Dimensional Quest: I Was Reincarnated Into My Trashy Fanfic

April 4th, 2015

Surprisingly, David followed his previous habit and woke up at 6:00 AM, just as the sun crested over the horizon, casting a warm glow inside of his bedroom. He was feeling fully rested after only a little over four hours of sleep.

[Told you sleep wasn't necessary...]

David rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

'Yes, but it feels nice anyway...'

Getting a good stretch in, David looked over at his wives and saw that Tomoe, who was the furthest from him, had all of her limbs stretched out as she slept comfortably. Mio was on his right side and curled up with her head against his arm. Marin was sleeping peacefully on his left with her tails curled around David's left leg.

David smiled to himself as he gently floated himself off the bed and landed on the floor.

He took one last look at his wives, but stopped abruptly as he made eye contact with the still-awake Yoruichi.

"...How long have you been in here?" David asked, dropping all pretense of him not knowing she was a woman.

Yoruichi panicked and scolded herself for losing her mind and letting David see her.

She shakily said, "...Mrrow?" and tilted her head to the side.

"Not gonna work. Talk, Yoruichi."

Yoruichi sighed and said, "Marin brought me in last night."

David shuddered as he heard Yoruichi, "Ugh, I'm gonna need you to change your voice..."

"This is my voice when I'm in this form and I can't do anything to change it."

"Then change forms, dammit! It's weird hearing a dude's voice!" David yell-whispered.

Yoruichi paused for a moment, but then glided off the pillow and landed in front of David before turning into a flash of light.

When the light dimmed down, David saw Yoruichi's true appearance looking at him with a half-smirk.

He admired her beautiful purple hair, yellow eyes, and voluptuous yet toned dark-skinned naked body.

David's little brother decided it would be a fun time to wake up and got hard, causing Yoruichi to continuously take glances down below.

"Ahem, apologies. Seeing a beautiful naked woman has that effect...," David said semi-embarrassedly, not bothering to hide his erection.

Yoruichi smiled and crossed her arms. "Even after all of that fun you had last night, you're still raring to go, huh? Do you have an infinite libido or something?"

David nodded with a serious look on his face. "Yes. It's a blessing and a curse..."

Yoruichi's lip twitched and David tried his hardest not to laugh, causing him to flex his abdominal muscles.

[Yoruichi] 'Dammit, he's too sexy and shameless!'

"So, Marin brought you in last night. I take it she already knew about your true form?"

Yoruichi shrugged and said, "Eh, it was either show my true form or take a chance at getting burnt to a crisp by her weird fire magic."

David raised an eyebrow at that. "How'd that happen?"

Yoruichi quickly recounted her first meeting with Marin and couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine as she remembered it.

"Your wife switches between scary and cute way too easily..."

"Heheh, she's always cute," David said with a smile as he looked back over at the sleeping Marin.

"Get dressed and come downstairs, you can join me for my workout."

"I don't have any clothes..."

David gave Yoruichi a deadpan stare and facepalmed with a sigh.

"Haaa, give me a sec...," he said as he grabbed his clothes from yesterday and put them back on.

He then pulled a small wooden stool out of his inventory and took a seat on it as he used his new favorite ability--Threadborne Crafting--to make a special outfit for Yoruichi.

It took a total of 20 minutes as he had to figure out a way to allow her to keep it on through transformations, but when he was done, he tossed it to Yoruichi and said, "Put it on. This will stay on when you transform and it's strong enough to block most weapons."

Yoruichi's eyes widened as she looked at what David had just created, but she quickly put it on to see how it felt.

Needless to say, it felt like the most comfortable outfit she'd ever worn.

It was all black and consisted of a sleeveless, fitted combat top that left her shoulders exposed, paired with flexible, high-mobility pants that hugged her frame without restricting movement. She wore long white arm guards, a cloth wrap around her midsection, and lightweight open-toe sandals with black wraps running partway up her calves. The entire outfit was sleek, quiet, and built for speed--perfect for someone like Yoruichi.

David saw the astonished look and the smile on Yoruichi's face and felt proud of himself, though he also felt a warmth in his chest seeing her smile.

"Go ahead and transform real quick," David said.

Yoruichi nodded and transformed back into a cat. As expected, her outfit disappeared and didn't drop to the ground.

"Can you feel it?" David asked.

"Yes, the armor effect is even stronger in this form. I feel like I can completely erase my presence when I wear this, too."

Yoruichi transformed back into her true form and examined herself as the outfit stayed on once again.

"I enchanted it so that you can do just that. If you ever gain mana, you'll be able to do a lot more with it, but since you only have Reiryoku, you can't activate the enchantments for now. However, the passive effect it has allows you to be essentially undetectable if you choose to do so, along with a couple other neat tricks, heheh."

Yoruichi stood in stunned silence as she tried to think of what to say.

David, seeing her dilemma, just waved his hand and stood up as he stored the stool back in his inventory. "Don't worry about it. Keeping you clothed is better for my sanity and I like creating enchanted items. It doesn't cost anything and it's fun, thus I was only doing myself a favor. Now, come join me for my workout."

David opened his door and walked downstairs quietly, trying his best not to disturb anyone in the penthouse.

When he got downstairs, he waited at the front door for Yoruichi who had taken a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Where are you going for your workout?" Yoruichi asked.

"I saw a gym on the 1st floor when I first moved in and wanted to take this chance to use it before other residents wake up," David replied as he held the front door open.

The two left his suite and made their way to the elevator.

"Do you not want to run into the other residents?"

"I probably wouldn't mind it today, but normally I try not to get involved with too many people at one time as it can get a bit overwhelming."

Yoruichi nodded as she saw David hit the '1' button.

They stood in silence for a few seconds before Yoruichi asked, "Are you not going to ask about why a woman disguised as a cat came to your home?"

"Nope."

"..."

Yoruichi thought that David might try to come up with some questions or suspicions, but he seemed to be in complete Zen-mode this morning, not caring about anything troublesome.

"I'll ask how long you plan on staying though?"

Yoruichi's lip twitched as she felt like she was being run off now.

"I originally came to see if you'd be a danger to anyone after your run-in with the Hollows the other day, but I started to enjoy staying with you over the past couple of days so I hadn't given much thought to how long I'd observe you."

David nodded with his arms crossed, "Mm, so pretty much the same reason as Rangiku and Isane. Well, my rules for you will be the same as them. Stay as long as you want, but don't cause trouble for my wives. You can just stay in your sexy form since I'm certain that Rangiku and Isane are already aware of your presence here. Marin probably told them and threatened everyone to keep the peace, right?"

Yoruichi widened her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Heheh, I know my wife and I saw the looks she gave to Tomoe and Mio last night. If she threatened my other wives to keep the peace, it's obvious she'd threaten women who weren't my wives just the same."

"I see... Indeed, Rangiku and Isane are aware of my presence here and Marin did threaten them, haha!"

Although David seemed to be talking to her a little more distant than the others, she could tell that he didn't actually mean anything bad by it and it just seemed like he was in a certain mood.

It took her a moment, but Yoruichi realized what David had just said a second ago.

"Wait, my 'sexy form'?"

David just nodded, "Yup. You're sexy and you know it, so why not just call it your sexy form?"

Yoruichi's brain short-circuited. "You... It's called my spirit form. Do you just go around flirting with every woman you see?"

"No, only the women that sneak into my home disguised as a cat so they can watch over me and decide what to do with me later, as if they even have the power to do anything to me."

Yoruichi almost broke out in a cold sweat as she felt a slight pressure being released from David, but it disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

"Heheh, I'm just kidding. To answer your question seriously, there is a certain criteria that women must meet in order for me to want to actually flirt with them. Other women might just get sweet words, but other than that, I'd really like nothing more to do with them."

Yoruichi nodded her head, but stayed silent.

⟪ I'll only flirt with women from franchises, okay? And only if they have a good or redeemable personality. Other women are just... troublesome... ⟫

The elevator arrived on the 1st floor without any other occupants arriving.

David and Yoruichi walked out and turned toward the left side of the building that had signs leading to a large gym.

They walked in silence until they came across double-doors that had a plaque on them that read, "Roselia Heights Gym."

David didn't hesitate and immediately opened the door, revealing the interior to him and Yoruichi.

There were a large plethora of different machines such as strength training machines, cable machines, cardio machines, plate-loaded machines, smith machines, assisted bodyweight machines, and flexibility/mobility machines.

Multiple racks of free weights could be seen placed around in an orderly fashion as well.

In the back of the gym, there was also a large indoor running track, a tennis court, a basketball court, and even a large swimming pool.

Right at the entrance to the gym was an unmanned desk and a set of turnstiles that required either a membership card or a penthouse keycard to activate and allow entry into the gym.

Just past the turnstiles were a water fountain, sports drinks and snacks vending machines, a room for tanning, a room for massages, a room for people to do yoga, two large shower/changing rooms, and a place for personal trainers to put their business cards.

""Wow...,"" David and Yoruichi said in unison, their mouths hanging open in admiration.

⟪ The gym at Roselia Heights is insane! I don't think I'd ever find a better gym in my life, haha! This is like heaven for gym rats, I'm sure. Since I only spend about two hours working out early in the morning, I probably won't ever use some of this stuff, but it's cool nonetheless! K.T. sure did a good job of designing this gym, heheh. ⟫

Not noticing the similarity between Kurumi Tokisaki and K.T., David swiped his penthouse suite's keycard at the turnstile and walked through, handing his keycard to Yoruichi so she could do the same.

Yoruichi followed David as he made his way to the running track in the back and they began their warm-up run shortly after.

They ran in silence for 30 minutes until coming to a stop.

Although David wasn't tired, nor did Yoruichi seem like she was either, David still created two glasses made of ice and a Regeneration rune, then filled them with water before handing one of them over to Yoruichi.

Yoruichi gratefully accepted the water and chugged it down, enjoying the refreshing feel of David's Chaos Element water.

David downed his water as well, then took Yoruichi's cup and tossed both cups into the air, shattering them and turning them into a refreshing mist.

"Mmm... That's nice...," Yoruichi said, feeling rejuvenated by the mist.

"I was testing something earlier and I'm glad to see it works, heh."

Yoruichi just smiled and nodded as they made their way around the gym, targeting mainly strength-training machines as David just wanted to use what he was familiar with during his first time here.

Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye and at the end of their workout, they were both fairly sweaty.

Due to David's stupid strength, he created his own extremely heavy weight plates and used those for his workout while occasionally doing the same for Yoruichi.

⟪ That was a damn good workout... Yoruichi's presence made it more enjoyable even though we didn't talk. ⟫

David smiled to himself as he turned back to Yoruichi.

"Alright, time to hit the showers. Your clothes will never get dirty or sweaty so you don't have to worry about washing them. If you channel a thought to them, you can change their shape to allow for easier storage when you want to take them off. Give it a shot and I'll see you when you get out," David said, leaving Yoruichi behind as he headed to the men's showers.

Yoruichi nodded and went to the women's showers.

Once she was in there, she thought about changing the shape of her clothes and they suddenly flashed in a black light before it reconstructed itself on her neck in the shape of a collar with a cat-shaped charm dangling in the front.

"...Cute," she said, smiling at her reflection in the mirror.

She then went ahead and hopped in the shower, cleaning off all of the sweat that had accumulated on her body this morning.

When she got out of the shower, she saw a pink-haired girl changing into her workout clothes.

Thinking that the girl was definitely someone David would flirt with, Yoruichi admired her for a moment before she went to a large shelf next to a laundry bin that provided free towels.

As she reached up to grab a towel, the pink-haired girl said, "Excuse me, did you happen to see a young man working out here earlier?"

Yoruichi looked around and when she didn't see anyone else, she looked back at the pink-haired girl, only to see her staring straight at her.

"Eh? You can see me?" Yoruichi asked, shocked that someone could see her in her spirit, or 'sexy', form.

The pink-haired girl looked a little weirded out as she said, "Um... Yeah?"

Yoruichi played with the charm on her collar as she figured that her new outfit was the reason that this girl could see her.

"Sorry, that was a weird question, haha! ...Anyway, yes, I came here with a young man earlier and he's most likely either still in the shower or just getting out if you didn't see him when you came in."

The pink-haired girl stopped a smile from appearing on her face and asked, "Really? Do you know if he'll be coming here more often in the future?"

Yoruichi grabbed a towel and started drying herself off.

"He seemed to like it here, but I can't say for sure. With how much he enjoyed today's workout, I'd say there's a good chance he'll come here daily. Why do--"

⟪ Mm, that was a nice shower, too. The shower head's massaging function makes me just want to stay under the hot water for hours. I wonder if one of the girls will want to give me a back massage sometime? If not, I'll add a masseuse functionality to the dolls I plan on making, heheh. ⟫

When Yoruichi heard David's inner voice, she stopped talking and looked at the wall toward the men's showers and listened.

The pink-haired girl did the same thing, but they didn't notice each other's actions until David was done talking.

Yoruichi was already used to the fact that there are many girls who can hear David's inner voice, but the pink-haired girl was not the same as she hadn't even met David yet.

"You... Did you hear him, too?" the pink-haired girl asked with a shocked expression.

[Yoruichi] 'Hm, I don't think the new girls' reactions will ever get old. Orihime was the same, haha!'

Yoruichi smiled and said, "Yes. Since you can hear it, I'm sure you'll eventually meet up with some of the other girls that can, too. There are quite a few of them that I've met already. My name is Yoruichi Shihouin by the way, nice to meet you."

With a thought, Yoruichi shifted her clothes back from a collar to her comfortable form-fitting combat uniform.

The pink-haired girl's eyes went wide as she witnessed her first supernatural occurrence, small as it may be.

"Ah... Uh, my name is Miyako Shikimori, nice to meet you, too, Shihouin-san."

Yoruichi waved her hand and said, "Meh, just call me Yoruichi and I'll call you Miyako."

Shikimori smiled lightly and said, "Sounds good, Yoruichi."

"Anyway, David is probably done so I'll head off. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future. Ah, by the way, there's a rule that you can't mention his inner voice to himself or anyone that can't hear it so I'd advise you not to trying talking to him about it. You'll only embarrass yourself."

Shikimori just nodded and went back to changing her clothes.

[Yoruichi] 'I swear, are all the girls who can hear the inner voice gathered together in Roselia Heights or something? This place is weird.'

While Yoruichi was only joking, she had no idea how spot-on she was.

She waited outside of the showers for a short minute before David walked out with slightly damp hair and a refreshed look on his face.

[Yoruichi] 'And this damn bastard keeps getting sexier!'

David, noticing Yoruichi's admiring gaze, smirked and walked up to her as he patted her on the shoulder and said, "Come on. I want to make some blueberry pancakes for Komoe-chan before she goes raiding dungeons, haha."

Yoruichi complained internally for losing her cool over a man's looks, but still followed after David.

As David was walking away, he felt a stare from the women's showers and took a peek over, only to see a pink-haired girl with a pair of beautiful blue eyes glaring at him with a slight frown.

⟪ The hell? Is that Shikimori? Either that's Miyako Shikimori or there's someone here that looks extremely similar to her. Damn... How is she still single? Her beauty is absolutely insane! If I wasn't off to make breakfast for my daughter, I'd probably stay back and flirt with her; her glare is too cute, heheh... Ah, nope, can't get carried awa--Ah! ⟫

David's attention got broken away from Shikimori as Yoruichi pinched David's waist.

"...Yes?" he asked, feeling a bit bitter about not being able to look at Shikimori anymore.

"Staring into the women's showers makes you look like a creep, David..."

David realized he had indeed been staring into the doorway of the women's showers and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"Right... Good catch, eheheh... Let's go," David said, walking through the turnstile and heading back to the elevators.

Shikimori hid herself in the women's showers as she felt her face get a little hot.

"Hmph," she muttered, crossing her arms and turning away from the doorway.

[Shikimori] 'That was... unexpected. But I'm not going to melt just because someone thinks I'm cute...'

She took a breath, glanced down at her still-warm cheeks in the mirror, and gave herself a tiny, awkward smile.

[Shikimori] 'Still... Star-san is pretty hot...'

...

As David and Yoruichi peacefully made their way back upstairs, they entered the penthouse and felt more relaxed.

[David > Shiki] 'I'm preparing breakfast, if Komoe-chan isn't up yet, wake her up and bring her over. If she's already up, let her know that I'm making blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.'

[Shiki > David] 'Yes, young master. Komoe is still asleep so I will wake her up and bring her over.'

[David > Shiki] 'Sweet, thanks, Shiki.'

[Shiki > David] 'Of course, young master.'

David shook his head at how polite Shiki is, but figured it was better than him being defiant.

He then walked over to the dining table and remembered how Shiki had to sit on the couch while Yoruichi was eating on the floor in her cat form last night.

After looking at the table and chairs, David floated them up in the air and incinerated them, turning them into ash and manipulating the air to blow them out into the open balcony.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at David's actions, but continued watching.

Using the wood magic that he was rather proficient in, David proceeded to create a large table that could comfortably fit 12 people. He then created 12 chairs with comfy cushions on them and placed them neatly around the table.

While the new table is bigger than the last one, it didn't cause the space to feel cramped or block off any foot traffic. It also looked almost identical to the old ones so if someone were to see it, they'd most likely think the table just magically grew longer.

"Nice... Alright, I'm gonna start on breakfast. You can go ahead and chill or do whatever you want," David said as he turned back to Yoruichi.

She just nodded and went over to the couch and laid down on it with her eyes closed, relaxing as she thought about everything that has happened in the past couple of days.

As David was cooking, people all started waking up and coming downstairs.

The first to arrive was Komoe and Shiki, with Komoe walking in front of Shiki like she was a mini CEO.

When Shiki brought her back to the penthouse, Komoe didn't take a shower, brush her teeth, or even go to the toilet.

She was told that her Papa was making blueberry pancakes and that caused her to erase the sleep from her mind and quickly run off to the door leading to the penthouse.

"Good morning, Papa!" Komoe said. She was wearing a pair of pajamas that Marin had bought for her the previous day and looked absolutely adorable.

It was a light blue onesie with a hood that had dragon horns and eyes on top and a long dragon tail with red spikes on the back.

When David turned and saw Komoe smiling at him with those sleepy yet excited eyes, he felt his heart being squeezed and he couldn't help but stop what he was doing and reach down to pick up Komoe, giving her a big hug.

"Mmmm! My daughter is too cute! How did you sleep last night, sweetheart?" David asked as he pulled his head back to give Komoe a kiss on the forehead.

"Heheheh, I slept well! I really wanted to wake up early to go to the dungeon, but these pajamas were too comfy so I slept in!"

David just smirked and flicked Komoe on the forehead lightly, "Hey now, you don't have to wake up early just because I do, okay? This is a fine time to wake up for anyone, especially on a Saturday."

He set Komoe down on the ground and looked at Shiki. "How about yourself? Sleep well?"

Shiki bowed slightly and said, "Yes, young master. I slept across the hall from Komoe and it was quite comfortable."

David nodded and turned his attention back to the pancake batter he was making. "Mm, that's good. You two can do whatever you want while I'm making breakfast."

Shiki and Komoe agreed and went off to do their own things, Shiki looking over the city from the balcony again and Komoe running upstairs to the office.

Obviously, the little rascal was going to continue playing Final Fantasy while she waited.

David watched as Komoe ran upstairs with a smile on her face and couldn't help wondering what it would feel like to have an even bigger family.

'All in due time,' he thought to himself.

Soon after, Sofia, Rangiku, and Isane woke up as well due to Komoe excitedly stomping up the stairs as she rushed into the office to play her game.

When those three came downstairs, they all stared at David from the corners of their eyes, but didn't offer anything more than a perfunctory greeting.

⟪ Hmm, it seems these girls aren't morning people. ⟫

The girls didn't say anything and just made their way to empty couches.

When Yoruichi heard the three coming downstairs, she opened her eyes and sat up, giving a casual wave.

Rangiku and Isane looked startled to see Yoruichi in her human form.

"Yoruichi, why are you in your spirit form?" Rangiku whispered.

"Marin brought me into their room last night and David saw me when he woke up. He outed me right away and didn't bother pretending I'm a cat anymore," Yoruichi whispered back with a shrug.

Isane wanted to ask why Marin brought her to the room, but Rangiku cut in first, saying, "What?! You got to watch?!"

David paused his pancake flipping and looked over at Rangiku with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahem..." Rangiku cleared her throat and pretended like nothing happened as she leaned back in the couch and looked over at Yoruichi.

Speaking much quieter, she asked, "So, did you see everything?"

Isane blushed, but listened attentively.

Yoruichi nodded, "Mm... It was impressive..."

"I wish I could turn into a cat, tch...," Rangiku complained.

"He didn't seem upset that I watched all night, rather he invited me to go to the gym with him right after he woke up."

"What? You should've came and got me!"

"Eh, wake up earlier tomorrow and just go with him. By the way, I think there's something weird about Roselia Heights. Aside from Marin and Orihime, there's another girl I met at the gym who lives here and can hear David's inner voice."

Rangiku and Isane furrowed their brows.

"Do you think it's just a coincidence?" Isane asked.

"Who knows? I'll have to ask Marin when she wakes up to see if she knows any other residents that we can try asking," Yoruichi replied with a shrug.

Right as the girls were starting to feel suspicious about Roselia Heights and were thinking about why they can even hear David's inner voice in the first place, three more beautiful women, each wearing one of David's t-shirts, walked downstairs with bright and happy expressions on their faces.

"How the hell are they awake so early? They don't even look that sore?" Rangiku asked.

"Nah, take a look at how Marin and Mio are walking. David showed them what anal sex is like for hours. It's impressive that they're only walking a little funny," Yoruichi pointed out.

Sofia, who had been silent up until now, looked over and crossed her arms before leaning back and moving her gaze toward the TV that was turned off.

"Whatever, they're his wives so it's to be expected... Tch... How do I turn on the TV?" she asked, her jealousy apparent.

Marin appeared right behind Sofia and wrapped her arms around her neck and gave her a hug.

"Awww, is my little Sofia jealous~? Heheh~, you remember what we talked about last night, right?" Marin asked teasingly.

Sofia blushed, but kept her arms crossed as she accepted the hug. "I remember..."

"Heheheh! Just try it! Like I said, hubby probably only gave you a job as a bodyguard because he couldn't think of anything else and just wanted to keep you around~."

"Fine, I'll try it later...," Sofia said, remembering what she heard the previous night.

Rangiku, Isane, Yoruichi, Tomoe, and Mio were all sitting on couches now and were looking at each other with a confused expression on their faces.

"Marin, what are you talking about?" Mio asked curiously.

"Nothing, just our conversation we had last night, heheh~. Trying to get another sister for us is all!" Marin said with a fox-like grin.

...

Last night, when Marin was showing Sofia to her room...

"Okay~, this is the room hubby said is for you!" Marin said as she opened the door to a bedroom that had a simple bed, desk, and window.

The bedroom didn't have much, but it looked nice either way.

Sofia walked in and sat on the soft bed, bouncing up and down to feel how comfy it is.

"Mm, this bed is nice..."

"Heheh~, good! So, what are your plans here?" Marin asked innocently.

"I'm not sure to be honest. David said he would allow me to follow him and I would be a bodyguard, but so far I've just been relaxing in the Cradle or relaxing here."

Marin took a seat next to Sofia and laid back on the bed.

"Hmm, with how beautiful you are, I'm sure that was just a pretext to keep you around~. Like, you're seriously hot, y'know? My hubby definitely wants to take you as a wife, heheh~."

"..." Sofia stayed silent as she stared down at the floor, thinking about what to do.

"Look, Tomoe said you wanted to use hubby to find peace, right? If you spend more time with him, I'm sure you'll easily fall in love with him so why not just try to start early?"

"Start early?" Sofia asked, looking back at Marin with a hopeful and curious look.

"Mm! I'm not sure how long Rangiku, Isane, and Yoruichi are going to stay here, but I'm certain it won't be permanent. You, however, can very much have a permanent spot here. Hubby already has me, Tomoe, and Mio as his wives and he's only going to get more in the future, so you should cement your position here early!"

"There's also Sif, Yuno, and Toa back in the Cradle that David might go after in the future..." Sofia said thoughtfully.

Marin shook her head, "Nah~, he told me about those three and Toa is the only one that's most likely to become a wife in the future. He told me that if he didn't have to heal the Rembrandt sisters, he wouldn't have had any contact with them."

"Eh? But those girls are pretty cute, so why not?"

Marin just shrugged, "I dunno~! He just said he didn't feel attracted to them so I'll believe him. I'd really like to meet them all anyway though!"

"Didn't you meet at least Sif and Yuno when you went on your tour?"

"Nope, I think they were doing some training with Emma or Shiki or something. I didn't really meet anyone specific, but then again the tour was very brief."

"I see... Anyway, what do you think I should do?"

Marin reached forward and poked Sofia in the waist. "Heheh~, use your assets to your advantage! You're super hot and I know hubby thinks the same, so just flirt with him and see how you feel! Do you feel butterflies in your stomach when he smiles at you? Do you feel jealous when he looks at other women? Do you feel happy just by being around him?"

Sofia nodded as she looked down. "Yeah... I took a nap next to him yesterday and it felt very nice and peaceful..."

Marin giggled and started kicking her feet up and down like a kid. "Heheheh~, there you go then! Now that I think about it, I don't really know much about you. Why is it that you want to find peace so badly?"

Sofia leaned back and laid down on the bed next to Marin before she started telling her story.

"I was born an orphan in a tiny village. I was called Miranda back then and from a young age I fought monsters to survive, side by side with a boy named Jin Rohan until the day I wiped out a chimera with such ruthless force that even he called me a monster. I left that life behind and rose to become an S‑rank adventurer, earning the title "Dragon Slayer" after slaying a Greater Dragon. But I wasn't simply fighting for glory, I was hunting dragons to amass enough power to find and confront Root, the Greater Dragon who created me as part of some twisted experiment. Each victory only hardened my determination and my heart until I had decided to side with the Demons and help them with their war against the hyumans."

Marin listened attentively as she toned down her playful nature and focused on Sofia's past.

"The goddess despised me for being the abomination that I am and further fueled my hatred toward the world. Then one day, I heard David's voice. I wasn't sure what it meant to be able to hear him, but when I heard what he was saying, I wanted to fight him and see how I compared strength-wise to someone that could so easily do what he did..."

"And how did you feel when you found him and figured out that you're no match for him?"

Sofia chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Heh... He killed my partner right in front of me as easily as breathing. Even though Mitsurugi was my partner, I didn't really care when David was the one who killed him. He's a force of nature that could easily subdue the goddess, so who the hell am I to get upset when he was the one being provoked?"

Marin reached over and patted Sofia on the arm supportively.

"When I saw David's power--not even his full power, mind you--I felt a strange sense of relief. I figured that if I followed him, I could get strong enough to face Root when I go back. But as I continued to listen to everything he said and learned of his exploits from Emma and the others, I found myself just wanting to stay next to him."

Sofia had a thoughtful and somewhat sweet expression on her face, her attitude completely different from the barbaric woman she used to be.

"I feel childish for thinking about him the way I do when I don't even know him that well, but I really think I want to fall in love with him... Ugh, it's so frustrating!" Sofia yelled, covering her face with her hands in frustration.

"Heheh~, I think you'll be a good sister. You don't sound like the bloodthirsty Dragon Slayer you made yourself out to be and while I think I'd have fun with your aggressive personality, I like this gentle and thoughtful version of you more."

Sofia lowered her hands and playfully glared at Marin for a few seconds before she started laughing.

"Hahaha! This little introspection has been nice, Marin. Thank you for talking with me..."

Marin reached over and hugged Sofia playfully. "Heheh, that's the job of the first wife after all!"

Sofia wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled, "How old are you guys anyway? I only know that Tomoe and Mio are old monsters that turned into beautiful women, haha."

"Heeeh~? Age doesn't really matter now, does it~? Heheh, hubby and I are both 15, Tomoe and Mio are both ageless, I believe David said Toa is also 15, Yuno is 15 and Sif is 19, and I'm not sure about Rangiku, Isane, or Yoruichi's ages..."

Sofia widened her eyes slightly, "Really? I didn't know David was younger than me... I'm 19, but still feel small compared to him."

Marin shrugged, "Like I said, age doesn't really matter. I'm only 15, but I got a bunch of memories from an old kitsune woman regarding her powers and abilities when I had my soul upgraded. While they're not life experiences, I have an old memory now and I'm still myself."

"I dunno if hubby had mentioned it in his inner voice while you could hear, but he's a reincarnated person. I think he said he died when he was 30 so technically, he has 45 years of life experience, but his past really wasn't good."

Sofia sat up straight and asked, "Can you tell me more?"

"Heheh~, sure! I don't know much, but I can tell you what I've heard..."

Marin went on to briefly explain everything that David had glossed over about his past with his inner voice before, causing Sofia to feel a pang of pain in her heart as well as a further closeness to him.

"I see... How did you feel when you found out he was twice your age in a past life?"

Marin pinched Sofia's arm and said, "Weren't you listening? Age doesn't matter! I'm sure hubby was a lot more mature than me when he was my age in his past life. There are a genre of novels called 'cultivation novels' or 'wuxia novels', something like that, but there are characters that are thousands of years old and are still childish and selfish. They spent most of their time cultivating in seclusion for centuries and never experienced much in life, so despite being old monsters, they didn't have the life experiences to match."

Sofia flinched from Marin's pinch, but stayed quiet as she listened to what Marin had to say.

"I get it. I suppose with that in mind, age really doesn't matter..."

Marin nodded, "Mm, right! Well, for the most part anyway. Hubby won't be attracted to anyone illegal, so there's definitely a lower limit, ahaha..."

"True, he seemed to not want anything to do with that Mora girl," Sofia said.

"Eh? Who's that?" Marin asked with her head tilted to the side.

"Just some young girl, no older than 12, that was charmed by the hero brought to that world. According to David, she would have been violated and treated no better than a doll if he hadn't saved her," Sofia replied with a shrug.

Marin felt a slight rage build up inside of her as she recalled what David had told her about the hero Tomoki Iwahashi, but she settled down once she remembered how David punished him and the princess Lily.

"Alright, we're getting way off topic now, heheh. Anyway, all you need to do is try to spend some alone time with hubby and see what happens, okay? He knows about your past and I'm sure he feels some closeness with you because of a shared bad childhood," Marin said as she stood up from the bed.

Sofia stood up as well and took a deep breath before smiling at Marin. "Thanks, Marin. This talk was just what I needed. I'm going to try and change my personality a bit to be less rough in the future as well. While I'm sure David wouldn't have an issue with it, I don't want to be stuck with the same thoughts I had before. I just want a peaceful life now and eventually, take revenge against Root."

Marin walked forward and wrapped Sofia up in another hug.

"Heheh, just be you, Sofia. Whatever you choose to do, I'll do my best to support you. I've always wanted a big family and adding another sister into the mix would be great~!"

Sofia didn't hesitate and hugged Marin back, enjoying the sisterly affection she was feeling from her.

"Mm... I'll be sure to make David fall for me, hahaha!"

...

Recalling her and Marin's conversation, Sofia looked over at David cooking in the kitchen and felt her heart beat a little faster as her face flushed red, matching the tips of her otherwise silver hair.

[Sofia] '"Bodyguard" my ass... I'll just do things Marin's way, heh.'