It was a familiar sensation.
Just like before… It is similar to my kisses with others. However, it was different. Call me a scumbag, but every girl has their own charm. Artemis has an inviolable purity, while Hephaestus has that mature charm. Mashiro has the vibe of a clingy kitten, while Manaka has an unspeakable craziness that likes your company.
As for Hitori…
It was the feeling of a forbidden act at first.
"Mn…"
It wasn't known when, but several minutes had already passed. From her trembling state, she became more relaxed as I… pinned her against the wall. I saw her dazed eyes which reminded me of my first kiss with Artemis.
"Nobu…"
"Are you already tired?"
"No… Let's continue."
I was slightly surprised that she took the initiative to ask for it.
Within these few minutes, I took the lead to teach her the deep kiss. It was also the time when she gradually stopped trembling.
'If so…'
We delved into round two. The intertwinement of our tongues didn't go as smooth as expected. There are times when we were left in an awkward moment, but I still decisively chose to take the lead.
Kissing while holding hands…
Knock-!
Knock-!
Several sets of knocks woke us from our stupor. Hitori, with a reddened face, looked surprised when she heard it.
"That's kaa-san..!"
She looked at me with a hint of anxiety. Her blue pupils are shaking to show her 'shock'.
Wiping off the strand of saliva left on her mouth, I reassured her.
"Don't worry."
I held her hand as I took her out of the dark studio. This time, it is my turn to guide her.
"I'm coming in."
Michiyo-obasan soon entered the room. It was just in time that I managed to calm Hitori down. I kept holding her hand underneath the kotatsu.
"Oh? Did I interrupt with something?"
"You didn't, kaa-san…"
"Alright, alright."
Knowing that Hitori was embarrassed, Michiyo-obasan didn't take much time. By the time she left, Hitori heaved a deep sigh of relief.
"Did kaa-san notice something..?"
'It seems like doing some naughty things within their house kicked her usual disease…'
For now, I relished our precious moment together.
*****
Several days later.
"Achi!"
A golden-haired girl was walking along the streets of Gion District when she sneezed. She was fortunate to place the crepe on her hands outside of her sneeze.
The rapier that accompanied her for a long time remained sheathed on her waist.
It would've been a strange sight to see a year and a half ago, but it isn't now.
"Isn't she…"
"The Sword Princess..?"
With the assistance of the Internet, the names of numerous 'front-liners' spread out. Coupled with her naturally good looks, Aiz became popular on Earth.
"Riveria… What did you mean by that..?"
A year and a half.
There wasn't a moment when she slacked off. Be it the sporadic appearances of Demons or the other strong swordsmen living in this world, Aiz sought to challenge them—to attain victory.
She wasn't even affected when she got connected to her 'parallel self', to which simply supported her endeavor to become stronger.
In the past, it was for revenge.
Now, it was for the safety of her friend's world.
However…
"You are missing something. It is up to you to find it."
Heeding Riveria's words, Aiz took a 'long break'. It was coincidental that her first place to visit was Kyoto.
Wearing a casual white dress, she continued to stroll towards 'nowhere'. The light blue belt she has on her waist fitted the dress perfectly.
While she was walking, she came across someone she knew.
"Ah."
"Ah."
In terms of appearance, the girl 'fought evenly' with her. In fact, they both have long golden hair. Even their 'expressionless' demeanor was the same.
However, there was something that set a difference between them.
"...Aiz-san."
"Nobu's lover."
It was yet another clash between the strongest expressionless girl (autistic) in history and the strongest expressionless girl (autistic) of today.
"What brought you here, Nobu's lover?"
The scenery. It is a good place to paint."
Seeing the canvas carried under her arm, Aiz did not doubt Mashiro's words.
"I wish you good luck."
"...You too."
Aiz stared at Mashiro's disappearing back. She met her several times during the crucial fights.
Mashiro's strength lies in her cursed technique to manifest 'fiction' into reality through the medium of drawings.
Though, she also heard of the news that she is one of the girls Nobu is currently dating. For some reason, she felt something strange as she learned of it.
"Missing something… What was it..?"
While she remained confused, Riveria, on the other side, placed down her pen on the table. She sighed as she thought of Aiz who remained clueless as to what is happening now.
"That girl… She really placed all her talents on the sword."
It didn't come off as a surprise for Riveria to see Aiz acting cluelessly up to now. Rather, she knew how dense Aiz was when it comes to her interpersonal relationships.
It was fine with her friends, but when it comes to something more complicated, her mind overloads.
Simply put, she would not understand the difference between 'love' and 'friendship', thus she was 'left behind' by her peers.
If she knew that Nobu has a new girlfriend, Riveria couldn't predict what Aiz would do.
"To know or to not know. Was it the resolution that the other Aiz could not seek?"
From her other self, Riveria knew their fate—Aiz included. Since they weren't able to come with Nobu, they didn't even know about his demise until the calamity they faced was defeated.
It was at that moment did Aiz lose yet another meaning in her life. Riveria did not want to see another repeat of it.
"Aiz… It's time to grow up."
*****
Love.
It is a simple yet complex emotion. Others would claim to have understood it, but it remains untrue.
After a long period of strolling, Aiz found herself standing in front of a mountain shrine. She entered a moment of absent mindedness the moment she met Mashiro.
She kept contemplating what she was missing.
"...Aiz."
She was snapped out of her deep thoughts when she heard a familiar voice.
"Nobu."
Nobu walked out from behind the shrine. It was far-fetched to say that it wasn't a coincidence. Nobu carried the burden of omniscience, something that slowly stripped his 'humanity' away from him.
It was a matter of person to person.
Once someone manages to gain everything, does life still have a meaning?
Without any challenges, does it still hold something precious?
In fact, this was something that Nobu saw from a god in another world.
The Aeon, Nous, held the answers to all the questions of the world, yet it chose to bestow questions to mortals instead. It made that decision for the mortals to actually seek the meaning behind those questions.
Nobu was similar. Despite the fact that he knew that these events would happen, he chose not to look at the answer sheet once again, making the future that he saw different.
Having foreseen their meeting here, Nobu is determined to help Aiz find her much-needed answers.
"You want to ask why I am here, no?" Nobu asked her. "Would you believe that I came here to meet you?"
"Why did you want to meet me?"
"Well… It looks like you are somehow confused."
Aiz fell silent at his words.
"Hey, Aiz. Do you still remember our first meeting?"
"Your fight with goliath."
Nobu's fight with the goliath was unexpected. It suddenly barged into his camp without any warning. In the end, he was forced to fight it with all his strength.
He, a level one, was able to defeat the goliath with the power of the stars.
It was purely a coincidence that the Loki Familia witnessed that fight.
"It wasn't that pleasant. But, your first impression back then was to fight."
"I was curious about your strength." She replied. "...and I was bested by you."
With Nobu's superior combat experiences as well as Aiz's lack of experience against humanoid enemies, he was able to win their friendly bouts. That was the moment she gained even more interest in him, until they became friends due to their amount of interaction.
"Nobu… What of Tiona?"
"Hm?"
"She likes you. Why aren't the two of you… lovers?"
"That…"
Her words made Nobu remember their meeting a year and a half ago.
"I don't want to steal the initiative from Aiz. That's why… when she confesses her love, that will be the time I will come for you!"
Perhaps it was their friendship, but Tiona did not choose to act as much as others did. She had long wanted to make a move on Nobu, but she chose to respect her friend first.
In the end, Nobu was forced to shift the topic.
"Aiz, you might be wondering why Riveria-san asked you to take a leave…"
"You know about it?"
"Yes." He replied. "There is something occupying your mind."
As he became closer to Aiz, the latter started to feel something strange within her.
"Remember what they do during Denatus?"
"...You didn't come back then."
"Well, I was lying low at that time."
Hephaestus kept Nobu's true level a secret amongst gods. They deliberately delayed his level up time to make it sound less absurd, yet his 'known' progress was still absurd by their standards.
Even Bell Cranell wasn't able to break his records as of the moment.
"Anyways… The dance that I wasn't able to give to you. Let's do it now."
Aiz's eyes widened as she heard about it. She experienced a mix of emotions within her heart, once again forming the complicated feeling that she kept on having.
Even so, she accepted Nobu's invitation. She held his hand as Nobu placed his other hand on her waist. It was the most simple formal dance, a waltz.
Being in close contact with him made Aiz act strangely. She could feel Nobu's heartbeat as her chest was pressed on to his own.
It didn't take long before the two had their sights on each other. When their eyes met, they never looked at anything else.
It was at this moment…
"Someday, you will find a hero of your own."
The cryptic message her mother told her rang on her mind once more. This time, she imagined a similar scenario, but with her and Nobu.
'A hero… Was this what mother meant..?'
Someone who would protect her.
Someone with a blazing ideal.
Someone who doesn't turn his back onto others.
Aiz, after contemplating for the longest time…
…understood it.
It wasn't known whether it was the law of attraction or anything else, but the subsequent events happened naturally.
Before she could even realize it, Aiz felt that her lips touched Nobu's.
It was a kiss.
It didn't occur for long. The two separated after a while. But then…
"Mn..?"
Nobu was slightly surprised to see Aiz take the initiative to kiss him again. Somehow, it reminded him of another golden-haired girl…
'...What am I thinking..?'
As if feeling that their lips weren't enough, Aiz instinctively knew what to do next. She stuck out her tongue and started 'invading' Nobu's mouth, to which he reciprocated.
From the literal dance, it became a dance of something else.
Perhaps it was a result of pent-up emotions, but all of the confessions that Nnobu received were like this.
Fifteen minutes later, the two had already finished their intimate moment. They were standing apart from each other, yet the two were holding hands—an extremely intimate act.
Just then, their silence was broken by a disturbance.
"Sirius!"
It wasn't known how, but a familiar tanned amazoness was falling down from the sky.
Coincidentally, it was Nobu who caught her in his arms, carrying her like a princess.
"I waited for a long time… but it finally happened..!"
Before Nobu could even reply properly, he found his lips stolen… for the second time today.