"Yeah, Tama?" He called back as he stood and began slowly walking towards us.

  "Are you Tera's boyfriend? And if so, is it true that if I agreed to Tera's deal, you would spend time with me in private?" My voice quavered as I spoke, but I forced it out.

  "What?!" he yelled back. He started jogging again towards us again. I swallowed as I stared. After a moment, I caught myself and looked away.

  He finally arrived, and for some reason I was so sad he had stopped jogging. "What were you asking, Tama? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

  I opened my mouth to speak but Tera cut me off. "She was wondering if she were to date us both if you would give her love and head pats," Tera said quickly.

  David looked at Tera, then me, then nodded. "Of course, Tama. We are always open to new people. I'd love to spend some time and give you head pats if you wanted."

  I crumbled instantly. "Tama accepts this offer!" I looked at David and said, "Head pats please!"

  "I can't... I just... for head pats, Tama, really?!" Saki said with actual disbelief.

  Tera, on the other hand, sounded jubilant. "How wonderful! I am so glad we came to the agreement, Tama! I promise you won't regret it. Give her head pats, David. She clearly needs them!"

  David stepped forward and began petting me. I felt myself start to drool and smiled blankly as he did so. I was in heaven.

  After David stopped petting my head, I slowly came to and looked over at Saki. She was looking at some kind of paper thing.

  I stepped towards her but was intercepted by Tera who asked, "So Tama, how much do you know about goblins?"

  I paused and frowned as I considered her words. "Tama has killed lots of goblins! She once killed an entire village and they never saw her!"

  It was true too, I was amazing at being stealthy. Sensei said I talked too much and was too obvious. But the goblins never saw me! The memory of sensei sent a pang through my chest. I quickly turned and looked at David. He was chewing on some kind of sandwich. The way he chewed caused me to blush. He reminded me so much of Jiggle.

  Tera nodded before speaking. "Good, then this shouldn't be too difficult. What about you, Saki?" Despite her earlier distaste for Saki, Tera seemed completely calm, her face neutral as she spoke.

  Saki nodded as well and said, "I've killed a few roadside goblins, but nothing major."

  David spoke up suddenly. "Yeah, but you kill one, you kill them all. Are we done with prep yet, Tera? Can we go?"

  I was surprised by his sudden words. After all, he had been so passive before. Even Talia and Saki said he was just a sub-something to Tera.

  I personally didn't know what that meant, but up until now, he never seemed to do much except passively go along with what Tera wanted. "Nya! David is right! Tama wants to kill something!"

  Tera smiled at me. She glanced over at David who was smiling at me. He grinned at me before saying, "I like that attitude, Tama. That's the way it works! Kill our enemies, crush them underfoot."

  As he spoke, I watched his eyes light up for the first time since I had met him. I turned to Tera, who was actually smiling with dreamy eyes at David. She caught me staring at her and her gaze shifted to me. The smile didn't waver, instead, she winked at me and blushed slightly.

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  I didn't get it, but I was ready to fight! "Nya! Tama is ready to go!" I said proudly as I pulled out Serenity and twirled her in my hand.

  "You know, Tama, you have a lot of strength for someone who seems to focus primarily on speed. That's clearly a two-handed wakizashi, yet you hold it like it weighs nothing. Maybe there is a weight enchantment on it?"

  Tera's words caught me off guard, but I responded honestly anyway. "Serenity is Sensei's gift to Tama for becoming a full ninja! If you want, Tama will let you hold it!" Sharing was caring after all, and while Tera made me feel uncomfortable sometimes, she had never once actively tried to hurt me.

  Even in the guild hall, she had moved so slow, it was like she was trying to miss me. Saki told me it was because normal people move like that in combat, but I think Saki just really doesn't like Tera.

  David spoke up. "I actually might take you up on that offer, Tama. Serenity is a beauty from afar, and I would love to see her up close if it's all right with you?"

  I swirled and held Serenity out to him with a smile. I felt my cheeks heating up again. David wanted to touch Serenity. The thought felt so right and so wrong to me at the same time.

  David walked over and took the handle with respect, even bowing his head as he accepted the blade. However, the moment I let go of the sword, David and Serenity fell to the ground. Shocked, I leaned down to help them both up, but he held up his free hand that wasn't holding onto Serenity.

  He tried to stand, first pulling with one hand, then two. Then stone grew around his hands and he pulled again. Serenity did not budge. Despite this, David smiled at me with actual interest in his eyes. "Your blade is incredibly dense and powerful, Tama. I can't even lift it!"

  "Obviously, David, you should have seen the way we fought! She is so powerful! And she is..." Tera seemed to try and say something, but nothing came out. She was confused for a moment before realization seemed to hit her.

  She threw Saki a dirty look, which Saki promptly ignored. As she continued to look at the piece of paper, from what I could tell of the paper, it had squiggly lines all over it, and what looked like trees and mountains.

  "Okay!" Saki said. "I believe I understand where the goblins are based on the triangulation of the sun with the unidirectional locator." She looked up at us with a raised eyebrow.

  I sheathed Serenity and stood tall. "Yeah! The uni thingy tells us where the goblins are!" My tail wagged back and forth and my ears twitched on my head.

  I looked over to Tera and David. David looked uninterested and simply nodded. Tera looked deep in thought before responding. "But isn't the directional facilitator better for more accurate readings, Saki?"

  I felt my head start to hurt as Saki and Tera began to argue over words and things I didn't understand. Instead, I tuned them out, only keeping a single ear facing them in case the information was important later.

  I turned to David who looked more annoyed than anything else. I opened my mouth to talk to him, but before I could, he spoke up. "Look, I don't care if it's exact. I'll just start smashing shit until they show up. And if something bigger shows up..." He smiled widely in an almost gleeful way. "Well, we can have a little fun."

  Tera looked back to David and snarled at him. "Do you want to get them killed? Tama is far and above able to kill anything, but one misstep and the little fox here dies. While I'm not entirely against the idea, it will NOT happen under our watch, David! Now shut it! You will get your combat."

  David sighed and nodded, crossing his arms and not saying anything else. Instead, after a moment, Tera and Saki went back to arguing…

  Saki was now aggressively pointing to something on the piece of paper with squiggly lines and Tera was shaking her head and pointing to a different part of the map near Saki's spot. The two looked angry, so I ignored them again and looked to David.

  "Does David want to see Serenity's enchantments?" I asked hopefully. After all, my baby was my everything and I wanted David to think so too.

  It was silly of me, showing my legendary super powerful enchanted sword to get closer to him. But I couldn't help myself.

  David's eyes actually gleamed as he looked down at the sword. He didn't try to take it again, instead, he took a knee as I held it up and he seemed to study it intently before nodding. "Your sword, Tama, is by far the most amazing and perfect sword I have ever seen in my life.

  The runes on the hilt alone cost double the yearly income of an entire village combined. She is a precious treasure and I hope that you take good care of her, and feed her when she is hungry. The more the better, she looks like she eats a lot."