Nami

Okay, I was 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 spun and hurt as the avalanche of questions overwhelmed me. 

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

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

“W-Wait… A-Are you and the De-Demon Prince dating?” my brother stammered, his entire body trembling, and his eyeballs nearly popping out. 

“Dating? No, no. Even though he 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 popped into my head, causing me to smile from ear to ear and squeal, “Who am I kidding? Our offspring would be adorable.”

Sora stood up slowly, his legs shaking like jelly. “Ma-Marriage? O-Offspring?” He looked at me as if I had 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 said, my tone as innocent as possible.

Sora dropped onto his chair, closed his eyes, and sighed, “Are you sure you are ready for that? Should you not wait at least until you get married?” He rubbed his temples with his fingers.

“Until I get married? But I sleep with you and Souma all the time,” I retorted, starting to consider the possibility that we might not be speaking the same language. 

Horrified, he mumbled, “Souma and me?” before lowering his head onto the table, causing tea to splash and a couple of sweets to scatter.

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

In the Kingdom of Angels, there was a belief that the souls of those who sat on the throne and ruled the kingdom ascended to become gods once their bodies perished. I did not know much about it, but I did not doubt it either.

“Nami,” Sora called out, his voice almost inaudible, “Souma and I have never slept with you.” He glanced 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 was definitely convinced that we were not speaking the same language. 

Sora sat upright and urged, “Please, will you kindly promise me something?” 

Noticing the desperation in his words, I responded positively. “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 in the middle of his legs if he tries to touch, kiss, or trick you into being inappropriate with him? Will you? Will you?” he begged. 

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

“It would be justified.”

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

He let out a deep breath, relieved by my assurance, and mumbled, “Thank you, Little Sis.” Then, he raised a hand and pointed his palm at the table, a small blue circle forming on top of where the tea had spilled. The next thing I knew, it was completely clean; the teacup was back on the saucer, and the ruined sweets had disappeared. 

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

Sora blinked 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-was. I get this 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, as far as I have learned, 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 like right now,” I confided, relief washing over me as I finally said out loud what had been bothering me for weeks. 

“What is the girl’s name?”

“Emica Ishii .” 

Sora’s eyes grew ever so slightly wide, indicating a small recognition of the name. However, for reasons unbeknownst to me, he lied, “I have never heard that name before.”

Liar.

“I imagined you have not.” I played his game.

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 advised, his composed self back. “And just so you know, be very careful when using the term ‘sleeping together’ when talking to your friends, okay? You are too innocent and oblivious to carry a conversation like that.” 

“Okay?” My response carried a question mark, as I was not sure I was following him.

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

As I proudly began speaking about my fluffy cat and how he used a spell on Yusuke that helped him with his allergy, I sensed that Sora was more protective and concerned about me than he had ever been. I also felt that he was hiding many things from me. 

I was not going to press him further because I did not wish to bother him more than I already had, but I was determined to find out what was happening, whether he wanted it or not. I was not sitting still when Angel Commoners were losing their lives for no reason, and I was being targeted when I should be safe. 

I was done being a deadweight. I was Princess Nami, and it was my duty to protect all angels alongside my brothers. We were going to destroy anyone who dared to defy us because evil would not succeed, not then, not ever. 

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