#OF COURSE she would rush in to check on them after hearing Akiho squealing 😂

[meimi-haneoka]

BONUS!!! 👇

Kaito stared at Akiho's pouty expression, still wearing that smug smile of his. A smirk that at the same time held so much love.

He knew he had sort of deceived her, but along the years he discovered he really loved teasing her innocently like this, in a different way than the inoffensive remarks he made when she was younger.

A certain someone often told him "You have a talent for pissing people off".

And maybe that was true, he had understood that much about himself over the past few years.

But it was just that...Akiho's expression in that moment was so... so adorable... he found himself pulled in by her charms, instinctively leaning towards her...closer and closer....

....until a flash of light broke through the space of the library room, making way for a "certain" busty guardian of a "certain" magic book, barging in with her hands already on her hips.

"WHAT THE HECK is happening here?? I could hear Akiho screaming from the living room!!"

"Mo-Momo..."

Akiho looked at her, frozen with embarrassment.

Momo raised an eyebrow. She could've sworn the young woman was going to set the library on fire, for how red she had become.

Kaito, on the other hand, just stared at the creature with his usual dull expression, completely unfazed by her appearance.

"...I was just trying to convince Akiho-san to wrap the search up for today. She looks quite tired, don't you think?"

Momo softened her scowl, shifting her eyes from Kaito back to Akiho, noticing the strained eyes of her beloved girl.

"Dearie, your eyes are bloodshot. You should know better than getting to that point when you're checking magic books out. Aaaah, what am I going to do with you? Come, let's get you some eye drops and decongestant eye patches...!"

"...Alright..."

Still a bit embarrassed, Akiho heeded Momo's request without protesting, getting up from the heap of cushions and collecting the grimoire from the floor, placing it back on a shelf.

"And you, stop aggravating my baby girl and go making some afternoon tea!" Momo wagged her finger at Kaito, before storming out of the room.

"...Alright, alright." he replied, smiling unperturbed.

Akiho began following Momo, but then stopped where Kaito was still sitting comfortably, glancing down at him. Her stare was vaguely intimidating, but Kaito could also spot....something else?

Akiho's ash blonde curls danced around as she turned and walked away.

Uh oh. He smirked.

Somebody was going to get something from him by force, later today.

Willow - Akiho/Kaito ficlet

Oooooh I'm back with another sappy moment between Akiho and Kaito!!

A little story I thought up while I was drawing my latest fanart.

In fact, this ficlet is an accompanying piece of my illustration that you can check out here. This is the first time I do something like this and if it's interesting, I might do it more in the future.

The title comes from Taylor Swift's "Willow", because I was listening to this song a lot when chapter 80 was released, and I had the first idea for this fanart.

Akiho here is 19, and she's by now in a relationship with Kaito.

They reached a point where they basically look the same age (like in my fanart) and still haven't found the spells they are looking for.

There's some "steamy" atmosphere between them, but....well, I'll leave it to you to find out! 😂Under the cut, as usual!!

Akiho plopped down on the carpet in front of a heap of big cushions, holding a big, thick book with a nicely decorated hardcover, a freshly acquired treasure from the local public library.

Despite having already checked two different books, she was ready to take a deep dive into the mysterious contents of the heavy tome in her lap, which thankfully was written in a rune system she already knew, allowing her to decode it without much effort.

The thickness of the book suggested that browsing through it wouldn't turn out to be a quick task, but Akiho didn't seem fazed in the least.

She was in her natural element, after all.

The young woman had no magic powers herself, but in all these years of scouring libraries all over the world looking for two particular magic spells, she had become familiar with a multitude of concepts she only had grazed while living with her clan, reading magic books for them.

Kaito, of course, had filled her in for all sorts of things she didn't know. Magic sources, magic systems, magic jargon...by now, they held no secrets for her.

She knew she couldn't embark on this mission without understanding the matter fully, and she found it fascinating, so she didn't perceive it as a burden nor reignited her personal insecurities of the past. She might not have been blessed with magic in her blood, but it felt empowering to gather knowledge about it, in order to make her wish come true.

However, merely 20 minutes later, Akiho began feeling slightly frustrated at the content of this particular grimoire. She found out that some of the pages had blank spaces right under what appeared to be some sort of code names she never heard of.

"I'll never get to the end of it, at this rate", she murmured.

Yet, the more secretive a book was, the better chance for her to find the complex spells she was looking for. She knew that much.

"Kaito-san...? Could you help me here for a second?"

A few seconds later, the dark haired young man appeared at the door of the library room, pausing for a moment by the threshold. He peered at her intently for what Akiho felt were five very long seconds, and then walked towards her.

To her surprise, he sat down on the carpet and snuggled her from behind.

"Let's see..." he said nonchalantly as Akiho stared straight ahead at the blank space on the book, heat uncontrollably rising from her cheeks while she tried to keep her composure.

"Uhm...some of the procedures for these spells are encrypted with a code name. I'm pretty sure the description won't appear unless someone with magic decrypts them..."

The magician looked intently at the page Akiho was stuck on, and then confidently declared "Siliyaesta...ah, this should be a spell to transmute people into animals".

As if confirming the correct answer, runes appeared on the page among a myriad of colorful sparkles, filling the blank space.

Akiho stared in awe and then grinned enthusiastically.

"You're incredible...there isn't a single spell that can escape your knowledge."

"Just the result of a childhood spent shut in a library to avoid despicable people."

Akiho chuckled in response to his bitter irony.

"...I could've said the same. Well, too bad this has nothing to do with the spells we're looking for."

She quickly turned the next few pages to move to the next magic ritual, when she felt him tighten his embrace and lower his face dangerously close to her ear.

The shiver that went down her spine caused her breath to hitch, loud enough for him to hear. Much to her embarrassment.

"Kaito-san.... this is not the mom-" "Your hair was tickling my nose."

Despite the red of her cheeks deepened further, Akiho couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew quite well what he was trying to do, even when he feigned ignorance like this. It slightly annoyed her, but also stirred up the butterflies in her stomach. "Damn", she thought while sighing, "he's so childish sometimes".

Kaito had the nerve to smirk, amused by the reaction of the young woman he was clutching tightly, with the eagerness of a three year old with his most beloved teddy bear.

"We need to check as many magic books as possible during this weekend. I have classes again on Monday and you know that between university and my commissions for book repairs, I won't have as much time on weekdays" she gently reprimanded him.

"You're tired, Akiho-san. Put that book down for a moment" he said candidly, with that unnerving grin of his.

"Are you trying to sabotage me?" she retorted, bewildered.

Both knew how important what she was doing was, and it's not like Kaito didn't help with the quest either. The more time passed, the more Akiho could feel anxiety creeping in the depth of her soul. Especially now that they looked basically the same age.

"I wouldn't call this 'sabotaging', I'm just making sure you still have some semblance of eyesight for your classes on Monday", he replied placidly.

Touché. The two books and half had taken their toll on her and, admittedly, her eyes felt quite strained at the moment.

"Alright," she finally turned around, still wrapped in his grip, "if that's what you want, then make me."

Blue topaz met amethyst, twinkling in the dimmed light of the library.

Akiho felt Kaito's hands on her stomach shifting, heart beating like a drum, anticipation stifling her breath. His eyes had taken on a devilish glint.

Then, a squeal echoed in the room.

"K-Kaito-san!! No! Please stop!!"

The magician had turned Akiho into a ticklish, laughing mess, grimoire successfully removed from her hands, abandoned on the floor.

After a few minutes he eventually decided to have mercy on the young woman wrestling and squealing in his arms, stopping his tickling attack.

Defeated and breathless, Akiho couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed at Kaito’s triumphant smile, for more than one reason actually, yet she was sure she had fallen in love with him even further, and she couldn't honestly understand how he did that to her.

It was a mystery.

You know that my train could take you home

Anywhere else is hollow

I'm begging for you to take my hand

Wreck my plans

That's my man