Saturo slowly rose into the air.
At first, it looked awkward, as if he himself wasn't fully used to the sensation yet. His body tilted slightly to one side before stabilizing, but after a few seconds, he stopped wobbling entirely. Then, without warning, he began flying around freely in the sky.
Cynthia stared upward blankly.
Escanor looked at Oriana.
Oriana looked back at Escanor.
The three of them shared the exact same thought.
...What kind of plot development is this?
Cynthia pointed at him with a trembling finger. "H-How are you flying?!"
Saturo merely smiled in response.
It was not a normal smile. It was the smile of someone who had just remembered another person's greatest weakness and unfortunately for Cynthia, one of her biggest fears happened to be heights.
Cynthia instinctively took a step back. "W-We can talk about this peacefully."
She immediately turned toward her Pokémon for support.
Unfortunately, Escanor had already begun walking away.Oriana climbed onto his back before clasping her hands together as though praying for Cynthia's soul.
They were surf boarding in the sky.
Cynthia's face froze.
"You traitors...!"
Before she could escape, Saturo suddenly descended from the sky and grabbed her around the waist like a piece of luggage.
"SATURO—?!"
The next second, the two of them shot into the sky.
The wind roared past them as the ground became smaller and smaller beneath their feet. Cynthia shut her eyes tightly at first, refusing to look down no matter what happened.
But eventually, curiosity won.
Slowly, she opened one eye.
Then both.
Her expression froze.
Below them was the lake where they had first met. The water reflected the evening sunlight beautifully while the surrounding mountains looked almost tiny from such a height. The scenery was breathtaking enough to momentarily make Cynthia forget she was currently being kidnapped into the clouds.
Then she realized Saturo was carrying her with one arm like a grocery bag.
Cynthia slowly turned toward him with the expression of someone preparing a homicide case.
Saturo looked back at her innocently.
Then he released his grip.
For a single second, Cynthia's brain stopped functioning.
Then gravity kicked in.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
She plummeted downward at terrifying speed, tears instantly flying out of her eyes from sheer panic.
Right before she crashed into the lake, Saturo suddenly appeared beneath her and caught her effortlessly in his arms like some prince from a romance novel.
Cynthia grabbed his collar instantly.
"You idiot! You absolute bast—"
Saturo dropped her again.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—!!"
A few moments later, he caught her once more in midair.
Cynthia was now one step away from attempted murder.
"You brat! Wait until I ge—"
He dropped her again.
By the time they finally landed near the lake, Cynthia looked completely drained. Her cheeks were puffed up while tears gathered slightly at the corners of her eyes from accumulated emotional damage.
Meanwhile, Saturo looked extremely satisfied with himself.
Cynthia wanted to yell at him again, but before she could, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the horizon.
The sunset painted the sky orange and gold while the surface of the lake shimmered beautifully beneath the evening light. The cool breeze carried the scent of water and grass through the air.
For a brief moment, everything felt peaceful.
Even Saturo stopped talking.
And somehow, despite wanting to throw him into the lake herself, Cynthia smiled faintly.
---
The next morning, karma arrived.
"ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVEN!"
Saturo collapsed face-first onto the ground, breathing heavily.
Cynthia stood nearby with her arms crossed. "Keep going."
Saturo's expression looked utterly lifeless.
After all, Cynthia had apparently "forgiven" him for yesterday's incident.
Which was precisely why she had doubled his training.
Escanor sat nearby like a retired martial arts master supervising his disciple, while Oriana waved a tiny handmade flag for moral support.
Saturo slowly pushed himself back onto his feet before glancing at Cynthia with a smirk. "Do you want that thing to happen to you again?"
Cynthia smiled sweetly.
Far too sweetly.
"What was that, Saturo?"
The atmosphere instantly turned dangerous.
Saturo wisely decided offense was the best defense and immediately lunged toward her.
Cynthia calmly grabbed a frying pan and hurled it at his face.
Saturo dodged it effortlessly. "Too slo—"
CLANG!
Escanor casually redirected the frying pan midair with his tail.
At the same time, Oriana jumped onto the spinning pan like it was a skateboard before kicking Saturo directly in the back of the head.
"GAH—!"
Saturo instantly lost his balance.
Since he had already been close to Cynthia, his body stumbled forward uncontrollably and crashed directly into her.
Fortunately—
or unfortunately—
it was not the cliché romantic kind of fall.
There was no accidental kiss.
No dramatic staring.
No sparkling shojo background.
The two of them simply slammed into the ground like victims of a traffic accident.
Cynthia's forehead hit the dirt.
Saturo rolled sideways into a bush.
Escanor looked disappointed.
Oriana silently gave them both a score of two out of ten.
Not that kind of cliche they fell.
I don't want that yuji cosplayer to come out from Singapore and do me like amos yee