【Ｔｈｅ　Ｓａｂｅｒ　Ｔｏｏｔｈｅｄ　Ｋｉｔｔｅｎ】(Intro)

Usually, Imai could be found either at the Red Dragon Inn or at Yggdrasil, where Sabertooth’s HQ was located. However, for someone like him with the ability to walk through black and white holes unscathed, he could be found just about anywhere on Earthland - but mostly in these specific places mentioned earlier. These were his safe havens… okay, his bedroom was mostly his safe haven, but he also felt at ease and at home in the inn! Yes, he wasn’t exactly in a private space where he could indulge in horny teen stuff all by himself, but there was more to life than that…

Listen, satisfying his daily, provoked arousals wasn’t all that there was to Imai’s life. Someone must’ve misunderstood that. You see, a young man and virgin like him was also a wizard and an academical genius, so he had plenty of things to spend his time with. As of right now, he was working on his crossbow on a random table in the inn, surrounded by laughter and buzz from all the customers. Imai’s world revolved around his crossbow for the moment, so he pushed all sound and vision away from the others and focused solely on installing a new wire to his crossbow, so that it was able to fire more sturdy projectiles.

And all of a sudden… someone managed to break through his concentration. A thud on the ground made him raise his head to spot a cherry-haired, young lady somewhere around his age hit the floor with her face. Poor girl needed a hand, so Imai found it absolutely necessary to travel through a black hole that appeared right in front of him, to then create a white hole in front of her position where he could offer a hand. He didn’t mean to, but he cut in front of someone else who was about to help out too.

“Hey, you alright?” Imai asked the cutie, “You gotta watch your steps, girl.”

“… Little bast- you, are you really using this to try and hit on her? Have some shame-“

“W-WHAT?! WAIT, NO, THAT’S NOT WHAT I-“

Some, if not all of the customers, knew that Imai really, really, really, really liked women. At times like this, they couldn’t help but assume that he wanted to ask her out, get in her pants or worse.

Well, they were all wrong! C’mon, have some faith in your Guild Ace, everyone! Why was he put on this stake as some kind of sex deviant?! What had he done to deserve this judgement?!

WC: 427

Wearing a green t-shirt and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria was emerging from the kitchen after another day of slinging drinks at the Red Dragon Inn. The tips were low today, but she was OK with that because she was a part-timer who was bartending for fun and to help Will fill the gaps in manpower he experienced from time to time. When tips were lean she voluntarily gave up her share to make sure the people who depended on the inn for a living got the tips they had earned. When tips were generous she only took a small portion because she did not really need the money to live on.

Victoria was an active Sabertooth mage who had saved back a lot of Jewels earned from her numerous jobs, so she could afford to sling drinks for the fun of it. Several times she had considered quitting bartending because she had felt like she was taking money away from the full-time employees, so she had worked out a compromise with Will. She would keep bartending but would take only enough tip money to buy a bottle of Albino Gander vodka so that there was enough tip money for the full-time workers. In times of low tipping she would give up her share entirely. Will found that to be an acceptable compromise, so Victoria would continue to sling drinks until Kenna or one of the Aces told her to stop.

-Inside Red Dragon Inn-

Victoria had shut the kitchen door behind her when near the entrance she spotted a strawberry blonde young woman with red-rimmed glasses facing Imai. She was not sure what had happened, but something had happened because Imai was looking embarrassed and an angry guy was glaring daggers at the red-haired Ace. Victoria decided to step in to keep things from getting any more awkward than they already were for him. She also did not like the look of the guy glaring at Imai... if he made an aggressive move towards the Ace Victoria would show him the door in a violent fashion.

Victoria approached the pair and engaged them in conversation, starting with Imai.

"Hey Imai, what's going on?" Victoria asked the Ace to get his side of the story before passing judgment. It was true that Imai had a thing for the ladies and that he had something of a bad reputation because of it. However, Victoria, who drank vodka like it was soda and was quick to use lethal force in contradiction to the guild's directive to use lethal force only as a last resort, had no right to judge the Ace for his flaws. She had done things a lot worse than anything he ever had.

With that grim thought she then turned to the strawberry blonde and spoke to her.

"Hi there. I'm Victoria Sheridan!" Victoria cheerfully introduced herself to the new girl.

[Post Word Count: 484]
[Victoria's Word Count: 484]

… She… uhh, she misunderstood what the customer said. Then again, it was fairly direct in Imai’s ears; to be hit on usually only meant one thing to him, and that was the act of showing affection to another person via flirtatious remarks and expressions. How she misunderstood that was quite a mystery… or maybe not; maybe she wasn’t used to slang, who knew? Imai had met many elder people misunderstand his words, and Imai was no perfect organism in that area. He still remembered episodes where he assumed something completely different than the usual meaning of ‘drinking someone under the table’…

Oh, it was revealed that she looked for Sabertooth, since the headband’s logo was poked at by her. However, assuming him to be a mere fanboy… wait, this felt oddly nostalgic. Had he been mistaken for a fanboy before?

“I-I’m not a fanboy, girl!” he quickly corrected her with a fat thumb pointing at himself, “If you’re looking for a Sabertooth Mage, then you’re already looking at a genuine article! It is I, Imai Uchuuken, a respected Ace of the Sabertooth Guild, in the FLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH…!” Quite a flame-on happened in his eyes upon that proclamation, but hey, he wasn’t lying.

“…Oh, ‘sup Vic!” he greeted one of his most familiar faces from the guild, Victoria, who… welp, he still needed to get used to her long hair. Something was charming about her previous, shorter hair, but that was just him. “We got us someone who’s looking for Sabertooth… wait, you wanna join? There’s always room for more pretty girls like you in the guild, trust me-“

"MEAAAAAANNNIIIIIEEEE!!"

The hell bells rang, and the earth tore asunder by the shout from Imai’s top hater, a guildmate of his who had yet to grow out of her immature yet unbelievably dangerous phase in life; Mai Stormschild. A girl whom Luna guarded and treasured as her daughter, and while most details were beyond his knowledge, Imai had gotten plenty of time and experience with her to know that she despised his very existence. His head boinked back by the walnut hitting him, and it boinked back even further with the coconut.

Then she went to send several, consecutive, God Slayer punches at his direction. His whole body vibrated like a punching bag being smacked back by a thousand punches per second as he tried to muster up a word: “M- M- M- M- M- M-a-a-a-a-a-a-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-“ Swiftly, he picked her up by her armpits and looked at her with a stern and beaten-up face, “Behaaaaaaaaaaaaaave! I’m in the middle of helping our cute guest here… w-wait, what’s your name?”

WC: 437
TWC: 427 + 437 = 864

[/quote]

Victoria was amused by the youth's mistaking her for part of the bartending and waitress group of the inn, but technically it was true. She worked as a part-timer or whenever Will needed help slinging drinks and she was not out on a job for Sabertooth. Victoria was about to speak to the strawberry blonde when a walnut and a coconut were heaved at the back of Imai's head. Then a small blonde came out of nowhere and started punching Imai at a speed that was so fast that it was nearly impossible to see the small blonde's fists. The brunette blinked.

"What... the Hell?" Victoria asked no one in particular. How had a walnut and coconut gone flying across the room? Was Red Dragon Inn home to poltergeists? The brunette took a closer look at the blonde and winced once she recalled who she was.

It was Mai, AKA Mai Stormschild. She was a fairly new member of Sabertooth who was also Luna Mira's protege. Mai had also garnered fame (or infamy) for her grudge against Imai, a grudge that was so intense that it was the stuff of legends. It had started only recently, but Mai took it so seriously and prosecuted it with such intensity that one could be forgiven for thinking that it was one of those family feuds that had been fought for generations between Mai and Imai's families.

Mai had hammered on the red-headed Ace with her fists until he picked her up by the armpits and held her away from him, a method of conflict resolution that was more than a bit humorous. It was a good way to stop the attack without Imai resorting to violence and digging himself an even deeper hole in front of the inebriated patron. However, Victoria wondered how Luna would react to Mai attacking a Guild Ace so openly.

It was not her place to ponder that question.

Luna would deal with her protege however she saw fit.

Victoria turned away from Mai and Imai and back to the young woman, who had introduced herself as Sybil Cassopeia. She had requested some water and a room for the night. The tall brunette could easily get the water, but the room might take a little more doing. She would have to see if Will had any vacancies before promising lodging for the night.

"I can get the water without any issue, but I'll have to ask about the room before I can promise that. I can go ask about it right away if you'd like." Victoria informed Sybil that while one of her requests was easily fulfilled, the other might take a bit of doing to accomplish.

[Post Word Count: 450]
[Victoria's Word Count: 934]