"AS IF TSUKINAMI TOUMA WOULD CATCH THE PRINCESS' EYE! IT SHOULD BE ME!"

"EXACTLY! IT SHOULD BE ME, NATSUME-SAN'S LOYAL KNIGHT!"

"What about me?! She called me handsome!"

"Nu-uh, she called ME that!"

"I want to date her-"

"DAMARE."

The 5 Youkai froze in pure fear hearing that word from behind them, slowly turning to see a certain brown-haired male. His chocolate eyes looked stormy, matching his snarl and dark aura which festered behind him. Crossed arms and the pure HATE radiating off him just signified how angry he was.

"K-Keisuke!" Micchy knew that they were in hot soup now. For one, Keisuke did NOT like him one bit. Wait, actually, he didn't like any Youkai who just barged in and declared themselves as a member or bodyguard to someone.

Shutendouji, on the other hand, was oblivious to this, and thus saw this as a way to get to Natsume first, "Amano! I demand for you to help me get a date with the Princess-"

"NO."

The pure anger leaking from him was enough for even Shutendouji to stop.

"First of all, Neechan already has a date, and it would be in your best interest to stay away from her unless you want to taste my wrath. Second of all, I rather dislike all of you, so leave. NOW," there was something in his tone that said that he meant business. 

Shutendouji was stupid, though, so he shot back, "But the Hime loves me-" 

"No she doesn't. She loves Touma," Keisuke growled. 

"Why would she? He's so quiet and stupid and has nothing interesting about him and was once a villain-" 

"You have no reason to say that. Touma is one of the kindest people I know, and I do NOT tolerate your insults towards him. Also, you have no RIGHT to say that. If anything, you're WAY worse than he was before he redeemed himself!" Keisuke hissed. "You got rid of Fukurou and Sendou Rei just because they either didn't do it right or served their purpose. Also, you basically set Jorogumo up for our battle against her." 

Shutendouji froze. 

"Another thing is you kidnapping Ken-chan on the day you wanted to get the Youseiken, only for Neechan to awaken. You never apologised for what you did, nor did you EVER care. You just placed yourself beside Neechan and expected us to forgive you. Well, sorry for this, but we have NOT forgiven you. You messed up a lot of times and yet still have the guts to blame others for what THEY did wrong. That's why I want you to leave. RIGHT. NOW." 

Shutendouji was silent before he hung his head and walked away dejectedly. 

Micchy laughed, "HAHAHA! Jya, it's my turn-" 

"You're leaving too, Mitsumata Nozuchi," the 4 Youkai felt shivers go down their spines as Keisuke darkly stated those words. "I could have kicked you out the moment you got here, but I didn't cause I wanted to be blunt with you; you only helped out on certain occasions. Other than that, you were a jerk to me and Ken-chan, looking down on us just because we were younger, and worshipped Neechan for no reason. Calling yourself a knight when a TRUE knight wouldn't look down on others and act so selfishly. None of us liked that, but we held on, hoping that you had a chance of redemption. Our hopes were just crushed, though. So don't you ever think that you have a chance with Neechan with me around, because I WILL protect her. In fact, I already have on numerous occasions. It's best if you try to do a self-introspection of yourself before laughing at others. Now leave." 

Micchy's eyes were wide in shock, and he deflated before he turned around and walked away. 

The other 3 Youkai gulped upon seeing Keisuke turn to them, and ran like the wind away from the Amano household. 

After they left, Keisuke sighed in relief as he slumped on the door. Tired eyes replaced the dark ones previously there, and his posture screamed how exhausted he was.

"Kami, I had to work on Be Proud, help out with the Agency and balance my homework with having to deal with them...." he mumbled. A part of him regretted going blunt with them, but he just couldn't stand it anymore.

Then, 2 slightly chubby hands wrapped themselves around his waist, "You did great, Kei-chan. You can apologise once they redeem themselves."

"You sure, Ken-chan?"

"Very sure," Kenji smiled at him. "If anything, I got goosebumps hearing you hiss at Micchy."

Keisuke blushed, "S-Sorry! My exhaustion got the better of me, I suppose..."

"It's fine," Kenji waved it off. "What matters is that they're gone now, and we can all enjoy the festival."

Keisuke's warm smile just heated Kenji's heart lightly, "Sounds great."

Note: Since this is an AU where Kenji never died, Keisuke's manga won't be Masks.