Peeeeewwwww…. BANG!!
Someone landed beside Akira with bone-shaking force. The stone pavement erupted in shards and dust, a gust of icy wind blasting outward from the impact.
It was a beautiful little girl looking around twelve years old with ice blue hair and a frighteningly powerful ice energy aura radiating outwards.
Without missing a beat, she unleashed a punch filled to the brim with devastating ice energy!
Shua!
By sheer instinct, Akira poured all of his newly awakened wind energy into a spiraling barrier, the air around him whirling in violent defense.
Bam!
But it wasn't enough.
Her ice energy, vaster and purer by orders of magnitude, tore through his barrier like fire through silk. The freezing pressure bit into his skin and numbed his arms.
But just as the supremely powerful punch was about to land on his body, Akira twisted his body savagely sideways and dodged it by the narrowest margins.
At the same time, his left forefinger came to a halt just inches from the girl's delicate neck, an almost invisible blade of wind energy already nicking the surface of her skin. A faint line of crimson appeared and a single drop of blood slid down her collarbone like a ruby tear.
The little girl froze. Her tumultuous ice energy collapsed into silence in an instant.
She was far, far more powerful than Akira. That much was clear.
But power meant nothing if it was wasted in blind fury. One wrong step could have ended her life in an instant.
"Who are you, and why are you attacking me?" Akira asked her quietly, his voice steady and cold.
He could have killed her instantly.
But he purposely held back because he did not sense any killing intent from the little girl.
Despite her fearsome looking attack, the ice energy had nearly completely dispersed by the time it brushed past his body, a clear indication that she was aiming to injure, not kill.
At such a close distance, Akira could see the little girl with startling clarity.
She was beautiful to the extreme.
Her porcelain skin glowed with a pale, almost ethereal luster. Her large eyes shimmered like frosted sapphires, perfectly shaped to melt hearts without trying. Her lips were a soft, delicate pink curved with a natural grace that no painter could ever capture. Every detail of her face screamed of impossible, unfair perfection.
Akira found himself briefly stunned, caught off guard by the sheer freshness and radiant beauty of the little loli standing before him.
But he was not a man to easily fall to the charms of the opposite sex.
He inhaled sharply, steeled his nerves, and struggled to keep a stern expression carved on his face.
After all, this tiny girl had just launched a surprise assault that very nearly dealt him serious harm.
He had every right to be cold.
Alas, all of his efforts were rendered completely meaningless in the very next moment.
Because she… She actually burst into tears.
"UWAAAAAAA!!!"
Her wail was piercing, echoing everywhere around the lobby like an alarm bell. The sudden outpouring of emotion crashed over him with all the subtlety of a tidal wave.
Akira felt a throbbing headache build instantly, sharp and heavy like a rock pounding behind his eyes.
"Whaaaaat… Why is everybody crying for no reason today?!" Akira sighed in frustration and withdrew his windblade, the thin current of air dissipating with a faint hiss. He didn't like bullying little girls.
Sensing that the danger to her life had passed, the little blue-haired beauty turned to look at Akira with wide, watery eyes full of accusation, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to rein in her sobs.
Hic. Hic. Hic.
"Alright. Stop crying, little girl. Hush, hush. You look much prettier when you're not crying. There there." Akira tried his best to soothe her, his voice awkward but gentle, and stretched out his hand to pat her head.
Her blue hair was soft and cool to the touch, like silk left in morning snow, and it felt strangely pleasant as his palm rested lightly atop her head.
But as soon as his hand landed on her head, Akira felt the little girl stiffen with shock, and her hiccups ceased entirely all of a sudden.
Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, as though she was trying to say something but failing. Her eyes were filled with immeasurable shock even as her eyelids blinked prettily in confusion.
"AHHHH!!" Came a shrill scream of shock from somewhere behind them from within the Royal Palace.
Both of them turned their heads around and saw Princess Yuki and a voluptuous butler standing there gaping at them. Princess Yuki's hand was covering her mouth in shock, and the scream had come from the beautiful, big chested butler of her's
"There is a strange young man molesting Princess Sora! MEN! CAPTURE THE BRAZEN MOLESTER AND CUT OFF HIS HANDS AT ONCE!!" The butler roared indignantly.
As Akira's hand lightly patted her head, something strange and irreversible happened within Princess Sora.
The warmth of his palm, the gentle tone of his awkward attempt to soothe her, combined with the fact that he hadn't killed her when he clearly could have, completely short-circuited her logic circuits.
Her cheeks flushed with a brilliant shade of pink, and her icy aura flickered erratically like a snowy thunderstorm.
"Tru-truly? So quickly?" She said in a small voice.
"Indeed." Akira smiled at her benevolently like a kind elder that he was indulging in a little girl's foolish words.
She stared at him, lips quivering, eyes wide. Then suddenly she slapped both hands over her heart and screamed, "I-It's not like I wanted you to pat my head or anything!! Idiot! Fool! S-So shameless!!"
She sniffled once more, wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve, and stood up straight. "But… but fine! Since you've gone so far—I, Princess Sora of the Northern Ice Kingdom, accept your headpat as a symbol of eternal devotion!! You may now consider yourself… m-my fiancé!!"
The butler behind them fainted on the spot with a strangled gasp.
Princess Yuki dropped her fan.
Akira froze mid-blink. "...HUH?!"
Princess Sora turned away with a huff, her cheeks burning, arms crossed tightly. "D-Don't get the wrong idea or anything! I only accepted because… because you're not completely hideous and you did kind of spared my life and... a-and the way you dodged my punch was slightly cool, okay?! But don't go thinking I like you or anything! I just… I just… ugh, shut up!"