Nami

Okay, I am panicking.

How does my brother know everything that is happening to me in the human realm? Did he put a tracking device in my apartment? Is the Cat Guardian actually one of his spies keeping tabs on me?

My head spins and throbs as the avalanche of questions overwhelms me.

“What do you intend to do in the Kingdom of Demons?” Sora continues, his expression hardening. “You are not going there to investigate the attacks here, are you?” He stares at me suspiciously, his lips forming a thin line.

“I-I… Yu-Yusuke invited me to meet his parents,” I announce, my face flushing crimson.

“W-Wait… A-Are you and the de-demon prince dating?” My brother stammers, his entire body trembling, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

“Dating? No, no. Even though he has held my hand a couple of times and visited my apartment after saving me from the attack—where he took a bath and ate instant noodles with me—we would never date because we are incompatible. Besides, can you imagine what our children would look like if we got married?” An image of four beautiful little angel-demon toddlers with light blue wings, white and red eyes, white and red hair, and dark brown horns pops into my head, causing me to smile from ear to ear and squeal, “Who am I kidding? Our offspring would be adorable.”

Sora slowly stands up, his legs shaking like jelly. “Ma-Marriage? O-Offspring?” He looks at me as if I have just revealed something truly shocking. “Nami… have you… uh… slept with him?”

“What do you mean? I have not slept with him yet, but I probably will tonight because I am spending the night at the palace in the Kingdom of Demons,” I respond, my tone as innocent as possible.

Sora drops into his chair, closes his eyes, and sighs. “Are you sure you are ready for that? Should you not wait at least until you get married?” He rubs his temples with his fingers.

“Until I get married? But I sleep with you and Souma all the time,” I retort, beginning to suspect that we are not speaking the same language.

Horrified, he mumbles, “Souma and me?” before suddenly dropping his forehead onto the table, causing tea to splash and a couple of sweets to scatter.

“Sora?” I poke him with my index finger. “Did you die? Has your soul ascended and become a god?”

In the Kingdom of Angels, there is a belief that the souls of those who sit on the throne and rule the kingdom ascend to become gods once their bodies perish. I do not know much about it, but I do not doubt it either.

“Nami,” Sora calls out, his voice almost inaudible, “Souma and I have never slept with you.” He glances at me without lifting his head from the table.

“You have not? What about the nights when you two stay in my apartment in the human realm? Those count as us sleeping together, do they not?” Okay, I am definitely convinced that we are not speaking the same language.

Sora sits upright and pleads, “Please, will you kindly promise me something?”

Noticing the desperation in his voice, I readily agree. “Of course, I will. What is it?”

“Will you promise me that you will never sleep in the same bed as Prince Yusuke? And will you promise me that you will kick him between the legs if he tries to touch, kiss, or trick you into doing anything inappropriate with him? Will you? Will you?” he begs.

“Would that not be an act of violence?” I scowl.

“It would be justified.”

Surprised and somewhat disturbed by his reaction, I decide to agree with everything he says just to avoid dragging the topic any further, as I want to continue discussing the attacks. “I promise you,” I reply, the corner of my lips twitching into a forced smile.

He lets out a deep breath, relieved by my assurance, and mumbles, “Thank you.” Then, he raises a hand and points his palm at the table, a small blue circle forming over the spilled tea. The next thing I know, the table is completely clean, the teacup is back on its saucer, and the ruined sweets have disappeared.

“Do you think a human would be capable of commanding the hybrids to harm me?” I ask out of the blue, Ishii-san’s face haunting me as I recall the attack at the school gate.

Sora blinks a couple of times in surprise before replying, “It is possible. Why do you ask? Do you suspect a human is behind your attack?”

“There is this girl… She is Prince Yusuke’s friend and ex-whatever-the-title-is. I get a shiver down my spine whenever I see her at school. I think she despises me with all her guts and wants to make me disappear because, from what I have gathered, she is still in love with the demon and is jealous of me. Not that I like her either, because I definitely do not. So much so that I would praise the gods if she disappeared from my life right now,” I confide, relief washing over me as I finally say out loud what has been bothering me for weeks.

“What is the girl’s name?”

“Emica Ishii.”

Sora’s eyes widen ever so slightly, indicating that he recognizes the name. However, for reasons unknown to me, he lies. “I have never heard that name before.”

Liar.

“I imagined you had not.” I play along.

I am also a liar.

“But, in any case, stay away from her as much as you can because you do not need someone like that interfering with your life and ruining your experiences as a human,” he advises, his usual composure returning. “And just so you know, be very careful when using the term ‘sleeping together’ when talking to your friends, all right? You are too innocent and oblivious to carry on a conversation like that.”

“Okay?” My response comes out sounding like a question because I am not sure I am following him.

“Anyway, how is your Cat Guardian? Is he getting used to the human realm?” He changes the subject.

As I proudly start talking about my fluffy cat and how he used a spell on Yusuke to help with his allergy, I sense Sora is more protective of me and more concerned than ever before. I also feel that he is hiding many things from me.

I am not going to press him further because I do not wish to bother him more than I already have, but I am determined to find out what is happening, whether he wants me to or not. I am not going to sit still while angel commoners lose their lives for no reason and I am targeted when I should be safe.

I am done being deadweight. I am Princess Nami, and it is my duty to protect all angels alongside my brothers. We are going to destroy anyone who dares to defy us because evil will not succeed—not now, not ever. 

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