After brushing Sandora's hair and helping her prepare for the day to come, Vahn accompanied her to the small, private dining room reserved for members of the Royal Family and their guests. There, they found Lily, who, upon seeing Vahn enter alongside Sandora, briefly paused before offering her characteristically radiant smile and saying, "Good morning, Sandorchan."
Noticing Lily's momentary pause, Sandora's expression softened into a concerned look as she asked, "How are you feeling?"
Since Lily was a little confused by Sandora's question, it was Vahn who explained, "She forgot about my ability to manifest multiple forms at the same time. My other self is busy preparing breakfast, so she was a little surprised by my sudden entrance."
"Ah..."
Though she relaxed a little upon hearing Vahn's words, Sandora still made her way over to Lily's side, a supportive smile on her face as she grabbed the latter's hand and said, "You're looking especially radiant this morning, Lily. I take it things went well between you and Vahn?"
Since Lily looked significantly older and more mature than she had the previous day, Sandora didn't discount the possibility she and Vahn had been away for a very long time. It would explain why Lily was giving off a completely calm and serene aura despite losing an important friend mere 'hours' prior.
Sensing Sandora's concern, Lily's confusion morphed into a very motherly smile as she caressed the young Dragoness's hand and said, "I was given closure and the opportunity to express myself for the first time in my life truly. Vahn..."
Shifting her gaze to Vahn, Lily's expression softened into an indescribably affectionate, almost sultry look as she softly appended, "Vahn-sama is a truly wonderful person..."
As if agreeing with her, the tips of Lily's nine tails flickered contentedly behind her. The movement caught Sandora's eye, who, for the first time, noticed that Lily now had all of her tails.
"Beautiful..."
Amused by Sandora's soft utterance, Lily covered her mouth to stifle a giggle before surprising the comparably petite Dragoness by pulling her into a hug. Sandora's crown and horns ended up poking against her skin, but Lily ignored them as she tenderly embraced her remaining childhood friend and whispered, "Thank you, Sandora...from now on, let's always be together...okay?"
Though she had tensed due to the unexpected contact, Sandora quickly calmed down, returning Lily's embrace as she softly replied, "Of course. After all, we do love the same man..."
Giggling a second time, Lily squeezed Sandora even closer, practically smothering the adorable Dragoness with her fairly large breasts before finally releasing her to remark, "We're going to have a lot of sisters in the future..."
Understanding the implication within Lily's words, a dry chuckle emanated from Sandora's throat before the two of them shifted their gazes to Vahn. He had been watching the scene play out with a compassionate smile on his face, but the moment they turned towards him, he playfully remarked, "Don't worry. I'm pretty confident in my ability to keep the women around me happy."
Punctuating his remark with a wink towards Lily, Vahn managed to elicit a rather prominent blush from the usually calm kitsune. Sandora took notice of this, but before she could pester her childhood-friend-turned-sister for details, the door at the far end of the dining room suddenly opened.
Though he had his customarily confident smile, the large, square-shaped bandage on Izayoi's left cheek ruined his heroic image. It is evident to everyone in the room that he was concealing a bit of swelling, and, based on the gloomy yet abashed aura exuding from Asuka, it wasn't too difficult to imagine she had something to do with it.
Seeing the trio already present in the room, Izayoi raised his hand, saying, "Yo." as the person by the same name ran past him to presumably leap at Vahn. At the very least, that's who everyone assumed until she practically tackled Lily, exclaiming, "Oh my gosh, Lily-chan, you're so fluffy~!!!" with illusory stars glistening in her eyes.
Reacting to Yo's words, Izayoi remarked, "Hold up. You're telling me that premium MILF material is-"
Before Izayoi could finish speaking, Asuka elbowed him, hard, in the ribs. She was equally surprised by Lily's sudden and rather drastic change, but that didn't mean she would overlook her boyfriend referring to another girl as MILF material.
Though he coughed, winced, and held onto his side, Izayoi wasn't even slightingly injured by Asuka's attack. The latter was well aware of this, but she ignored it since it made her feel gratified knowing Izayoi was at least willing to pretend she was powerful and in control...
Following the arrival of the Problem Children, the group at breakfast and made small talk until the subject of Jin invariably came up. Asuka and Yo had noticed how carefree and vivacious Lily was behaving, so it was only natural that they investigate the cause.
Illustrating how far she had come in regards to accepting Jin's decision, Lily readily revealed the existence of the anime she and Vahn had binge-watched together. That segued into a rather lengthy discussion regarding the true nature of time, and, by the end of it, Vahn had agreed to turn over a copy of Jin's anime to the No Names. It would need to have some of the 'spicier' bits edited out, but watching Jin mature from a naive child into a literal God would go a long way towards helping the other No Names find closure...
Towards the end of breakfast, Vahn accepted Yo's proposal to come and witness her performance at the Battle of the Creators. Sandora had also cleared out a large portion of her schedule, so, after notifying the palace staff and her brother, she decided to accompany Vahn and spend the rest of the day with Lily.
Since Sandora wasn't intended to show up until the finals, her presence in the VIP region of the stands caused quite a stir. However, the people that drew the most attention were, as could be expected, Vahn and Lily.
Rumors regarding Vahn's and Sandora's engagement had already started to propagate throughout Kouen City. Thus, while many citizens had mixed feelings about seeing their beloved idol sitting next to Vahn, others were curious about the identity of the breathtakingly beautiful kitsune sitting on his opposite side. The collar around her neck led many to believe she was a Slave, but if that had been the case, she wouldn't be sitting on the same throne as their Leader and the most infamous rising star from the East.
Unfortunately for the crowd, Sandora was attending the event as a guest, so while the event organizers did ask her to give a speech, she ultimately declined. Observing the Battle of the Creators alongside Vahn had all but confirmed the rumors circulating throughout the city, but Sandora didn't let it bother her. Instead, she focused on enjoying the day and spending time with two of her most precious and beloved people...
With her only difficult opponent being a 6m tall suit of armor based on the legend of the Dullahan, Yo had little difficulty securing a spot for the No Names in the Finals. In fact, due to her dominant performance, she was currently the favorite to win the entire event.
Not caring about the opinion of others, Yo broke away from the veritable horde of columnists and reporters waiting for her in order to meet up with Vahn and the rest as quickly as possible. Prolonged use of her Vanargandr transformation had given her a few of Fenrir's quirks, so, as much as she enjoyed receiving praise from Asuka and Lily, the opinion Yo most cared about was Vahn's.
Fortunately, Izayoi and Asuka had gone off to enjoy the festivities. Better still, an alternate version of Vahn had escorted Sandora and Lily back to the palace, so instead of finding a large group of people waiting for her, Yo found a version of Vahn loitering about in the hallway connecting the palace and the coliseum.
As was often the case when she encountered Vahn, Yo accelerated into a sprint before springing several tens of meters to pounce on him. Vahn had long since gotten used to this, so even before Yo started running towards him, he had already spread his arms and squared his feet.
"Vaaaahn~!"
Catching the vaguely Vanargandr-shaped projectile, an affectionate smile developed across Vahn's face as he held Yo close and explained, "I talked with Lily and Sandora. Due to...recent events, the two of them thought we should spend a bit of time together. Thus, for the rest of the evening, you have my divided yet focused attention..."
Punctuating his words, Vahn surprised Yo tremendously with a soft peck on the lips. Her expression completely blanked, and, for a brief moment, she seemed to think she had imagined it as she reached up to touch her lips, asking, "Did you just...?"
Nodding his head, Vahn was prepared to give Yo a second kiss when the petite yet shapely brunette beat him to the punch, arms linking around his neck as she simultaneously kissed his lips and dangled from him. She had waited a long time to be able to kiss Vahn whenever she wanted, so, now that he had initiated it, Yo saw no reason to continue holding back.
Feeling Yo's supple thighs and remarkably powerful legs lock around his waist, the only thing preventing Vahn from smiling wryly was the tongue invading his mouth. Fortunately, he was able to suspend the flow of time around them, so even if Yo completely abandoned her inhibitions, there was no risk of them being walked in upon or exposed.
Sensing the tell-tale fluctuations in space-time, Yo continued clinging to Vahn for the better part of ten minutes before separating from his mouth with a beguiling smile on her face. Lily had already apologized for getting ahead of her, so Yo knew the only thing preventing Vahn from 'ravishing' her was consent. As for why she used ravish to describe the act? It was because Yo had a very animalistic view of sex. She had always envisioned Vahn pushing her down and taking her from behind as she clawed at the ground and panted like a beast. Thus, while increasing the strength in her arms and legs, Yo brought her face closer to Vahn's, her voice radiating a tremendous amount of passion and moisture as she said, "I'm in heat..."
Though he had been looking forward to just walking around and enjoying the festival, Vahn could tell Yo wasn't going to release him that easily. He also didn't want her to, so, without any hesitation whatsoever, he brought his face close enough that their lips grazed against each other as he said, "You're in luck...when it comes to dealing with girls in heat, I'm something of a specialist..."
Punctuating his words, Vahn surprised Yo by grasping her butt and sinking his fingers into her pliant flesh with a spare set of hands. Such an act may have disturbed or alarmed other girls, but, as someone who relished new and unique experiences, the look in Yo's eyes became even more fervent as she willed the Maneki-Neko to dissipate. The only clothes she had on underneath were the scanty garments afforded to her by her Vanargandr transformation: a loincloth and a thin piece of fabric covering her breasts.
Feeling Yo's exposed, indescribably soft cheeks against his palms, Vahn promptly discarded his own clothes. Then, despite the fact they were in a relatively public throughway, he pinned her against the wall and initiated a very long and primal session of lovemaking...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Sandora be thinking, "Mine are bigger...at least in my adult form..."','Izayoi knows when to give his girl face...','Just think, if you were a Patron, you would be able to vote for up to 28 chapters of raw, uncensored erotica (O w O)...')