My name is Ashton Anchors. I'm a swordsman, a good one, or at least I used to be. Before I met Claude, and Rina, and Celine, before I was introduced to these two pesky dragons on my back. Don't get me wrong. I don't hate them or anything. Just that they are actually thousand-year-old-over Mazoku who feel the need to help me with my love life. Or the lack of one. I listen, but really, some of the things they would have me do-! Of course, they have lived much longer than I have, and seen more than I have, but they're Mazoku. I'm human. Our love lives are pretty different, right? They're threatening to do something really bad now. I wonder.. how would Claude react if I suddenly went up and kissed him? That's their idea. They say that if I won't do it, they'll take over my body and do that themselves. And the rest of their suggestions don't even bear repeating. I wonder how I would react if I did do that. Possibly, I'd blush, and then I'd run off to the furthest corner of the earth and dig myself a nice big hole and stay there. Because, of course, Calude would be so horrified at the very notion of me kissing him, that he would /never/ speak to me again. Rina would be mad at me, and Claude would try to kill me, and Celine would scold me, and.. Claude would never want to see me again I'm a coward. I'm not as brave as Claude can be, nor as tough. So if that happened, I probably wouldn't be able to take it. If I were faced with a world where I couldn't see Claude, I would kill myself. I'm not smart and wise, like Celine, nor as sweet an kind like Rina. Of that, I hold no illusions. The only reason why they allow me to stay, is because they are nice people. All of them, especially Claude. I could talk for hours about Claude, so I won't start. But I have to mention that he has this wonderful hair, which is gold and silky and makes my kneesgo all wobbly whenever the wind blows. And his eyes, which never fail to distract me.. they are beautiful, beautiful things, like sapphires, like deep blue pools, although no words could ever fully describe them. And when he looks at me.. Claude, to say the least, is really beautiful. More beautiful than Celine and Rina, or at least in my eyes. But beyond his beauty, he has a good heat. He's kind, smart, brave, and he stands up for what he believes in. He's one of the best swordsmen I've seen before. He is the person who makes me get all weak and clumsy, the person who makes my heart beat as fast as Celine can talk when she really wants to. He is taken. Only someone less than a fool wouldn't see the love he holds for Rina, and she for him. They're a perfect couple, really, and I could never break them up. Never. So I'll remain Ashton with the never-to-be-told-secret, and I'll go through life with two dragons on my back who tell me to do things I could never do. That's better than never seeing him again, I suppose. ____ When I think of Ashton Anchors, I think of a person who's incredibly complex- I don't know why. He's sometimes rather klutzy, and can get into messes faster than anyone else but Rina. He can be rather whiny and demanding at times, like a little child. But he has a good heart, a kind and compassionate heart, and he can be determined on something, when the cause of it really matters to him. He's a good person to be around. Somehow, I always feel better when he's in my vicinity, when I can see him. It's like his presence alone warms me. I can't describe that feeling- I don't know how. I should really find Rina and ask her about this. Since I've come to this world, Rina has been one of my best friends- I've talked to her about almost everything, and she's told me everything too- from her early and shortlived crush on me and her current love, Dius. He's cute, and so is she. I hope it works out. There goes Rina. I should call out to her and ask her if she'd free to talk.. ____ "Celine?" "Mmph?" The shorter girl flashed into Celine's line of vision. This library that they were visiting was one of the best in the world, and it was only luck that they had been allowed to search the books within. "I..I need your help on something." "Sure." Celine put down the book she had been reading, careful so that she kept hte page.