Charles Patricius

Miko wasn't the only one on a veritable bender since their initial fall. As Charlemagne, Kazu started the night before that fall, and the fall itself led to even more deviance ─ even growing by the day. Today was far from an exception. Technically, he'd been with Angelica, Miko herself, and even Saori all today, and the day still wasn't over. Now, there were three other girls who were present. That didn't have to be an issue at all, but this group was also far from unattractive. "Do you just surround yourself with... you know what? I can't even say anything," Kazu muttered under his breath.

It seemed there was something Miko had been meaning to talk about before. As with many things, however, the moment got away until now. "Eh? Do you wanna just get it out of the way now? I'm pretty sure we've both got a lot on our plate, and that's officially become more, I think," he said. Within moments of that whispered exchange, the pink-haired girl introduced as Totsuka Chika had the strangest question for him. She wanted to know if he was 'the secret boyfriend' ─ whatever that was. Kazu also had no idea what 'something juicy' was supposed to be, but he was very used to things that didn't make any sense by now. "I'm... Kimura Kazuhiko. I'm usually not a secret anything. Seventeen, from Saitama, also Charlemagne who may or may not be Holy Roman Emperor ─ not sure if that part still counts, because complex reasons."

Kazuhiko decided to comment on the look of this general group. The student council of Shuchi'in Academy did indeed include several attractive girls. There were men and others there too, but the core was these five Kaguya included. Kazuhiko decided he couldn't question her surrounding friends... for whatever reason and Miko could only nod. She did surround herself with attractive people, that wasn't necessarily on purpose and it also wasn't every attractive person, but the good-natured ones she'd absolutely hang out with, and this particular group had been tight since middle school.

As for his question about getting things out of the way, in particular the things she'd forgotten to mention earlier given her 'Emergency Meeting'. Their plates were full and would only be getting more so if these girls got their way. The conversations needed to happen and clarity needed to be present. Miko wasn't a dishonest person, she didn't lie and she wouldn't be encouraging any added oddities in the group either. "Yeah, actually... it'd be easier of I just explained..." Miko started. Ah, but she wouldn't get to finish that statement because Chika was now very close to the pair looking between their faces and wiggling her eyebrows as she inserted herself into their conversation, questioning directly Kazuhiko's relationship to Miko. "Charlemagne? And not a secret anything..." she said as if logging the information away, she wasn't. "But... Mi-chan is secretive always gone at the oddest times, if it isn't for a secret boyfriend then she's hiding something else. But it has to be a cover! A sudden wild bestie popped up on Instagram that we'd never met before, and that's you... Kazu-kun! So, fill in the blanks... " she said as if this was a logical line of thought to have. Chika looked to Kei and Ai as if looking for backup. "I'm not getting involved in this. I already owe Mi-tan an apology and this one is Charlemagne and we've met our own mentors already so... it's probably best hear her out before being rash," Ai said shrugging. But rash was something at least one of the others always was, "Well he said he's not a secret anything, and she didn't lay claims to him so obviously whatever I do is fine!" Kei said with her nose turned up. "Can you not be so fucking weird right now!" Miko snapped at Chika. "I don't know how many times I have to say I don't have a secret boyfriend. It's still complicated and it's a lot to unpack and not all mine to do. I couldn't properly answer before because I couldn't explain magical world stuff to you when you to my knowledge knew nothing of it. Besides all that he may not be my secret boyfriend but he already has two wives, so at least finish finding out things. Unless it is your goal to pull a Kaya-sen, and she's still recovering from yesterday!" Miko was on a tirade the likes of which hadn't been seen from her just yet. Kaguya hearing the commotion had come to join the group and grinned. "You guys are gonna wake the monster, and we haven't even gone out yet. Okaeri, minna♥~" Kaguya flirted.

A certain conversation was best had sooner rather than later, even if Kazuhiko had no idea what it was about. Whatever the case, this group obviously wasn't leaving much freedom to address other matters. Most specifically, there was the pink-haired girl who reached Astolfo levels of closeness to ask additional senseless questions. Kazu made a connection between those two immediately. They looked so similar, he briefly couldn't even distinguish them while Chika behaved so similarly to the male he'd known for centuries. Before he even realized what he was doing, Kazu had two fingers extending outward to thump the girl's forehead. "Cesse!" he said in commanding fashion, accidentally recalling a method he once used against Astolfo with great frequency.

As for the growing list of questions Chika had, Kazu thought it best to silence her randomness early. "Did you think maybe we met in the other world hundreds of years ago? 'Cause that's what happened. Why do you always jump to the weird conclusions?!" he snapped slightly, only realizing moments later that he wasn't speaking to Astolfo. "Oh... wait, sorry. I thought I was talking to Asta. Well, I feel like that's closer to the truth than I'm comfortable thinking about," he added, sighing. It seemed Kazu wasn't the only one snapping; Miko did the same with a tirade that involved some... questionable topics from an outside perspective. Was something being missed here? Perhaps it had to do with that conversation never had. "So, before this keeps going, I want it on record that I have no idea what's even happening right now," Kazu interjected, finally prompting a statement from Yuuya. "You're not the only one. I think I should..." Yuuya wouldn't even finish speaking before he tried to creep away slowly, hoping the addition of Kaguya would give him ample room for a safe retreat.

Chika was being... Chika. A sentence that Miko realized was already within her vocabulary because of the extensive time spent with Astolfo. Their likeness going unnoticed by her was really quite criminal, she'd think that over later, attributing it to her lack of memories and her inability to observe certain things when they were happening in front of her eyes. Something she would observe however was Kazuhiko managing to tame Chika. A single utterance and a tap the girl's forehead seemed to still her and push her back from invading his personal space. Chika for a moment felt like the movements of her body and the raging chaos of her mind were being overpowered. It was strange, and somehow familiar. His follow up answers to her questions also made sense. She didn't know long long Miko had been gone for, she supposed, if she'd been friends with someone for hundreds of years, their inclusion in a bestie selfie made a bit of sense. "Hai." she said seemingly calm thereafter. "Asta is Sai-tan, if you didn't realize," Ai clarified for Chika who seemed to take it in a very specific way. "Well, if my brother listens then I will too!" she said seemingly triumphant.

That same voice had a bit of a different effect on everyone present. Ai had her brow rise, Kei seemed to obviously shiver and Miko... Miko turned her eyes back to Kazuhiko with the light in them dancing about as if she was excited. "Box it. You have to teach me how to do that later..." she said for two seemingly unrelated reasons. The thing that went in the box was the voice itself which hit her ears in a way that made her loins tingle learning a better way to corral Chika had always been on her to do list. In truth, Miko had a bad habit of simply bubbling over when it came to Chika and most of their conversation ended with the pink haired girl on the floor being abused in some way. At the same time, Kazuhiko wanted it on record that he had no idea what was going on. Kaguya would be the one to clarify while Miko organized her thoughts and she winked at Yuuya while he snuck off, yuu people would continue to stick together. "The easy way to explain it is, you are witnessing the chaos of a girl group chat... of which you happen to be the topic~" she said with a knowing smirk. "Kaya-nee! Mi-sen's acting like she can pull rank on me, that doesn't work anymore..." Kei seemed to be a bit pouty. 'It's really early for you to be crying to Kaya. You haven't even been punished yet.' Miko thought... oh, that was a little aggressive. Where her thoughts about Kei always like that? Yes. But it'd been a while since she'd experienced them. It was an annoyance to Kei right now that the conversation was taking so long. At the same time, Miko was now ready to fill in Kazuhiko in a way she'd not managed to before. Which was easier to do with Kaguya here to distract the others for a few moments. "Basically those three... saw you in my Instagram post and immediately ganged up on me to find out more about you... which I couldn't actually tell them because magical world stuff was in the way. The conversation I wanted to have in not so odd a way... was to let you know how likely it was that any of them would be trying to toss themselves at you, as they expressed interest in the hot brunette on my page. But now that they are here, I also want to make sure they know what they're getting themselves into. I also think you should know that as well, given at least one of them has this side complications. That's it I think..." Miko spilled all that information to Kazuhiko the way she would have at any point during their time knowing each other. While her friend all showed themselves to be quite odd, the ones who looked least disturbed were Kaguya and Ai as both were at least a little aware of life beyond themselves at this point.

Just as he would once receive immediate calmness and acknowledgment from Astolfo, the same came from Chika after a single thump and an order. It was astounding how similar these two were, that he didn't even realize it wasn't Astolfo in the moment. A single stint of accosting had Kazu mentally in the court of France again, ensuring Astolfo's assumptions about himself, Jeanne or others were not allowed to fester. "Merci," he said with a sigh. It seemed Miko wanted to learn whatever trick he used, but he didn't think it was a teachable thing. "There's no secret to it or anything. It might be part of a Charisma Skill? I dunno, but I guess I can try teaching it," he agreed.

According to Kaguya, what he witnessed was the chaos of a girls' group chat. That was something he never wanted to be part of, but he supposed it was becoming more unavoidable by the day. Whatever the case, Miko finally got around to mentioning what she didn't get a chance to earlier. A previous chat amongst the group led Miko to believe the others would eventually be throwing themselves at him. Oh. As it happened, Kazu had been mentally fishing for the next opportunity to work all the deviance out of his system. Upon hearing Miko's explanation, he paused to think while glancing at the other three. "Sou ka. Well, I don't think I'd say no to anyone here. I've actually been trying to work out all the extra stuff, but... what do you mean by complications?" he wondered as an afterthought. Kazu was no stranger to complications at this point in life, but he thought it'd be necessary to know if it was something really out of the blue.

Thanks, uttered in French was the end result of Chika's declaration of understanding. Interesting. It would seem that as twins, Chika and Saika were almost interchangeable for some things. Miko really was starting to feel a bit bad for not noticing that likeness. Moving on from that, it would appear that Kazuhiko didn't know if his taming of Chika could be taught, claiming it might be part of a Charisma Skill or something similar, but he'd still try, "Yeah, thanks. I mean... I can get her to stop but it usually involves me pinning her to the ground and...." Miko paused while Kaguya looked bemused and Chika mildly excited. "You know what, saying it out loud like that makes it sound super aggressive...." Miko said looking a bit bashful her face fully reddening. "Never mind that part," Miko mentioned keen to move on from her weird utterances. "Oh? But Mi-chan, I like the part where you pin me to the floor all aggressive and show me who's the boss, it's the best part~" Chika commented. 'Seriously, how did I not realize they were related?!' Miko thought while shooting a dangerous look over at Chika.

Ah, but that wasn't really the point of their crashing conversation. Miko eventually was able to spit everything out and it seemed to cement one idea, that Kazuhiko wouldn't have said no to any of her friends. And that he only really wanted to understand the complication she'd mentioned. How would she explain that situation? Well, she could give him the gist and leave her friend to fully explain the details in a different way. "Uh.... Oh, I know, remember that one town 20 years ago when we ended up on step four because a warlord claimed he didn't receive his tribute on a deal... it's basically that," she said. Reminding the lad of an issue they'd run into where, a peace treaty had been broken because a warlord didn't receive everything in the peace treaty and the everything was technically a bride, who decided she wasn't property for a trade and it ended up being a long process in which they had to help work out everything else and find a deal that didn't include marrying someone off an unwilling participant to guarantee peace. "The details are a bit different but it isn't mine to share directly. But it's that kind of thing..." Miko said. If she'd done so properly she might have shared enough to make sense of the situation without taking away Kei's chance to be honest about her endeavors. At the same time, Kei was appealing to Kaguya but like a good big sister she was going to be told the truth, playfully though it was presented, "Oh? Not seeing the forest for the trees. It'd be a shame to misunderstand something so very clear, simply because your vision is currently blurry~" Kaguya mentioned. Miko wasn't getting in anyone's way, she was doing her job and protecting as many of her friends interests as possible. She wasn't the jealous type to pull rank or anything like that... she simply wanted everyone to have the best time possible while being fully aware of all things that were going into their current decision making. Life was simultaneously much simpler and more complicated than it was for them before.

Miko had her own way of getting the pink-haired girl to stop being ridiculous. Sadly, she didn't share the whole story... but what she did share, was enough to grab Kazu's interest for the moment. "No, no, keep talking," he said with eyes bouncing between the two girls in question. He could almost see what Miko was talking about, and it was actually quite interesting. With Chika expressing her opinion on the alleged control methods employed by Miko, things only became more interesting. "Teach me how to do that," he added.

As for the complications attached to one of those three, Miko made a reference to a more recent adventure they shared on Alaya. She spoke of a story involving an arranged marriage gone south ─ one that he remembered being salvaged long-term by the intervention of... Astolfo. That one was one of many roller coasters they went on during a long journey. Contemplating the tale and comparing it to modern times in this world, Kazu figured he knew where this was going. As such, he looked to Chika, then Kei, then Ai. One of the last two had to be the 'princess' in question. "Forced arranged marriage, son's parents adamant about connecting families or keeping their wealth and lineage stable, bigger family putting pressure on the smaller one... that kind of thing? Seen it a million times. That kind of thing is really common in the other world," he said. "So, the plan?" he wondered, assuming a plan had already been established. Kazu had seen enough failed plans to have a good idea about what would, or wouldn't, produce the desired results in cases like this. "And I'm guessing it's... you," he concluded, pointing toward the white-haired girl.

Miko was told to keep talking about her oddly dominating behaviors toward Chika. Miko seemed to be flushed of face by the time it came up and Chika continuing to speak on it, while seeming so pleased about it. "Filthy fucking masochist," Miko swore under her breath. "Oh? A call of praise, Chika is best♥!~" Chika referred to herself in the third person about the utterance of Miko making Ai and Kaguya chuckle, that is how those two friends loved each other. No big deal. "I don't think it's something to learn... I think she presses my buttons until I react and somehow likes it," Miko said firmly. Granted, she'd been told by a couple of times, by people in this very room that they enjoyed when she punished or threatened them. She supposed that wasn't the weirdest thing to think about anymore.

Moving on, her explanation to Kazu, was one he understood and he even managed to figure out which individual she was speaking of based on his own deductions. "Yeah, something like that... it was one of our bigger deal things we were figuring out," she said. There were other situations, minor and major between them, but the two with the most direct set of issues were Kaguya and Kei. "At the end of the day, it boiled down to the spoiled goods scenario but... it wasn't one I necessarily agreed with, given what some of our school lives were already like. Now though it's a bit different," mentioned Miko. When Kazu addressed the group again, he was speaking to Kei, whom he'd correctly deduced as the one in trouble. Kei, for her part since Kaguya spoke, realized that Miko was actually still just trying to help her, and was initially at a loss for words at how to respond. She'd not seen the girl in a while, and knew she'd lived her life in the other world, the fact that she wasn't being as weird as it seemed wasn't what she expected after everything else. "Hmpf. Well, if you're going to figure out that much on your own, you're not doing too bad." she said as a sideways sort of compliment. Tsunderes were always going to be tsundere. "If that isn't so much a problem and they fully understand what they are getting into... nothing else concerns me. But you have your own things going on too. It'd have been in bad taste, regardless of gender not to warn everyone present," Miko mentioned of her own thought processes.

Maybe calling Astolfo and Chika 'twins' wasn't in good taste. The longer this interaction went on, the more they seemed like a gender swap than any level of familial relation. Regardless, that was not the point of concern for Kazuhiko presently. Avoiding the growth of scenes like that was always for the best, in his long-term experience dealing with Astolfo. Besides, it would always come back to the forefront whether he let it do so or not.

For now, this situation with Kei was something to address. Arranged marriage scenarios tended to get a little crazy when ignored or put off for a later time, so Kazu believed addressing the plan was imperative. He nodded throughout Miko's mention of a plan, stopping only when Kei acknowledged his mental processes in... a very, very familiar fashion. "Sou. That's cute on a..." Kazu cleared his throat, stopping himself there. "Anyway. Centuries of experience. Seen it a lot. 'Deflowering the princess' or whatever you wanna call it... is high cost, no guarantee. It worked that one time, but it's like... a three out of ten thing. Tricky stuff," he mused before falling into deep thought, recalling numerous similar situations from a long past. "Uhh, let's see... Country of Elaria? Settle the war. Mistfall Vale? Make the High Enchantress too vital to be married off, establish her own freedom. Kingdom of Eonis? Weaken the family with power, establish matriarchy. House of Shirogane? I'd say... abuse the fact that we're in a non-magical world by just saying no. That sounds weak, I know... but the best answer in this case is one I'd take from completely different experiences. I can explain. . ."

Chika would be left to her 'victory'. Miko had no intention of addressing Chika again, lest she have to actually act aggressively towards her. It really was easier to call her and Astolfo a gender swap of the same person. Regardless, there was something else to consider. Kei had a tsundere way of answering his thoughts, which he apparently called cute. Even if he cut himself off, it was still said and Kei was prone to fluster. "It's not like I care," she claimed, ah, but all the other girls present knew what she actually meant. Emotional honesty wasn't common in that one, but... perhaps she was being overly provoked in this time. She was their group crybaby, perhaps there would be tears today.

Whatever the case, hundreds of years worth of experience were being shared, and each of the girls odd though they were, would easily listen and take what they could from his expertise. According to Kazuhiko he'd been involved in a few such situations and each time a group had a 'deflowering' it only worked 3 out of 10 times. Those odds were kind of bad, "Those odds are terrible," Ai admitted she'd also been against the idea. Of course, there was a certain desperation involved, but all of that seemed to melt away with a lot of things in the magical world. So, what did Kazuhiko have to offer, the idea of simply saying no. He could explain why that stance wasn't so weak as it sounded. Meanwhile, Miko seemed to be blinking her mind ablaze as she realized the truth of such a simple plan. "I'm not going to go into how ridiculous that sounds but... fine. Explain it... not like I have any other ideas," Kei said frowning but there was a certain light of interest in her eyes. At the very least an idea that didn't put anyone else in danger and wouldn't do anything weird to her existing friendship was rather good. Besides, if there was something reasonable and more within her control, then perhaps it was worth looking into.