Scarlet

After about four hours of beating Arthur at the video game, to his apparent shame and Belle’s amusement, I begin to hear someone walking down the hall outside my suite, following which we all hear the doorbell to my suite ring. So I put my controller down, still with a wide grin on my face, before I move the tanuki and walk over to the entrance to look at the camera that shows Allen standing outside while tapping his foot in an anxious manner.

I open the door, and his eyes immediately lock on me as he asks, “Is Belle okay?!”

Before I even get the chance to answer, I see Belle out of the corner of my eye sticking her head into the hallway with a drink held in front of her face and a straw in her mouth as she waves. And the sight of it has me struggling not to laugh.

Allen immediately rushes forward and practically tackles his daughter in a bearhug, making her repeatedly pat his back in an effort to tell him to let her go since she clearly can’t breathe. At which point I immediately burst into laughter while closing the door and walking back into the main room, ignoring her struggle. I then go back to the couch and continue beating- err, gaming with Arthur.

It isn’t until we finish the mini game that we’re currently on that I hear Belle asking in a rather nonchalant manner, “So I can go to Lion’s Heart now, right?”

My eyes widen in shock at her daring to ask at a time like this, only to narrow again as I remember how shameless she tends to be. So of course she’d milk his worry for all its worth to get into the university.

Not that he wouldn’t already get her in there if she’s talented enough.

Before Allen can answer though, she adds, “Also, can I join Scarlet’s team?”

My head spins around in the middle of selecting the next minigame to find Allen just nodding his head and muttering ‘sure’ to everything she’s asking. And I can just barely catch the grin Belle is sending my way while still being crushed beneath Allen’s arms, the guy still wearing his full magi-tech armor.

I raise a brow for a second before sighing and turning back to the game.

Yeah, in hindsight, she’s definitely the most qualified to be on my team. Although Allen seems to just be muttering agreements to everything she’s saying right now, regardless of if he can actually fulfil her wishes. After all, he can’t just decide who is on my team. Even if he is the leader of the Association I’m in.

But still. I’d rather have someone I can trust on the team. And we’re missing a tank or defender anyways, which her barrier type magic – which I don’t actually know what is exactly yet – should help a lot in that area.

“Alright Allen, I think she’s been suffocating for long enough by now,” Arthur suddenly says, seemingly shocking Allen out of the little stupor he’d entered upon seeing his daughter safe. So he steps back and fake coughs, while turning his gaze away from his daughter to us as Belle walks up to the couch and sits next to Arthur.

“Glad to see you’re all okay,” he eventually says to the three of us before narrowing his gaze on me and then the tv as he adds, “but should you really be playing games this late?”

I frown at that before glancing at the clock.

:34AM.

“Oh shit,” I mutter before quickly getting up, turning off the game and putting it away and beginning to move towards my room. But Allen stops me just as I’m passing by him by stretching his arm out and saying, “Hold up, Scarlet. You still have guests.”

Oh, right.

I turn back around to the two who are both looking at me with clear amusement on their faces, but I choose to ignore it as I say, “It was good seeing you two again.” Then I turn back around and continue making my way to my bedroom while calling out behind me, “If you decide you’re gonna yell at her for any reason, please keep it down while in my suite. I need to sleep for tomorrow morning! And try to keep the arguing to a minimum so that she can actually get some sleep! I won’t be the only one in the tournament!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I find them all just shaking their heads in amusement, seemingly expecting my sudden departure.

“You do know that wasn’t exactly a polite way to deal with guests, right?” Tar asks, quickly catching up with me from where he was lying on the couch.

Yeah, maybe not. But I was never really taught the polite way to deal with them in the first place, since I lived in an orphanage. Meaning we basically never had any guests, and the ones we did have were there mostly for Belle.

Besides. I can tell they have something they want to talk about.

Or rather, Allen has something he wants to talk about. And if my guess is correct, it’s probably got something to do with Arthur and Belle’s relationship.

And I really don’t want to be around for that. So better to make a quick exit.

“Ah, that makes more sense,” Tar says as I close my room’s door and grab a black tank top and black and red shorts to change into in the bathroom, leaving the tanuki in my room as I do so. Then when I get back, I find that very tanuki just lying down curled up in a ball on my bed, which looks really adorable.

As if on cue, I hear someone raising their voice from the other room shouting, “You two did what?!”

I glance towards the door before turning my attention back to the bed. Then the door again. Then my outfit.

Hmm.

I decide to just ignore it while climbing into bed and grabbing and pulling up the sheets and blanket. All while switching to my human ears, which blocks out their conversation.

“Much better…” I mutter to myself before closing my eyes and beginning to fall asleep.