“I-is that so?” Alex was glad his face was buried in Nyx’s shoulder. It meant she couldn’t see him blush.
“It is,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”
“I am.” He sniffled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, while I do not know everything that is wrong, I believe I have found a solution to at least one of your problems.”
“What’s that?”
“I can kill Prince Arthur for you. He can’t bother Princess Gabrielle if he is dead.”
“… Please don’t.”
“Okay.”
5
The day after Arthur asked her on a date, Gabrielle found herself being corralled to the shopping district by Ryoko and Serah after school. The two had told her that she needed clothes for her date. Well, Ryoko said she needed clothes for her date. Serah said she shouldn’t go out with a disgusting man, but her friend was still going to help her find new clothes.
On a side note, Gabrielle wondered what her friend’s problem was with men.
Selene and Kazekiri weren’t with them. Selene was needed at her parents’ bakery, and Kazekiri was working at the police headquarters. Gabrielle had asked Alice and Jasmine if they wanted to come, but Alice had told her it was too troublesome, and Jasmine had simply laughed and said that she was working. Gabrielle hadn’t even realized Jasmine had a job.
The store that Ryoko and Serah had dragged her to was called Overdress, and it was a small outlet that had a lot of really flashy outfits. Most of them were gowns. That wasn’t all it had, though, as Gabrielle could also see strangely shaped pants with different cuts. Some of them flared out, others had frills, a few had rips, and still more changed random colors as time passed. There was a lot of variety.
“Here, why don’t you try this on?” Ryoko suggested, holding out a dress for Gabrielle to wear. It looked like a white dress of some kind, though she couldn’t tell the type.
“Um, I’m still not sure why I need a new dress,” Gabrielle said.
Ryoko paused. “Um, because you’re going on a date?”
“With a disgusting prince,” Serah added absently.
“Right, with a prince. You need something that will wow and awe him, something that will leave him speechless and begging at your feet.”
Gabrielle didn’t understand why she’d want to leave someone speechless and begging at her feet, but she was beginning to realize that everyone expected her to do something that she didn’t know about.
Because Ryoko and Serah seemed to know more than her, she did what they asked. Gabrielle went into the changing room, pulled off her clothes, and put on the dress. Fortunately, while Gabrielle often had maids dress her back home, she’d been clothed in expensive gowns enough times that putting on a dress was a simple matter.
“What do you think?” asked Gabrielle.
“Hmm… it looks good on you, but…” Ryoko tilted her head this way and that.
Serah shook her head. “It’s too ordinary to compliment your beauty. You need something a bit flashier.”
The two made Gabrielle try on several more outfits; they had her wear a slip dress with spaghetti straps, a leather outfit that was tight around her chest and flared out at the hips, a dress that looked almost like a spacesuit with a high collar, and numerous other frilly outfits.
The next one her friends had chosen was black, only had one sleeve, and had a slit running along her left thigh. It felt a little lopsided because it was missing a sleeve. She guessed it was a fashion thing. She’d read about fashion statements on the holonet. In either case, she walked out of the room and presented herself to Serah and Ryoko.
“Wow!” Serah mumbled, while Ryoko whistled.
“Do you think this looks good?” Gabrielle asked, moving around, the hem swishing about her ankles.
“It looks amazing, but let’s try on a few more outfits,” Ryoko said.
Ryoko and Serah selected several more outfits, everything from regular gowns to dresses with huge collars and dangerous dips and they had her try on every one of them. Gabrielle had fun, sort of. She probably would have liked it more if she was shopping for Alex instead of Arthur. Still, she understood that this was important. Michelle had said that she needed to make it seem like she was actually interested in Arthur.
In the end, Ryoko and Serah kept arguing over what she should wear. Serah wanted her to wear a purple and black maid outfit, while Ryoko said she would look better in a strapless red dress. Since they were so busy debating with each other, Gabrielle had chosen herself, a silver dress that she thought looked cute.
Serah and Ryoko expressed their disappointment with her choice, but Gabrielle had told them it was their fault for not being able to decide; they couldn’t argue with her.
The three of them parted ways. Gabrielle hopped onto a shuttle and walked back home.
“I’m home!” she called out as she closed the door behind her, took off her boots, and stepped into the hallway. Shuffling reached her ears before two figures exited the living room.
“Big Sis, welcome home,” Ariel said.
“Indeed. Welcome home, Honorable Sister,” Michelle added.
“Hehe!” Gabrielle bashfully rubbed her head. “Thank you. Where’s Alex?”
Ariel and Michelle shared a look, but before Gabrielle had time to ponder what their expressions meant, they turned back to her.
“I believe Alex is training in the simulator with Nyx,” Michelle said at last.
“They were fighting each other pretty hard,” Ariel added.
Michelle smiled. “Ariel was watching Alex for quite a while.”
“I-I was not!”
“It’s great that you two are getting along,” Gabrielle said, taking Ariel’s hands in her own and smiling. “That makes me really happy!”
Ariel had a really bad habit of pushing others away, so she had been worried that her younger sister wouldn’t get along with Alex. Of course, Gabrielle didn’t blame her sister. She knew the reason.
Everyone treated Ariel poorly.
No one expected anything from Ariel, who had neither the technical expertise that Gabrielle had or the political cunning that Michelle had. Ariel was physically strong and could talk to animals. That was it. Those were her only skills, and while physical strength would prove useful in the military, outside of it, being strong meant nothing.
There was also Ariel’s curse. Gabrielle was sure her sisters didn’t know she knew about their personal problems, but she had overheard Papa talking about it with Ēostre-Mama. She hadn’t said anything because there was nothing she could do. No amount of technological advancements could fix their problems right now, though one day she would find a way to solve both of Ariel’s and Michelle’s problems.
“O-oh, does it? Well, I guess he’s all right for a perverted beast,” Ariel mumbled. She looked away.
“You aren’t going to go down and see him, are you?” asked Michelle.
Gabrielle shook her head. “I’ll follow the plan.”
“Plan?” Ariel asked.
“That’s good.” Michelle nodded. “It’s best to pretend you aren’t interested in him. He’ll eventually grow more frustrated the longer you refuse to talk to him, and then, he’ll finally break down and confess his feelings.”
“Right.”
Gabrielle nodded along with her sister, though deep down she didn’t want to do this. All she wanted was to race down to the lab, crash through the simulator, and hug Alex for all he was worth.
However, hugging him and paying him lots of attention hadn’t gotten her anywhere. Michelle said it was because of some hang-ups he had. She didn’t know what hang-ups Alex might have, but she suspected it was something that he refused to tell anyone.
She’d occasionally notice the pained expressions on his face when she caught him looking at her boobs. At first, she thought something was wrong with her boobs. It wasn’t until she’d spoken with Alice one day that she had realized this wasn’t the case. Alex apparentl
y liked big boobs, and hers were pretty big. This led her to believe that the problem lay elsewhere. Sadly, she didn’t know where the problem lay, which meant all she could do was patiently wait for him to tell her what was wrong.
Gabrielle wandered into the living room with her sisters. Alice and Jasmine were there, sitting on the couch as they watched Titan Girls, a popular show about a girl who had the strength of a hundred people and could bash bad guys’ faces in with ease.
Well, it was more like Alice was sprawled on the couch, while Jasmine sat on the tiny portion that her friend left for her. As she sat down on the floor with her two younger sisters, Gabrielle paid only half attention to the holodrama.
She wondered how long it would take before Alex confessed to her. Did these things take a long time? Michelle said it depended on the person, but she wished her sister could have given a more definite answer.
She really didn’t want to go on that date with Arty.
CHAPTER 3
PRINCE VERSUS HERO
It was two days after Gabrielle agreed to go on a date with Prince Arthur, Thursday, and Alex was trying to spend his free time doing something that would get his mind off what had happened.
“I’ll do it. I’ll agree to go on a date with you.”
He didn’t want to think about it, but he knew this was his fault. Gabrielle had, for the past month, been telling him that she loved him. No, she had been telling him that ever since he’d fought Azazel and promised to protect her from her father. At that time, he had merely assumed she was using him, but he’d been forced to recognize her feelings were true just before he’d decided to save Nyx from the police.
Gabrielle wasn’t the kind of person who’d say something like that so sincerely and then go on a date with someone else—well, maybe she would. According to Selene, polygamy was acceptable among the rest of the galaxy. That said, he didn’t think that she was attempting to seduce Prince Arthur in order to build herself a harem with both of them.
Alex wasn’t stupid. He might not know much about relationships, but he was at least smart enough to recognize that she was probably trying to make him jealous. If he had to guess, this was a plot coined by Michelle, who was apparently a wiz at playing dating simulations.
Dating simulation was a term that Alex hadn’t heard much of, but it was apparently popular among certain crowds. It was all about playing as a character and getting other characters to fall in love with your character. He had no idea how that worked, but according to some holo documentary, virtual reality dating simulations had been really popular in the past and were making a comeback now.
Alice, Ariel, Gabrielle, and Michelle were at school. Alex hadn’t wanted to remain at home, and he was too preoccupied to work on his inventions, so he and Nyx were wandering around Mars’ City’s Entertainment District.
While all of the other districts looked industrious, truly what people from ancient times must have imagined an advanced civilization to look like, the entertainment district looked almost like it had been transplanted from Earth. Rather than multiple walkways, it was made up of several large plates, which could be accessed via escalators and warp points. Shops, restaurants, arcades, theaters… everything that a person could imagine to entertain themselves was in this district.
The hub that he and Nyx were strolling through was fairly empty. Places like this usually had few customers during school and work hours. Several people walked past them, but they were older people who seemed less interested in the arcades dotting the area and more interested in walking to and from the next shop. A pair of young women in fashionable wraparound dresses and space boots were chatting as they ambled passed him and Nyx. Several young men in street clothes sat around a table and seemed to be in a passionate discussion about something. A few other people dotted the area here and there, but for a place that could hold over a hundred thousand people, it looked empty.
“See anything you want to check out?” Alex asked Nyx, who shook her head. “Well, be sure to let me know if there’s something you like.”
Nyx nodded and Alex continued leading the girl around by the hand so they wouldn’t get separated. He honestly wasn’t sure what they should do. Before Gabrielle had started school, all of his free time had been spent inventing stuff with her, but now…
Try not to think about Gabrielle right now, Alex. Just have fun with Nyx.
He was stopped from moving further when Nyx ceased moving. He looked back at her, noticed that her head was turned toward something, and then looked at what she was looking at. A small crowd had gathered in front of an arcade. Alex couldn’t see what they were staring at, but many of the people were cheering.
He looked back at Nyx.
“Come on.” He tugged on her hand. “Let’s see what this is all about.”
“Yes.”
He and Nyx journeyed to the crowd, which was bigger than Alex had initially expected. It wasn’t just older people either. There were a few individuals who looked like they were his age—ditchers, probably. Alex pushed his way through the crowd with Nyx, who helped by subtly using alchemy to stretch the area they were walking through. What they found on the other side was… shocking.
“Isn’t that Prince Arthur?” Alex asked.
“It is,” Nyx said.
Prince Arthur was playing a fighting simulation game. It was a game where players stood on a platform that used highly advanced sensor technology to create a polygon version of the person playing on a screen. Then two would fight using that polygon character by moving their bodies in real-time. It was a popular game right now. Alex had never played it himself, but he had read on the holonet that there were several tournaments being played, where the people who won could earn a lot of money.
At the moment, Prince Arthur was fighting against some lady, and he was kicking this lady’s butt. Her character could barely even fight. Whenever she did manage to throw a punch, Prince Arthur countered it with a block, then launched a series of swift punches and kicks, and her health gauge dropped some more.
He’s been trained in combat.
A lot of the people who played these fighting games didn’t have real combat experience. However, Prince Arthur clearly had training. His movements were crisp, clean, and precise. No wasted energy. They were nothing at all like the woman, who while clearly experienced with fighting games, did not have his kind of real-world experience. Her moves were much sloppier, and she left herself open to his counters. In the end, her health gauge went to zero, and her character was “killed.”
“It was a good fight!” Prince Arthur boomed as he shook the lady’s hand. His bright smile was so dazzling Alex thought his teeth were sparkling. Despite having her ass handed to her on a silver platter, the woman looked ready to swoon.
“Is there anyone else who wishes to challenge me?” asked Prince Arthur, looking at the crowd.
Many people seemed interested, if the raised hands, shouts, and general exuberance being displayed were any indication. Alex pulled Nyx closer so she wouldn’t get jostled around. In a surprising turn of events, not only did Nyx not respond with violence, but she actually conformed herself to him. He felt a moment of tension run down his spin when her modest chest pressed into his side. However, the bodies closing in around them diminished his arousal.
As the crowd grew increasingly out of control, Prince Arthur’s eyes landed on them. His frown grew. His eyes narrowed. Then he raised his left hand and pointed.
“Alexander S. Ryker! I see you have finally accepted my challenge!”
“Erm…” Alex tried to think of what he should say. “No… that’s not quite—”
“Come! Step up onto the platform and let us see who is more fit to become Gabrielle’s husband!”
Alex was this close to telling Prince Arthur to shut up, but before he could, Nyx tugged at his sleeve. She looked up at him from her place snuggled against his torso. Her eyes looked the same as always, emotionless. Even so, there was something within them that made him paus
e.
“Do you think I should battle him?” he asked.
Nyx nodded. “Prince Arthur has combat experience. Even if it’s a simulation like this, it will be good practice.”
“I guess.” Alex sighed. He’d been hoping to avoid a confrontation with this guy, but he guessed a simulated video game battle would be fine.
“It is good to know that you have accepted my challenge,” Prince Arthur said. “I commend you for your courage.”
“Whatever.”
Alex resisted another sigh.
The fighting simulator used very basic technology. When someone stepped onto the platform, it scanned a person’s body and created a perfect three-dimensional avatar of them using polygons. There were numerous sensors located within the platform’s floor and the walls behind and to Alex’s left. Whenever he moved, the sensors saw it and made the avatar move.
I could probably recreate this if I wanted to. Gabrielle might like it.
“Do not fret when you lose,” Prince Arthur said as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “I have been trained in combat for most of my life. It is no exaggeration to say that I am on par with many of my best knights.”
“Whatever you say,” Alex murmured as he moved into a lose fighting stance.
Arthur’s stance was unusual. He had his feet slightly spread apart, his left foot forward. While his left hand was held in front of him, the right was behind him, hand closed as though he was holding something.
He must use a sword in normal fights. Alex narrowed his eyes as he adopted a southpaw fighting stance, right hand and foot forward.
The simulator began the countdown with the standard voice of: “Ready? Three. Two. One. Fight!”
Alex had already seen a bit of what Arthur could do, so he moved back and was grateful that he did. Arthur had swiped at him with his right hand. The movement was definitely the kind someone who usually swung a sword used. Had his avatar possessed a blade, Alex was sure his health gauge would have dropped.
Two steps forward brought Alex into Arthur’s guard. He attacked with a standard one-two punch combination, a straight jab with his right hand followed by a wide swing with his left, which Arthur blocked by bringing his forearms together. The health gauge dropped a little. However, because it was blocked, the damage was cut by about one-fourth of what it would have normally been.
A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 6 Page 10
