(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Cherry]

The queen just kicked the door open for them to get inside, alerting Father Espoir of his daughter's return with... boys. The very thought sent a chill down his spine, but she was a big girl, he didn't need to interfere... yet.

Yukino rushed Haruka in with an unconscious Satoshi, and before answering his question, she noted blood dripping from his nose down onto their attire. Finally learning the struggle of being far too powerful psychically for her lithe frame, the queen panicked a bit more. It took Haruka giving a command for her to finally snap out of it. Making a mad dash into another room, she practically ran over some of the house servants in the quest for a cup and a rag. The voyage to getting the glass filled and the cloth wet was... another rampage in itself.

Finally coming back, her majesty handed Doctor Haruka both the things he requested.

[Jello]

Without hesitation, Haruka is at his knees, laying Satoshi on the couch. "Don't worry dude, I'll take care of ya."

Saving people. This wasn't what Haruka expected, but it's along the lines of what he wanted. "I'll save ya." Yukino arrives in a somewhat suitable time, with a mostly-filled glass of water and a damp rag, nicely wrung out. Haruka takes the rag from Yukino.

"Could you place the glass of water over there?" Haruka points to a counter nearby. "For when he wakes up. He's gonna need to rest up. Should we call an ambulance?" Haruka asks as he neatly places the rag over Satoshi's forehead. Haruka takes off the long-sleeve thermal he had been sporting, leaving his button-up shirt to keep him unexposed. He takes the shirt and uses it to clean up the blood drooling down Satoshi's chin, jawline and neck. "You're gonna be fine." He places his hands on Satoshi's face, to position his head straight up. He reaches over to grab a sofa pillow as well and lightly places it under his head, to keep from neck pains when he wakes up.

"I think our friend here will be just fine." Haruka lies down on the carpet floor, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, half sweating from panic, half not wanting the blood on his shirt to stick from to his chest. Haruka didn't realize a few things.

1) The burns on his neck and chest were now easily visible.

2) He is nearby a girl, albiet a queen.

3) That girl has a father who is home.

All of these things are promptly dismissed from his mind all because he's too tired from helping out Satoshi and rushing over here to worry about them.

"Lewd."

[Beryl]

~Dreamscape~

Satoshi felt himself floating. Weird, that's not how he was supposed to feel. Was this an out-of-body experience? Is that what it was like to be Seph?

...Speaking of Seph, there he was, floating along with him. The dreamscape they were in was highly reminiscent of Cray itself, the place where Satoshi knew he and his units traveled every time they played a game. Odd that he was always thinking of it and how peaceful and pleasant it was.

"That really looked like it hurt, bud." Seph had his hands behind his head, floating as though he was reclining on a couch. "The Chosen Sword does have some pretty solid fists from what I've watched from your eyes, so I'm not entirely surprised, but jeez, the mouth? She could've at least aimed her hands a little better." He pat Satoshi on the shoulder. "You're fine, though. Welcome to your view of Cray."

Satoshi looked around, amazed at how nice it looked despite being in the turmoil of war. He tried to voice what he had to say, but found that words refused to come up. He was mute in this world.

Seph smirked a bit. "Yeah, sorry about that. Your vocal cords are shut down here, you're just along for the ride. I've got some stuff to tell you about that has to do with the whole 'being a champion' thing, and I figured I'd keep myself from being interrupted so you can hear me out clearly."

He waved out an arm. "Being a champion of your clan isn't primarily about skill. It's about how you feel as well, and as far as I can tell, even though it may not be as clear as others' bonds, your ties to Neo Nectar extend far into the roots of every plant in the nation. You love them so much it's like you were meant to tend to them on Cray itself. That sort of dedication isn't common, you might be surprised to know." He placed a hand on his hip and pointed to Satoshi with the other. "S'why you're the guy I chose to represent, and all you really need to do to prove yourself is keep on keeping on, y'know?"

Keep on keeping on? Satoshi was familiar with the phrase, but it was strange that someone who was guiding him like this was telling him that despite his recent losses, he was fine and should keep on the same path as before. He shook his head, trying to indicate to Seph that he didn't understand.

The spirit laughed. "Trust me, you're doing great. And soon enough, you'll see that potential soar even higher." He pointed to a mountain. "There will soon be a champion roaring at the top of that mountain, and when it happens...Cray will be required to break through its limitations and see a new, brighter future." He returned his attention to the floating Satoshi and grinned. "That's where you, the Chosen Sword, and your rival come in. When they break, you'll see what is to come."

He shrugged a bit as well. "Mind you, so will many others like you, but you have yet to meet them, and you will with time. For now, focus on getting to that point where you can break through your own limitations. Got it?"

Satoshi nodded. Yeah, okay, that made way more sense.

"One more thing before I let you come back, though." Seph ruffled the young man's hair. "You really like Yukino Espoir, don't you?"

Satoshi blushed. Honestly, for a while, he had been thinking about how elegant the queen looked, how he felt as happy when she was happy, wanted to comfort her when she was sad...all of these things made his heart skip a beat. But he knew he couldn't say anything. He wasn't her type of guy, and he didn't feel like he could betray her trust in him by giving into feelings. After all, she had a destiny. What was how he felt, or how she even felt, any more significant in the long run?

Seph looked him over, nodding sagely. "Yeah, I get it," he mused, as though he had read Satoshi's heart. "It's not the time for it, but if there's anyone you should be keeping strong for, it's for the human leader of Cray." He pat his shoulder once more. "Maybe when things lighten up a bit you'll start thinking about it again.

"For now, though..." He snapped his fingers, and the dreamscape began to fade. "Gonna need you to wake up, they're worried about you. Remember what I said."

Satoshi felt his eyes close again and the scene faded to black, before he opened them again.

---

He awoke to Haruka dabbing his face and cleaning him up. Strangely, it felt like professional work, something he wasn't exactly expecting out of his rival. He stared up.

"S-sorry about---" He started to speak, but then feeling in his jaw kicked in. Holy hell, that hurt way more than he was expecting. He instead began to try to gesture to Haruka to express his thanks and ask where Yukino was---

Wait. Haruka wasn't wearing a shirt.

He stared at the scars on his caretaker's neck and chest. They were very peculiar, but actually helped define Haruka's figure a lot better. He looked pretty hunky, for what it was worth...

Wait, what was he saying?! He blushed a bit and muttered the least painful word he could say without moving his jaw.

"Hot."

[Cherry]

Setting the glass down, the queen asked a nearby butler to call for an ambulance. Needing multiple servants to quickly calm her nerves, Yukino, with a deep breath, returned to the two. However, it quickly came to be that the decision was a mistake... or was it a brilliant idea? Haruka... took off the thermal and... unbuttoned some of his shirt. The burns didn't bother her all that much, but rather, the fact that he was sweating and almost shirtless did. Blushing furiously, more red than Kagero's trademark shade, she was at a loss. Seeing a man like this up close... was a new experience that brought a racing heart, thumping hard in her chest.

Dear God, he's hot!

Thinking that actually escaped her lips, her majesty slapped her hand over mouth. But it was just a thought... Holding her breath and ignoring the Royals beginning to tease, an unsteady gaze pried itself off of Haruka to check on Satoshi. He was awake, but still obviously in pain.

... Nope, her eyes darted back to Haruka.

Hikari just stared at him...

... And a sense of doom loomed over the boy, Father Espoir destroying his arm-rest by gripping it.

[Beryl]

Satoshi saw Yukino and managed a smile. Good, she was safe. And apparently, she too saw how attractive their friend was. Then again, the Chosen Sword hadn't ever felt his muscles; working from childhood had toned Satoshi into an equally strong, toned young man. Maybe she'd get the chance to see that some day; heck, maybe they had a pool and he could go for a swim and show it was possible for both men to be quite the ladykillers.

...Wait, he wasn't wearing a shirt. Didn't he realize that the man of the house, Father Espoir---

Oh boy. He sat up and motioned to Haruka. "Man, you're gonna want to put on a shirt like right now."

[Jello]

Haruka is somewhat panting, staring at the ceiling. His head falls in Yukino's direction, who's face was suddenly really red. He raised an eyebrow and went over in her direction. "Are you sick? You look like you have a fever." Haruka was genuinely concerned about her well-being. "Here, you might be sick."

Haruka moves over to place his head on her forehead. Maybe she got a sudden cold sweat from the whole event with Satoshi.

Despite him being hurt, he looks pretty healthy, definitely fit. Satoshi is very well-built considering his weight to size ratio. Must have worked in a field where he did manual labor or the sort. Haruka was jealous of his insanely well-fit body. Maybe he'd have to get pointers from him.

"Hmm. Are you sure your okay, Yukino?" His panting is a bit rugged, so he attempts to make his breaths a bit more casual.

"Haruka, you sure are one son of a bi-"

Haruka shuts out his connection to Overlord for a moment as he makes a check for Yukino's health. "I hope Satoshi isn't the only one I have to go full Doctor mode on."

[Hope]

Hana entered the house, exhausted after a long day. She closed the door behind her and placed her bag as well as her rewards from the tournament onto the hands of one of the workers. They bowed and quickly carried her items up to her room. She bowed back as a gesture of thanks to them. Since winning the national tournament, she's been having to talk to her Bermuda Triangle often and about serious and  pressing issues. Upon her victory of the national tournament, she was taken upon the surface of Cray, standing alongside Pacifica, overlooking all the nations, swearing their allegiance to her. At first she thought it was a dream, because she didn't understand what was going on herself, but she has learned that cray was in danger and that she was the acting leader among the newly formed alliances.

"The threat is on its way, hime-sama." The representative of the Oracle Think Tank, CEO Amaterasu informed her.
From here on she would be involved in daily meetings among that nations of Cray and important conferences with Bermuda Triangle. It seemed like a lot to her, yet, some of the units of Cray were already familiar with her name, not because she was the princess, but because of the "Espoir" bloodline. It was all confusing to her, how her parents have kept her away from Vanguard for so long, and now its become such an important aspect of her life.

She certainly has questions for her parents as well as even Yukino later on, but for now she wishes to relax.

Holding an egg-shaped bowl of ice cream, she walks through one of the rooms in her house to see Geodude, Overlordo, and Yukinee. She gives them an awkward smile.

[Cherry]

Stomp.

Yukino let out a muffled scream, blushing even more. Good lord, the queen felt like she was on fire. Christ, even worse was the fact that he was oblivious as to why. She was almost mad at him, silently cursing and calling him an idiot. Lowering the hand, laughing nervously, she averted her eyes. "N-No, I-I'm quite alright..."

Stomp.

She couldn't help but stay in place for a few moments, the warmth of his head to hers, the warmth of his body next to hers... Blaster Blade couldn't help but refer to Satoshi as a "sorry bastard", shaking his head. That only made Yukino think of Satoshi's build too... The Chosen Sword's head was spinning from the idea of these two gorgeous studs within reach and grasp. Opening her mouth to speak again, slowly-

NOPE.

The sound of destruction rang throughout the ears of the triad, a fist slamming into the wall, and making quite the glaring hole in it. Not only that, but several vases exploded from the sheer shockwave, along with picture frames falling down. A beast of a man stood from atop the staircase, looming over them as a ferocious God ready to mangle them a new one. When not compared to a deity of raw power, he was like a lion, prepared to destroy the very Earth they walked upon to protect his cub from... boys.

"Yukino... You have friends over, I see...", he spoke calmly, but it was extremely simple for every last living being in the mansion to hear the unparalleled dad furry in his voice.

Mister Espoir was not pleased.

His daughter only turned to him, still blushing, but unsure of what was wrong. "Yes...", she spoke carefully, knowing he was mad. The overwhelming presence of her father was too pressuring to look back at Hana returning.

[Beryl]

Despite the pain he felt while doing so, Satoshi's jaw comically hit the floor. Mr. Espoir was in, and holy hell did he look angry.

Well, that wasn't actually the only reason his jaw was on the floor. Not just his presence, but his very figure. Mr. Espoir reminded him of his own father, if his father decided to take steroids. This man was bloody ripped. He thought Yukino was joking when she described her father to him the first time while on a walk, but it definitely wasn't looking like a myth. More of a living, breathing legend.

His eyes darted to the broken jars. The fact that he wasn't actually concerned over expensive property he literally destroyed with his bare hands...that was what was truly frightening about Mr. Espoir right now.

That said, Satoshi wasn't the one with his shirt off. If his employer had caught him like that...well, money would be the least of his concerns. More like being able to function as a human being. Man, Haruka was so screwed.

Even more so now that a younger girl that seemed somewhat similar to Yukino in stature had walked in with a bowl of food. Satoshi took this to be Hana, Yukino's younger sister who had just won nationals. He wanted to congratulate her, but he feared getting his head caved in by Mr. Espoir right now. Maybe when things calmed themselves a bit...

[Jello]

Haruka felt the thundering boom of foot steps throughout the house. "Oh, you're okay?" Haruka leans back to find a hole in the wall nearby, and a man big enough to crush a human's skull with his hand. "You must be Mr. Espoir!" Haruka smiled a bit until he realized all of the prior events that lead up to this moment.

Sweating. Undressing. Blushing. Heat.

"O-Oh. H-H-Hi Mr. Espoir." Haruka turned to the Yukino who he was nearly on top of at this point. Its his turn to blush like crazy, realizing everything all at once. He hadn't even realized how cute of a face Yukino had made. Damn. If the father hadn't shown up Haruka might have done something regrettable. Turning back in that direction, he also notices Hana. That only amplifies the direness of the situation. "S-Satoshi-" He turns to Satoshi, who has a look of "you messed up, dude," on his face. Haruka looks back finally to Mr. Espoir. "T-This, this is not what it looks like, I---uh-" Haruka stumbles over nearly every word that comes from his mouth.

"You were a great Vanguard, Haruka. You will be missed." A cold chill goes down Haruka's back. "Sir, I was just checking if she was sick! P-Promise! I thought maybe because Satoshi was injured, uh, er-" There is no way out.

Haruka is so dead.

So very, very, very dead.

"Hana?" he looks over to her, for maybe some sort of out to this. Most likely to no avail.

[Cherry]

It was far too late for Haruka's life to be spared. Mister Espoir took a single step, inflicting terror within the hearts of men if it wasn't there already. Birds outside all cowered in fear, flying south for the winter... and it was summer. The party heard his stomping before, but now they actually saw it. It, in every sense of the word, completely devastated the floor below, cracking through the stairs as if the tremors of power would destroy the entire residence. Yukino got an idea of the problem after that, how Emperor Lord Father would save his queen child from everything in the world that threatened her... including potential boyfriends.

He didn't even respond to Haruka with words, only kept approaching, coming down the stairs. The golden aura of the lion practically suffocated the offers. He stood in silence, glaring at the men, while protectively glancing at his precious little girls. He folded his arms, silently roaring: ten steps away from her and fix yourself to Haruka.

With everyone frozen in sheer horror, the behemoth of a man finally spoke.

"Would our guests enjoy some tea?" He smiled, which was honestly more frightening than the menacing frown he had before.

Yukino dropped to the floor out of complete and utter shock.

Blaster Blade fell over too, is this what it was like for lower classed soldiers to have to meet Alfred's gaze?!

[Hope]

This situation was very awkward. Hana remembers the words of ojiisan from the ramen shop the other day. It was something about Yukino having to come to terms with these kind of things at some point. Always assuming the kindest out of people, often out of her own inexperience with trouble and her childhood where she was given the world, she assumed that this Overlordo fellow was helping her sister. She was sure that her father was angry, it was obvious in the way that the veins popped from his forehead as well as his arms. She recalls than when she was little that she wanted a window in her room. The workers were really busy that day and she really needed some sort of opening to let fresh air in so her dad simply made the windows by punching her walls. They just plastered over it and added paint to make it look nice. Those are the same windows that she has in her room to this day.

She ran over to her father who was now standing over Yukinee and the other guests.

To Hana this situation played out in the following way:
 - Yukinee must get married at some point and one day will have a family of her own.
 - These guys are just being very very nice and helping her with that so dad has no need to worry.
 - She will also one day need to undergo such things, most likely after she is finished being an idol, they may be nice enough to help.

"Dad-san these boys, um, Geodude, and Overlordo are just trying to help Yukinee because you see, ojiisan at the ramen shop told me that Yukinee must realize her affection for boys so that she may have a family and umm..." She points over to Haruka, "I think Overlordo right there is just showing Yukino how its like to be husband and waifu... I think.... and they seem very nice... later on I think they'll have to show me too after I am done with being an idoru. They are just being really nice to Yukinee yeah!"

She smiles at Haruka and Satoshi, signaling that they're in the clear based off what she said.
All of the sudden, the house felt like it was shaking.

[Beryl]

Satoshi began shaking. <Father Espoir...are you right pullin' a fast one on us here?! Your daughters are right there, we should both be dead on the spot!> he thought, jaw still fully on the floor. How the heck could this chiseled statue of ultimate manhood just stand there and not actually do anything?!

...But actually, tea sounded rather nice. It was a soothing beverage to have, especially when under this kind of stress. He resumed his normal color and his jaw lifted off the floor. A light sigh of relief escaped his mouth. Cheating death like this...Haruka had quite a lucky break. Even his well-toned body wouldn't handle the lion's fists, that much he could tell. His cub proved that sevenfold with her accidental punch.

Thinking about bodies again, he actually went out of his way to flex his arms a bit. Yep, the veins were still popping with vitality and strength, just as they were on the farm. After all, one time he had to carry a cow that had escaped back to the barn, all by himself. A huge heffer, and he managed it within a few hours. A whole half-mile. He flexed a little more, making sure his arms were in good shape...and then remembered who was still there with a watchful eye, and he immediately stopped, afraid of a punch in the face.

He mildly blushed a little, hoping there was a slight chance that Yukino had seen...dammit, why did Seph have to bring all that up when in the first place, he was supposed to be thinking about Cray?

Then, Hana opened her mouth and said her schpeal. And suddenly, Satoshi's jaw was back on the floor. Oh god, she brought up the m-word.

Not in front of Daddy...Hana, please, god, no....

[Jello]

Haruka had a sigh of relief, hearing the words, "tea" and a smile on his face.

Until Hana spoke up. Everything just turned on it's head again and Haruka suddenly felt a heat so intense that Dragonic Overlord and every dragon on Cray just bestowed the most furious flames upon his skin. The blush on his face was roughly the equivalent of a crimson. He stood up, quivering. "I-I, uh." Haruka simply stood there, wide-eyed and not knowing what to say.

"Mr. Espoir, sir, my lord." Haruka got on one knee. Time to beg for forgiveness, forever. "Sir... Err."

The most unthinkable thing Haruka could do came out of his mouth. He regretted so much after saying it, that he almost wished Mr.Espoir would slam him into the Earth's core forever.

"Your daughter is so very beautiful. This is all my fault. I'm a very awful man. Please forgive me!" Haruka stopped, lips trembling, and looked over to Satoshi.

"Help. Me." Was all he could mouth before his body froze completely still, tears almost streaming down his face, but unable to cry because his muscles were transfixed in horror, waiting for impact.

"You're so dead. You almost weren't. But now you're so dead."

"I-Is there anyway I could, uhm, fix this- Uh, err. Sir, how could I possibly pay you back for my misdeeds." Haruka was trembling all the same, once again, fists clenched.

Just remember, for this one time only, if he hits you, do NOT stand back up. This was the thought running in Haruka's head. And I was so young. I had so many people to Cardfight. If I had just, left. It was that easy. But nope. Nope.

Dead. So, so dead.

[Cherry]

Man... Hana could really not have made this any worse.

Yukino quickly rolled over, giving her sister a silent "why?!" with a distressed gaze. The mansion indeed shook, no, the Earth itself shook, nay, Cray itself shook with the Earth. Cray was light years away, yet, even Vanguard itself trembled in fear. Whatever the oncoming storm was, it honestly couldn't be worse than Dad Espoir. Even worse, the Rift itself shook, beings who tended to and surpassed time and space stopping in their tracks with terror.

"Marriage... huh..." he growled, glaring down at Haruka specifically, sizing him up. And Satoshi hopefully didn't think he was out of the woods either, the stern gaze reaching around to him as well. He caught the farm boy flexing too, which only worsened his case.

"Wait, father, Hana is joking! Only kidding! I'm not interested, no way! So you can spare them, right?! How about that tea?!" Honestly, she knew what she was was probably cruel if the boys were genuinely attracted to her. While that'd give the queen an ego massage, she actually wanted these two to live. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to believe her, since he still noticed the blushing from before.

"There..." he began, roaring again, only this time vocalizing it with his mouth instead of crushing the surrounding area. "Will be none of that, Hana", the lion finished, declining the very notion of it. Such rage oozing from his being could not be soothed.

Then Haruka opened his mouth. He was almost to safety, the Lord Emperor Father was almost willing to forgive him.

Hikari spoke up ago: "F-Father, please!"

Only then did a courageous butler waltz in casually, despite the apocalypse happening. He offered tea to his Lord.

"... Hmm."

Hmm?!

He... He didn't respond, instead, he simply took his tea, sipping it. He listened to their pleas and groveling, yet, still quietly contemplated their lives ending.