danced through the chaos like a phantom, each blade stroke clean and silent. The enemy had no time to scream before vanishing into the void. And every time Saber locked onto a target, charging in with deadly precision…

Poof. Natalia had already taken the kill.

“Again?” Saber muttered, blinking as the final blow he’d been lining up disappeared in a puff of smoke. Natalia just gave a cheeky wink before fading back into stealth, giggling to herself.

By the fourth stolen kill, Saber wasn’t even trying to hide the storm cloud above his head. His usually expressionless mask seemed more… broody. His swings grew sharper. His dashes, faster. But no matter how quick he was, Natalia always seemed to get there a breath before.

When the heat died down and the map quieted, Natalia crept behind him and pulled him into a bush—a secret little corner of the jungle.

He didn’t speak. Arms crossed, body stiff, gaze locked forward like he was calculating a thousand ways to say, “Why are you like this?”

Natalia tilted her head, then leaned closer, brushing her fingers under his chin. “Aww, my dear cyborg’s upset?” she cooed.

Still nothing. Just a slight twitch of his eyebrow. Flustered. Bingo.

She reached up and tugged gently at his collar, smoothing it like a lover fixing her knight’s armor. “I only steal your kills because you make the perfect bait,” she teased, her voice low and silky. “And I like watching you get all serious… It’s cute.”

Saber remained silent, but Natalia could tell—his ears were burning beneath the mask. The tips of them had turned a little pink. His grip on his sword relaxed just a bit.

“Come on,” she said, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder, “Don’t be mad. You know I’ll make it up to you.”

That got him. His head turned slightly toward her. “…How?”