"Are you even trying to kill me?"
Crouching down, Sunny shot a kick upwards to stop the descending amethyst scythe. His soles collided with the shaft of the weapon before it could gain momentum, then, he rotated his body, his foot guiding the scythe to the side as the blade stabbed into the ground.
Naturally, with such an opening, Sunny used the rest of the kinetic energy to deliver a kick to Seele's side. She crumpled a little, gritting her teeth as she flashed backwards with her Awakened Ability.
She glared at him.
"Is that supposed to be permission?"
Sunny placed a hand over his chin.
"Uh… not really? It's just that there's no point in training if you're not going to try your hardest."
He tilted his head.
"Actually, you've been kind of weird. What's that about?"
Seele sighed before pointing to her head. Her face was a little red.
"She… she just keeps doing whatever she wants!"
"Oh…"
He supposed that she was still rattled over the stunt Veliona earlier that day. With a shrug, Sunny allowed the Soul Serpent — which had taken the form of an obsidian scythe — to turn back into a tattoo.
"I forgot to ask you before, but we're planning on challenging the Second Nightmare. Besides me, there's Dan Heng, March, and Sparkle, but you don't know her, so—"
"Oh, her?"
Sunny blinked.
"Huh?"
Seele dismissed her scythe, sending him a strange look he couldn't quite decipher.
"…You never told me you had a girlfriend."
Sunny pursed his lips for a moment.
'This again? What is she even…'
His eyes widened. Considering the context of the conversation, didn't that mean…
'Sparkle! You imbecile!'
Inwardly, he was fuming. Outwardly, Sunny only coughed awkwardly.
"That's because I don't. I don't know what she told you, but take it with a grain of salt… however that works."
While Sunny was trying to dissect the meaning of the metaphor he didn't know why he used, Seele asked:
"She was just messing with me?"
Sunny stared at her for a moment, before showing a pleasant smile. Suddenly, a torrent of flames appeared by his side, providing a warm comfort.
"Of course! Did you really trust such a shady looking individual? She's always smiling like a perverted creep…"
"Yeah! Like a perverted creep!"
Sunny paused for a few seconds. He sighed, before looking down to his right.
"I gave you the perfect opportunity for an introductory line, and this is how you use it? Mimicking me?"
Sparkle snapped, the flames fizzling out of existence. With a grin, she explained:
"There's comedic appeal in a sidekick that has no personality. So, the cute and jolly Sparkle repeating the same words as the horrific and crazy Sunless sets a particular tone!"
Sunny gaped in indignation.
"Take that back! I'm not horrifying! If anything, you should be the scary one, the harasser you are, and I'll be the cute one. The cutest of them all… wait…"
"You didn't deny the crazy part."
"That's not the point!"
As they engaged in worthless banter about who was cute, scary, or somewhere in between, Seele's brow furrowed as she glanced between the two of them.
Sparkle turned her head, her grin widening.
"Oh, it's Moth Girl. Still clinging to what's not yours, huh?"
Sunny began to take a few steps back, but Sparkle firmly grabbed his arm. He began to sweat bullets.
Seele scowled, sending Sunny an accusatory point of a finger.
"He called you creepy and shady. I'm not sure he likes you very much."
Gasping in betrayal, Sunny began to feel a genuine fear for his life. Looking towards Sparkle in panic, he awkwardly chuckled:
"You know me! Always bending the—"
"Shut up."
"Affirmative."
Sunny turned into the representation of absolute obedience.
Seele watched in disbelief at how easily he clammed up. The same could be said for Sparkle, who lost her grin as she sent him a strange look. She turned back to Seele, her usual grin seeming a little unsure.
"W—well, at least he knows his place?"
The joke didn't really land.
Seele coughed into her fist.
"Why are we even arguing in the first place? It's not even like that…"
Sunny's eyes widened.
"It's not?!"
It seemed that his luck was finally beginning to look up for once! He knew that kiss was platonic! It was on the cheek!
The cheek!
"Nope, it's definitely like that."
Sparkle quickly shot down his moment of glee, showing no mercy.
Sunny froze, preparing to throw up his hands in celebration. He hesitated, asking:
"So… is it or is it not?"
Sparkle coiled an arm around Sunny's neck, bringing him down to her height as she pointed towards Seele.
"Just look at those eyes! So much lust… I'm surprised she hasn't tied you up yet. Without consent, if I may add."
Sunny squinted his eyes at the visibly uncomfortable Seele.
"…No, I don't see it."
Sparkle gazed at him like he was the crazy one in this situation.
"Her corset is literally lower than the last time I saw her!"
Shifting his gaze to Seele's chest, Sunny nodded in acknowledgment.
"Hm. Yeah, I noticed. What about it?"
"She's trying to seduce you!"
Seele raised a brow.
"What the hell…?"
Sunny glanced between the two girls, before shaking his head with a short laugh.
"That stupid. Who would even try that?"
Seele sighed in relief as he continued:
"That's like telling Nightmare Creatures to integrate themselves with human society. If Seele was really trying to seduce someone, then her nape would be a prim—"
***
"Too much information."
Seele watched as Sparkle covered Sunny's mouth with her hand, muffling him before he could make things worse.
'My… nape?'
[I knew it! He kept staring at your neck!]
'…Don't lie to yourself. You didn't notice a thing.'
She had been enduring the heat brought from the Lance of Preservation in order to draw his attention to the way her sweat had trailed down her body… who knew that all she had to do was wear her hair in a ponytail?
'What a creep.'
What kind of fetish was that?!
Making eye contact with Sparkle, the shorter girl simply shrugged, just as confused as she was.
'Mission accomplished… I guess?'
She watched as Sunny wrenched Sparkle's hand from his mouth, placing his own over hers instead.
"So, are you coming?"
Seele blinked.
"To what?"
"The Second Nightmare. You know, to get stronger and stuff."
'Get stronger?'
"Sure."
He stared at her for a few moments, probably questioning the ease in which she agreed. He shrugged, before asking:
"We're watching a movie at the Express. Wanna come?"
Once more, that didn't require any thinking whatsoever — only slightly more than deciding if she should challenge the Second Nightmare with them.
Simply put, she needed more strength in order to effectively protect the Underworld.
Sunny allowed Sparkle to free herself from under his hand. She pinched his ear, dragging him with her as they headed back towards the Sanctuary.
"You still need to use those coins, right?"
"Oh, yeah…"
Pushing him ahead of her, Sparkle turned her head back to look at Seele. She sent her a wink and a thumbs-up.
With a small smile, Seele nodded.
This alliance of theirs seemed to be going smoothly.