Dachii was lying on a park bench when a girl his age with pink hair approached him, holding out her hand. "I'm Mihina! I saw you over here and you looked pretty lonely, so I wanted to say hello!"

"Me? Are you sure?" Dachii asked.

"Of course, silly!" she giggled. "There's no one else over here!"

"Yeah…" Dachii remarked, embarrassed. "It's just that…no girls ever really talk to me, no matter how hard I try."

"Hmm?" Mihina wondered. "Why not?"

"I don't know…maybe it's because I have a pretty weak body. I'm not athletic, like my older brother. He's over there playing basketball."

He gestured to Takashii, who was playing ball with other kids from the neighborhood. Mihina tapped her chin. "Well, if it'll cheer you up, how about I be your friend!"

Dachii's face turned red. "Oh, uh, sure! My name's Dachii!"

"That's new! I've never heard of a name like that before!"

"Yeah," Dachii nervously laughed. "My dad says it's good to have a special name, it makes you a special person."

"Well, you seem special to me," Mihina stated. "You wanna get ice cream?"

"S…sure!" Dachii agreed.

Mihina led him away, and by the time Takashii was finished, he noticed Dachii sitting on the bench with a girl, licking ice cream together.

"What is this, Dachii?" Takashii asked. "A date?"

"N…no!" Dachii shot down.

"Huh."

Mihina waved at him. "Hi! You're his brother, right?"

Takashii nodded. "My dad said it's time to come home. Alright, Dachii. Home we go."

Dachii waved goodbye to Mihina as Takashii took him home. The entire time, only one thought filled his mind, which he asked his brother. "Hey, do you think she's single?"

Takashii slapped his forehead. "Kid, give it a rest."

"What? It was just a thought!"

"Look, when the time is right, you'll get a woman that's perfect for you. Until then, don't chase every princess and daffodil you see, it'll only end up with you being hurt, trust me."

"Yeah, yeah! Don't be mad because you're single!"

"Only by choice!"

Present Day…

Dachii woke up in his bed, still in his room inside the S-1 Mansion. "Right. The story of how I fell in love with a girl that completely friend-zoned me. Wonder if I should call her."

He closed his eyes. "No point."

BOOM.

Dachii's door was kicked open by Fujii, who had a serious expression on his face. "Dachii! Come quick! Hurry!"

"Yay," Dachii thought. "Danger."

He got up from his bed, in no rush, and got dressed and walked down the stairs, his body glowing gray in anticipation of a fight. To his surprise, the rest of the Squad were gathered in the living room, and Akari, Aoki, Hikari, Nishiyama, Tsugumi, and Kazue were all sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Dachii!" Hikari greeted.

Dachii immediately turned his attention to Fujii. "The hell is this?"

Fujii patted him on the back. "Well, since you've been even more quiet and solitary as of late, we've decided to give you the greatest gift of all—-romance!"

Dachii just stared at him, while Fujii gestured to Marachii. "It was his idea."

"It was NOT!" Marachii exclaimed. "You asked me what Dachii likes most of all, and I said he likes girls, I didn't mean for you to gather up every girl he's friends with and host a dating show!"

"Eh, heh, let's not discuss the details!" Fujii chuckled. "So, Dachii! What do you think? Which of these lovely ladies makes for the perfect wife?"

Luca nudged Marachii. "Fujii's drunk again. This is gonna be good."

Marachii groaned.

"Look at Akari and Aoki," Luca pointed out. "They're basically turning red! Hold on, I've got to record this!"

"Ooh, I wanna see!" Saori hopped up on the table and watched Luca record the girls.

He pulled up his watch while Dachii analyzed the girls before him. "Uh…"

After scanning the cast, he shrugged. "I don't know."

"Don't know?" Fujii gasped. "Don't tell me…you find them all UGLY?"

Nishiyama covered her mouth. "Dachii, don't tell me this is true?"

Akari began sweating. "How did I let them talk me into this? This is ridiculous! Obviously, I'll win, but still ridiculous!"

"No," Dachii said. "I just can't choose."

Fujii wrapped his arm around Dachii. "I see. So you're fine with any of the six options laid before you, is that right?"

"I guess."

Fujii tapped his chin, walking back and forth. "What do you prefer? A fighter or a lover? Someone stronger than you, or weaker? A gentle damsel, or a fierce alpha?"

"It…doesn't really matter," Dachii shrugged. "Either or works."

Fujii laughed. "You hear that, Hikari? You get to stay in the running!"

"Hey!" Hikari exclaimed. "You don't have to rub it in!"

Aoki raised her hand. "Sir, may I get up? I think I've been sitting here long enough—-"

"Not till Dachii chooses someone! We've gotta appeal to his tastes!"

"…Ugh."

"We might be here all day," Marachii admitted. "Even before all this happened, my brother was indecisive, and you plan to do this NOW?"

"Of course!" Fujii confirmed. "Let's start with combat. Dachii, you'd take a girl that's strong, right?"

"Sure," Dachii replied.

"Good! To the training room we go!"

All the girls groaned.

In the training room…

Fujii lined them all up. "Okay. This first test is a test of your fighting skills. If any of you can land a blow on me, you pass! If not, you fail! Dachii, watch closely, for your future wife might impress you!"

"Okay," Dachii said, watching with Luca, Saori, and Marachii from the sidelines.

"I know I said I watched to cheer Dachii up," Kazue thought. "But I think this is a little much!"

Tsugumi stretched her arms. "At least he's giving me something I'm good at. That couch-sitting was embarrassing."

Nishiyama waved to Dachii from the center of the room. "Dachii! Watch! I'm gonna show you just how cool I am!"

Dachii gave her a thumbs-up.

Luca sat by Dachii. "Any of these girls catching your eye? Anyone in particular you feel that you can mate with?"

"I don't know," he said, blandly. "They all seem beautiful enough. Aoki is strong, Akari is royalty, Nishiyama is famous, Tsugumi is strong and famous, Hikari is nice, and Kazue can make candy. Can't decide."

"Well, let's see how badass they can get," Luca joked. "I've gotta record this too."

Aoki stepped forward. "Can I go first? I am the strongest one here."

"No you're not," Akari called out, while Aoki ignored her.

"Sure," Fujii agreed. "I'm only gonna use one attack. You've got thirty seconds to hit me. Ready?"

"Yes," she said. "Thirty seconds is more than enough time."

Fujii put a timer on his watch for thirty seconds. "Alright, begin!"

Aoki tried to swing her sword at him, but he easily dodged her attack. "Come on, Aoki! You can do better than that! All those years of fighting and this is all you've got?"

She slashed again and again, but Fujii simply formed an Ice Dragon and flew into the air.

"Hey!" Aoki yelled. "That's cheating!"

Fujii waved to her from above, causing her to throw a red card at him, which detonated and knocked half of the roof off. "Man! I just got this repaired!"

Aoki threw her sword at the dragon, slicing its head off, but when it landed she found no trace of Fujii, and Fujii easily blasted her away with an ice attack. "Failed! Next!"

"Oh, come on!" Aoki protested. "Run that back! I'll fight seriously this time!"

Akari rolled her eyes at her. "Please. Let me show you how it's done."

Luca made sure to stand up. "Yes, this is going to be GOOD."

Akari's body became charged with energy, and Fujii started his timer. "Begin!"

BOOM.

She fired off a powerful energy attack at him, and he formed an ice wall to block it. "You need more firepower! Try again!"

Akari shattered the ice wall with one punch, but Fujii was no longer behind it. Fujii sprang on her from above, slamming his ice katana into the ground as Akari jumped away.

"Missed," she said.

Fujii pointed to her feet, which were frozen to the ground. "What the—-?"

"You failed!" he cheered.

"WHAT? But you didn't even hit me, you just——!"

Aoki laughed at her. "Well, that was SOOOO much better."

"You shut up!"

Luca zoomed in his camera on Akari's face. "Perfect, let me catch all the angles of this. Really grasps the embarrassment!"

Akari launched an energy blast at him, knocking him off his feet. "And YOU stop recording!"

Fujii motioned to the remaining girls. "Next?"

Tsugumi cracked her neck. "I'll try."

"Tsugumi!" he clapped. "Bold as ever! Not gonna freeze up this time, are you?"

She gave a sarcastic laugh. "You wish."

Fujii set his timer once more. "We'll see. Begin!"

She touched her chest, and an entire wave of Magic spread through her body, surprising Fujii. "Whoa! You managed to enhance your entire body with just one touch? That's super cool!"

"I know," she replied. "Now take this!"

She smashed the ground near his feet, but he jumped right over her back. "Gotta be a little faster!"

"Really?" she inquired, getting into a running stance. "If you say so."

In an instant, she was in front of him, but once she tried to punch him, she only punched a statue of ice, and Fujii blasted her away with an attack of his own. "Failed! That speed is nice, but don't let it distract you!"

Tsugumi brushed the ice off her body. "Whatever."

"Next!"

"I can try!" Hikari volunteered.

In two seconds, she was frozen.

"Next!"

He looked around, but only Kazue was left. "Hey, where'd Nishiyama go?"

He found her sitting next to Dachii, casually chatting with him.

"So, how'd your week go?" she asked.

"Same as always," he replied, his facial expression the same.

"Well, mine went well! You know, for high-class people such as myself and the Kimura Clan, we're always super busy. Can't help it, when you're on top—-!"

"Hey!" Hikari pointed out. "That's tampering!"

"No, it's not!" Nishiyama refuted. "We're just talking!"

"You have to take the test like everyone else, Kimura," Tsugumi stated. "You promised."

Nishiyama rolled her eyes. "Whatever, killjoys."

She walked over to Fujii, who began to start his timer. "Right! Let's begin!"

Without even letting him finish, she used her magic to freeze him in place before flicking his forehead. "I win. Done."

Everyone else stared at her.

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah! Dachii, let me finish telling you all about my week!"

The magic wore off and Fujii fell to the ground. "Well, that was uneventful. Kazue, wanna give it a shot?"

"Not really…!" she confessed.

"Come on, Nishiyama did it! I'll go easy on you!"

"Well, okay…I'll give it a shot!"

And then she got blasted into a wall.

Once she had thawed out, Fujii sat everyone back in the middle of the room. "That was pretty fun! I got a nice little workout in!"

The girls all groaned. Luca could barely contain his laugh.

"It was fun for me," Luca laughed.

Akari hit him with another energy blast.

Fujii pulled Dachii up towards him. "Seen anything you like? Sure, I totally humbled most of them, but don't be shy! Pick your poison!"

Dachii took a deep breath as the girls watched him. "I choose…"

"Definitely me," Akari thought. "No contest."

"Me! Me!" Nishiyama hoped. "I'm so much better!"

"We're super close, I think I'm a good match," Hikari noted.

"It's going to be me," Tsugumi assured herself.

"I'm super good at cooking! Maybe he likes that?" Kazue wondered.

"Hmph," Aoki folded her arms. "The choice is obvious."

"…I choose all."

Everyone froze. Even Fujii appeared confused. "What?"

"I choose them all," Dachii repeated. "I can't choose a specific one."

Fujii broke into laughter. "That's new! I like it! We've got a playboy on our hands! Just like me! Haha!"

Dachii scanned the women.

"But seriously," Fujii continued. "I don't think they'll be as willing to share as the lovely ladies from the bars. How about this? These next few weeks, you spend time with each of them, and then you make your choice!"

"Okay," Dachii replied.

"Great!" Fujii said. "You hear that ladies! It's officially a competition!"

Akari facepalmed herself. "Why did I let him talk me into this?"

Later that day…

Dachii plopped into his bed, putting a pillow over his face. "Another day done. How meaningless."

"Aww, are you still moping? And here I thought being around all those ladies would have brought back some excitement!"

Dachii lifted the pillow to find a girl standing at the edge of his bed. "You know, I would have joined in, but I've never been the competitive type."

"Reika," he recognized. "What do you want?"

"You remember me! I'm touched," she beamed. "Remember that deal we made? I help you out, you do me a favor?"

"Yep," he answered.

"Well," she admitted. "I kinda need that favor."

Dachii sat up. "What is it?"

"My squad, we're going treasure hunting," she explained. "I want you to come."

"Treasure hunting where?"

She winked at him. "It should hit close to home for you! After all, you come from that side, don't you?"

"…What?"

"We're going to Estrium!" Reika said. "Across the Sea! And since we'll need a guide, how would you like to come along back home?"

Dachii's eyes widened. "No way."

—-