"Hey, wake up."
Akari groaned as she felt someone poking her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open — and the first thing she saw was Saya's grinning face.
"What happened...?" she mumbled, looking around groggily.
"We stopped at the restaurant. You passed out during the ride — how boring." Saya rolled her eyes.
"Jerk!" Akari glared at her, but Saya simply smiled and leaned in closer. Before she could react, Saya kissed her, pinning her back against the seat.
"W-What are you doing!?" Akari panicked, struggling to break free, but Saya's grip was firm.
"I drove all the way here. It's time you paid up, naughty girl." Her lips found Akari's again as her hands started wandering places no one should touch in public.
Akari whimpered, torn between protest and surrender, but eventually melted into the kiss. She gave in — and kissed her back for what felt like fifteen whole minutes.
Saya began tugging at Akari's skirt, clearly ready for round two... until her phone rang.
The two of them froze.
Saya sighed dramatically. "Ugh. Seriously?"
She finally released Akari and answered the call. Meanwhile, Akari lay breathless on the driver's seat, her face flushed red as Saya used her lap as a pillow.
"Yeah... don't worry, I'm already here," Saya said casually, then hung up.
She reached up and rubbed Akari's head, who stared down at her — eyes wide.
Saya gave her a warm smile full of affection. "Sweetheart, let's go. Your parents are waiting for us."
Akari's expression twisted in confusion. "Eh? W-Waiting for us???"
Saya, smug as always, just opened the door and casually stepped out, dragging Akari along. She didn't give her time to argue. Hand in hand, they walked toward the restaurant — though Akari only half-agreed to the handholding. Still... it made her feel oddly safe.
Inside, two couples sat at a private table. Akari's parents stood up the moment they saw them.
"Oh dear, you're finally here," her mother said kindly.
Saya, completely unbothered, just raised her hand. "Yo."
Her eyes drifted to her own parents, who were also seated.
She plopped lazily into a chair, grabbed a cup of coffee, and crossed her legs, acting like this was her personal lounge.
Akari sat beside her parents, back straight, trying hard not to stare at Saya — whose foot was now resting comfortably on the table.
"Saya, sit properly," her mother said, her tone exasperated but affectionate.
"I am sitting properly."
"With dignity."
Saya cracked one eye open. "I'm already the most dignified person in this room. Ask Akari."
Akari nearly choked on her tea.
Saya's father chuckled. "Ah, she's just like the day we adopted her. Shameless and unruly."
That word hit the Harthveil family like a truck.
"Adopted?" Akari's father blinked in surprise.
"Yes," Saya's mother said proudly. "We found her in an orphanage. She was three — or claimed to be."
Akari turned to Saya in disbelief. "You're seriously adopted??"
Saya shrugged with one eye still closed. "Technically. But let's be honest — I adopted myself."
"When we met her, she was reading a college-level physics book. Upside down."
"She was also organizing a turf war between the other orphans over snacks," her mother added.
"And she hacked the caretaker's laptop to reroute dessert deliveries to her bunk," her father said.
Everyone turned to Saya.
She merely shrugged. "Survival of the fittest."
Akari's mother tried to hide a laugh behind her hand.
"Why was she even in the orphanage to begin with?" Akari's father asked.
Saya tilted her head, pretending to think. "Hmm... probably because I started walking the moment I was born, told them to name me Saya, and demanded an apartment with decent lighting."
Silence.
"Pfft!" Akari burst into laughter, covering her face with her sleeve. "You're unbelievable."
Saya smirked. "You're laughing. That's progress."
Her father cleared his throat. "Of course, her upbringing wasn't all jokes. She's been a top scorer in every exam she's taken."
Her mother sighed. "She also slept with the daughters of at least seven noble families before she turned sixteen."
"Eight," Saya corrected. "Don't erase Hoshino. She counts twice."
Akari stared at her. "How do you even exist?"
Saya finally looked her in the eyes. "To meet you, obviously."
Akari flushed red and turned away, heart pounding.
This girl was a disaster wrapped in silk — and somehow, that made her irresistible.
Saya's father cleared his throat again, this time seriously. "Let's move on. We came here with a proposal."
The mood shifted. Saya kept sipping her coffee, but the others sat upright.
"We'd like Miss Akari to be bonded to our daughter," he said.
Akari's jaw dropped. "Bonded!?"
"Don't be surprised," her mother said, smiling gently. "You've always been close."
In this world, bonding was a rare spiritual pact — linking thoughts, energy, even location. Two people who bonded couldn't betray each other. They could empower one another and communicate silently across vast distances.
"The apocalypse starts in a month," Akari's father added. "And we approve of the bond on her behalf."
"She's clumsy," her mother added, "so Saya, take care of her."
Saya nodded confidently. When no one was looking, she turned to Akari with the smuggest face imaginable, sending chills down her spine.
"H-Hold up! I'm part of the Ten Saints and you want me to bond with this child?!" Akari slammed her hands on the table, face burning.
"Don't call Saya a child. And sit down," her mother said, her smile icy.
Akari froze, then slowly sat back down, sulking.
Saya, of course, was thrilled.
"She's one of the Ten Wardens, you know," her father said. "The Warden of Calamity and Pride."
Akari's mind reeled.
The Warden of Pride?
The warden that fused with the first catastrophic nightmare that erased a continent overnight? The cold-blooded machine that led armies and slaughtered monsters a million years ago??
The same bloodthirsty monster who's identity was questioned and in return made rivers of blood flow around the continent??
That... that's this smug gremlin in front of me??
__________
Thanks I know what to do.
The apocalypse will only start after chapter 20 till then it will be comedy and romance