Chapter 234 Tsundere Romance

"Um, Emperor, sir?" Steve asked nervously, looking at Kaze, whose shoulder and head were pressed against the wall with his eyes closed, "Have I done something wrong?"

After confirming Sage and Mandy had left, the emperor opened his eyes smoothly. "No, you haven't."

"Then why… am I here?" He asked.

"Originally, I brought you here to get out of Rein's way during her audit." Kaze said, locking eyes with the Asian, "However, now you're here because you know something sensitive, yes?"

Steve felt an icy chill crawl down his spine when he saw the emperor's terrifying gaze burning through his soul. "My gambling rush scrambled my brain, so if I did see something, I don't remember what it is...."

Steve Chung dry-swallowed nervously, taking a sharp breath under the emperor's pressured gaze. He was smart enough not to feign ignorance, but it didn't improve his situation.

"And were you to remember what you saw?" Kaze smiled with a piercing smile.

"If I remember, I'll make sure not to tell you or anyone else." He replied nervously, "I am but a humble gambling addict who does not seek prison or death."

"Hoh?" The emperor mused, "You do not seek recognition yet you'd alert us that our target was suspicious and cover for us?"

Steve timed his dramatic antics perfectly to draw Sage's attention away from Kiera's cracking expressions and back to himself.

That's why he dramatically asked for luck, making the redhead check Rein's reactions.

"Well, yeah…." The degenerate gambler said, stating [obviously], "The only thing worse than seeing something you shouldn't is making whatever's happening fail."

"Astute observation." Kaze smiled, "For your aid and imprudencet, I'm giving you 100 RP. It's a shame that your date plans fell; otherwise, you could genuinely buy Rein [anything] she wanted."

Rein blushed bright red to the tip of her ears. "It wasn't a date!"

"Well, it was enough to extract the man from the room, yes?" The emperor asked mockingly.

"I-It wasn't like that." She claimed, "We figured he could interfere with the operation, so we set up an in-and-out operation. We were trying to help."

He looked at the pink-haired slang riddler, who looked like her soul had shattered into a million pieces.

"Butch cut fucked up something savage by not telling you the score." Kiera trembled, "Since debt-jacket was a liability either way, I chose the option that gave a chance of salvaging the sitch. This twisted romance was conincidental in my decision making."

"I see…." Kaze said, taking a deep breath with his eyes closed, "You three did marvelous in there. I'm impressed."

All three were stunned by his sudden words, especially the degenerate gambler.

"Me?" Steve asked incredulously, "I get that I helped you, but still…."

"You're a man of talent and common sense, yes?" The emperor asked seriously, "That puts you in a good place in a meritocracy, so long as you can operate without guile or betrayal.

I assume you can do both to save your right to gamble, yes?"

The talented degenerate blinked twice and moved his gaze to Rein and Kiera, confused if he was hearing what they were. "I'm sure you can understand my skepticism about you justifying my trustworthiness based upon an addictive hobby known for breeding desperation and poor decision making."

"I lack trust in people's pure desires, but I can predict and trust in their vices." Kaze smiled ominously, "And so long as I remain the strongest, you will not jeopardize your freedom of vices for petty gains. Such is my philosophy of rule."

"That's…." Steve sighed, "More than disconcerting, but I humbly accept."

"I have high hopes for you." The emperor smiled, turning to the short-haired brunette in the room, "As does someone else."

"Wait!" Rein cried, turning beet red, "Don't speak on my behalf! You were the one interacting with this lowlife, not me!"

"So I assume you will still beg her for a drink?" Kaze smiled, ignoring the embarrassed brunette, "Past debts withstanding, I'm certain you have enough money, yes?"

Steve scratched his cheek embarrassedly, calculating his past debts against the 20,184 Skye he had just won after fees, and turned to the brunette.

"I do have enough." He smiled, "Rein, can I take you to a drink? There's a really great casino not too far—"

Slap! THUD!

The degenerate flew across the small room and smashed into the wall. "GuhhhHhhHHh…. If you were turning me down, you didn't have to be violent about it…."

"I didn't do that because you asked me out, you idiot!" Rein snapped, "That's for touching me without asking my permission. Just because you didn't touch [me] didn't mean that it didn't count!"

Steve smiled helplessly, rubbing his cheek with a shameless smile. "So does that mean I can buy you a drink?"

"No, you can't buy me a drink… at Kat's Casino…." She said with slightly rosy cheeks, "You'll at least have to offer a drink at Club Quinn…."

"I suppose I can do that." The Asian man said, eyes widening when he felt bloodlust, "I-I mean, Rein, can I buy you a drink…?"

"If it's to apologize for putting me through hell all night, then yes." Rein replied boldly, averting her gaze.

"It's an apology, then." Steve smiled charmingly, standing up, "Once we leave, I'll apologize as many times as you like."

"You're free to go." Kaze smiled, "I have finished my objectives. The only thing I have left to do here is check in with the police force."

"You mean Immortal Skye's Head of Vice?" Kiera asked sarcastically, glaring at her lover with narrowed eyes.

"If you mean Carmen Skeer—yes." He replied relaxedly, "She is the one running security. Would you like to join me?"

"That~depends; can I kill her?" She asked with a serious expression, "She's guilty of professional irony in the first degree. If she's not stopped, she might cradle rob a household and steal their pets."

Kaze gave her a silent, mocking smile, making her look away.

The slang riddler genuinely wanted to start an [anti-cock hawk] night shift to prevent lecherous behavior. However, her anxiety from being around people constantly was getting rough. "It's okay… can I stay over tonight?"

"My room is your room." He smiled, enjoying watching her eyes light up with excitement, "While I won't be there until around 2 am, it's free to you at all times, even if I'm away."

"Really!? Kiera cried excitedly, "Like, like, like…. It's [our] room?"

"It's our room." He smiled, "I wouldn't have given you that ring if the room wasn't ours, yes?"

Her eyes lit up in wonderment, looking at her new ring, feeling it solidified their relationship.

On the surface, it was sterling silver with a dazzling aquamarine stone. However, there was something special about the ring that made it touch her heart.

"Can I use it?" Kiera asked, gazing into his eyes expectantly.

"Of course." He smiled lovingly.

She smiled brightly and closed her eyes, pouring Qi into the ring. It lit up with a radiant golden light, and a spatial rift opened, making her squeal uncharacteristically.

"It's really just like yours!" Kiera cried with sparkling eyes, "It's amazing. I'm going to try it out!

Join me soon, like really soon, the sooner the better, like, the soonest—now is ideal, so hurry up keeping this hoeplex in check and get back to me."

Kaze gave her a wry smile, enjoying her message but disapproving of her term [hoeplex]. Seeing his half-disapproval, she decided to make an escape.

"Look at the time; gotta go! Love you, miss you, bye!" Kiera exclaimed, blushing furiously after the word [love] came out of her mouth.

She quickly ran through the warp gate and froze on the other side, staring at his bed.

The ring he gave her was a spatial rift that led to his room within a mile radius of the connection point. With enough Soul Qi, it could span planets, but they were a long way out.

While it was practical to most, it was special to Kiera.

She asked for his Forced Tranquility technique. However, Kaze couldn't teach her one at her level and wouldn't, as anxiolytic Spirit Qi techniques were addictive and dangerous.

Instead, he made her a ring that allowed her to escape to their room whenever she wanted.

Kaze called it the Anxiety Disappearance Ring, a poor attempt at her puns.

"This really is [our] room?" Kiera muttered with tears of joy in her eyes, "I don't deserve this. I'm not sure why he'd ever fall for someone like—WAIT!"

Her eyes widened when she remembered something important.

═─┈─═─┈─═

Rein and Steve developed wide smiles at Kiera's insanely cute exit. However, the rift hadn't closed, and ten seconds later, a demonic face materialized from thin air.

"You, lips, move, tell, love, death." Kiera warned sternly, making the two shiver. Before they could even nod, the teen blushed again and disappeared, closing the rift.

"Well then," Kaze smiled, "It seems you two have bore witness to the taboo secret behind my affection for this woman. Make sure not to speak of it lest you court death."

He wiggled his fingers in a *spooky* *spooky* gesture, making their tensions disappear and bringing smiles back to their faces.

The slang riddler was far more sensitive and endearing than her countenance suggested—and he confirmed it.

Kiera London Snow was a yandere to Kaze and a tsundere to others—if it didn't involve him.

Steve didn't know that the two archetypes weren't mutually exclusive until that moment, but he didn't question it. He only hoped Rein wasn't Kiera's mirrored reflection—a hidden yandere wearing her tsundere personality. [1]

"Okay, off to your date." Kaze smiled deviously, making them blush and turn to each other. They wanted to protest, but he created a spatial rift and pushed them through it with Qi.

"Oof!" Steve grunted, hitting tiles, "Where are we?"

"I… don't know…." Rein said, looking around at the small room with strange electronic equipment.

"Who the hell are you guys!?" A blonde sitting in a chair overlooking a window, strobing blue and white lights, cried in a panic.

"We were… sent here by the Emperor." Steve said, "Wait… what's this?"

A piece of paper materialized from thin air, flying into his hands.

The paper said, [Rein Joyfall and Steve Chung are taking over lighting for the next hour. Take a well-deserved break. Sincerely, Kaze Lexicon].

"What is that?" Rein asked, watching him read it with trembling eyes, "Don't hold secrets."

He gulped nervously. "I-It says that [I'm]—"

The short-haired brunette knew he was playing games, so she snatched the paper out of his hands, read it, and blushed furiously, turning around completely. "W-What was that idiot thinking!?"

A bottle of wine materialized out of thin air, followed by two crystal glasses and a corkscrew. While the confused people tried to catch them, they hit the ground—and didn't break.

"Did Kaze reinforce these glasses…?" Steve asked in disbelief.

"What's going on?" The blonde pleaded nervously.

Rein blushed and handed the woman the note, making her blush as well.

"R-Right…." The blonde said, "I guess I'll go hang out in the club for the next hour...."

Without further discussion, she ran past the two, blocking the only door in the room.

"Um, I think this is the Emperor's way of saying that he doesn't trust me with money." Steve smiled in self-deprecation, holding the bottle of wine.

Rein grinned, thinking about the absurdity of the situation. "I wonder why...."

"I couldn't tell you." He replied shamelessly, "Can… I [give] you a drink? Drinking with a degenerate is rational if the booze is free, the supplier will murder them for foul play, and the glass can double as an indestructible weapon."

"I guess it is rational." Rein replied, bursting into uncharacteristic giggles involuntarily, "Since you asked, I think I can manage."

"Heh, I thought that my luck streak was over." Steve said with a charming smile, twisting out the cork, "But I guess I was wrong."

She blushed furiously, turning away with a frozen expression, embarrassed to an unbearable extent. "Y-You're still alive; I'm surprised you're just now realizing that."

"I'm not the best with life decisions." He chuckled, handing her a glass from her side, making her turn to accept it, "But somehow, it's working out of me."

Rein peered into his pitch-black eyes with a charmed and terrified gaze, worried she might fall for him. "Well, I hope your luck never ends…."

"I do, too." Steve replied with a charming smile, gazing into her eyes.

—

[A/N: [1] Yandere is a socio-psychological [syndrome], not a personality trope. They're emotionally obsessive characters willing to resort to violence to maintain a bond.

It focuses on a character's actions; it says nothing about their personality. A yandere might be silent and murder people in their sleep or be very vocal. Or they might make implicit threats 24/7.

By contrast, tsunderes are people with harsh or overtly self-serving personalities who are actually compassionate and gradually warm up. It's a personality trope unrelated to a character's actions.

Kiera Snow is a tsundere until someone attacks, threatens, or speaks ill of Kaze Lexicon—then, her psychosis comes out to play. Thanks for reading!]