Chapter 69: A Complicated Choice
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"Looks like you had fun," Mem handed me a towel as I walked out of the sea and began to dry myself.
"Why the tone?" I asked as I dried myself, laughing a little. The swim was fun.
"Yes, don't be like that. I am not going to steal your little boy," Quetzalcoatl walked out of the water as she said that; her wet skin was glistening under the sun.
"...He's not mine," Mem-Cho replied and looked away. "He's just an asshole. Looks like you guys had fun swimming, that's all that matters."
Quetzalcoatl shook her hair as the wind in the area increased all of a sudden. A gust of wind made her hair dance and dry as she spoke.
"You need to be dominant with guys like him, you know? You can't say he isn't yours, you have to make him. I have been watching the show, and I'm rooting for you." She gave her a thumbs-up and began to walk away. "Anyways, boy, you focus on your shooting. Tomorrow you'll have to get busy. Unless that Mage completes the mission by himself before that."
"Bye, Quku-" I waved and paused when she turned back to give me a look. "Huh? Am I not allowed to call you that? Mem was doing that earlier, so…"
"That's how I introduced myself to her, yes. My real name can be quite a mouthful, you know?" She stopped to inform me. "So I just mix the first letters of my two names. Quetzalcoatl, and Kukulan. I don't allow people who know my identity to call me Quku, but sure. I'll allow you two."
She said that and left. I shrugged and looked back to Mem-Cho. Strangely, she didn't react to Quku's last rant. Rather, her mind was stuck on the words of advice that the immortal woman said.
I stared at her and she broke out of her daze. A deep blush arose on her face from whatever deranged fantasy she might have been imagining just now.
I deadpanned at her. "That's a Warrior Goddess who can crush a mountain between her thighs, I wouldn't take her love advice if I were in your shoes."
I walked away. I now had an odd burden on my shoulder; Aztec was one thing, but if it was Poseidon's granddaughter who was related to my mission, then Olympus was in this too.
'Haah, born in DxD, I am more entangled with Gods than I am with the devils. Then again, this is more fun anyway.' I hummed as I roamed around the beach again.
In the corner of my eyes, I caught the figure of Mai Senpai. Suddenly, I recalled a tiny little detail about her.
Ah.
Didn't she get into her forgetting incident right after she had to wear swimsuits for a photoshoot? Is she doing alright?
* * *
[Third Person Point of View]
Akane was sitting near a boulder with her mind all over the place. What Aqua told her earlier drove her mind into an abyss of thought. It was not just a matter of dating at this point, the way he said it was a little harsh - in her opinion. But she understood.
She wanted him, but the competition was too much. So she thought she could make him want her back if she turned herself into his ideal girl. But his ideal girl was not singular to one type, he said he likes many types of women.
So, if she thought she wasn't enough, he said she should improve herself with other qualities that would make her enough.
But…
"He didn't say I am not interesting enough as I am, though…" she pondered aloud. "He said if I think I'm not enough… I can always improve myself to be enough in my mind. But based on what he said earlier, about not having any particular preference in girls, is there any need to change myself?"
Now that she thought about it out loud. Didn't he just imply… He liked her as she was, and she didn't have to change herself. Unless, of course, she felt like she wasn't enough and wanted to change on her own.
That was so thoughtful of him.
Akane blushed a little, her fingers twirling with her hair. "I'm such an idiot…. Here I was thinking of pretending to be his type, but he likes me as I am. Stupid me."
Now that she thought about it, wasn't she the only one whom he withstood a deadly attack for? He sent the other two girls on their own but kept her behind him to keep her safe. Maybe… he really did like her more than the others.
No, she was getting ahead of herself. 'I was just weak and needed protection. But the other two girls didn't.' She shook her head. He liked her, and she was grateful for that, but maybe he didn't like her more than those two.
She'd try to change that in the next three days. She'd get to know him better, and let him know more about her too.
"Hey, Akane,"
Akane was pulled out of her daze by the voice of a young man. She stopped smiling – just coming to realize that she had been smiling at all – and turned to find Sen just by her side. She was startled a little as she stood up, taking a step back.
Had he snuck up on her? "Ah, hey, Sen."
"Hey…" Sen rubbed the back of his head. He wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, just like the other guys. "I had a weird dream back in Fuji. That you slapped me. You know, we all fell asleep and went missing, I think it's a dream from them. It's all… foggy, but yeah."
"Ah," Akane blinked. Right, Aqua told her that the others would forget about the stuff that happened around that time thanks to the magic fog he used. So did Sen forget the stupid offer he made and that he got slapped for it to boot? "...It's fine. It's just a dream, right?"
Akane decided to drop the matter. If he didn't remember about it, maybe he'd grow out of it and become better.
"I guess," Sen stopped rubbing the back of his head and hesitated. In the end, he let his gaze loose from her eyes and wandered her body. Akane blinked and covered her body.
"What are you doing?!" Akane felt quite creeped out.
"Huh… Senpai, you're hot. No need to hide it. Don't be ashamed of your body. I mean, I'm sure you know you're hot since you're wearing such a bold outfit." Sen said with a smile that he might have thought it was easygoing, but it made Akane shiver in a gross sense of goosebumps.
Of course, wearing bikinis meant it was natural that people would look. But like this? By this guy? It felt really creepy to be checked out like this.
"You know," he said, his hand reaching out to rest on her shoulder. "There is more to this episode left. I saw you talk to Aqua earlier, and from the looks of it, he might have rejected you…? I don't know, I didn't catch the conversation. How about we… you know, try to pair? With this episode and the others remaining, we might be able to garner some attention. Since we are in a beach episode too, maybe we can even do some naughty shoot-"
Her hand came flying on his face. She found herself feeling like puking again. Here she thought he would learn, but he was a perverted little bastard.
With a grunt, Akane walked away from the area, leaving a stunned Sen behind.
And unlike that day in the washroom, the cameras caught everything. It was a spicy drama.
* * *
[First Person Point of View]
"And, he got slapped again." I laughed as I sipped Boba while sitting beside Mai.
"I am not sure if you're making this up or he's just that dumb," Mai said with a shake of her head as she dangled her legs from the boulder we were sitting on top of.
We were in a fairly isolated place now. It was nighttime now, and I was telling her about the Sen slapping incident that I felt with [Jade Perception] a few hours ago. It made for good gossiping material while stargazing.
"I've been meaning to ask," I spent the last few hours with her, but didn't ask her about this yet. "Did you enjoy the day? The swimsuit didn't bother you, did it?"
"..." She paused briefly, stopping midway her sip. Slowly, she raised her head and looked into my eyes. Was she really that surprised that I remembered? "It was fine. I was thirteen back then; it was weird for me. But now I've ample curves to show off and feel proud about, I guess. So this was an enjoyable day if anything. And it was fun seeing you brush off the foreigner guys trying to hit on me."
To my surprise, she leaned her head on my shoulders before the last line. I put my left arm around her shoulder.
"But of course. How can I let other men hit on my Senpai?" I squeezed her soft shoulder as my eyes locked on the pair of invisible bunny ears on her head. They were now white, just as I had noticed on the other nights.
"Right," she sounded unamused even as she smiled at the moon. "I'm not sure if I am doing myself any good by admitting this but… it feels comforting to be around you. It's odd. So don't get any weird ideas just because I'm resting my head on your shoulder."
That was mostly my Gold Sign, I think. It was useful for traumatized girls like her.
"Sure," I leaned near her neck to breathe in her scent. "You smell good."
"That's creepy…" she giggled, her cheeks went a little red as she sipped Boba. "You are such an idiot." She whispered under her breath, I didn't reply because it didn't seem I was meant to hear that.
"Haah," she nudged a bit closer to me, her eyes still on the moon. "One more episode remains… You know, in LoveMy, the last episode reveals the couples? Usually, it's not unpredictable, but sometimes there are love triangles. So viewers stay on the edge of their seats until the end. I think this season is like that too because of you."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Who are you going to pick?" For once, she lifted her head back up to look into my eyes. "It's Mem-Cho, right?" She sounded confident in that guess, and a little sad too. She hid it so well that I would have missed it if not for my old soul.
I didn't have much development with Mai Senpai. There was that kiss, but it was not romantic. Right after that, I made out with Mem-Cho in front of her. So naturally, all the hope for romance she might have had was squashed.
But right now, in this atmosphere, under the moonlight and the gentle breeze, her blue eyes sent me signals.
Her question wasn't a question. It was an invitation. A door. The key to that door was not an answer, but another question - with a calculated action.
"Who knows?" I asked her as my hand went beneath her ear and I leaned forward to capture her lips. She didn't look shocked and she didn't try to pull back. She closed her eyes and gave in, her hands holding my face and pulling me into the kiss.
Under the moon, things grew a little more complicated than I would have liked.
As cameras rolled in the far, capturing the last of this episode, a knot formed in my heart.
The choice was Akane from the start, but Ai told me she liked Mai too. Who do I choose amongst them? And if Akane was not the definitive answer, why should I keep Mem-Cho out of the competition? The initial false reasoning I gave her was that I didn't want to have relationships with my subordinates, but I am fucking Tsubasa – who is also a part of the Sect. So Mem-Cho must feel wronged.
Ahh, so complicated.
I wanted them all, and that was possible given enough time. But only one could be my girlfriend in public, sadly. And if I had to honor one of them with the public title, there is no reason for it to be Akane. The other two weren't bad choices either.
Hah.
Who must I choose in the next episode?
Thankfully, I had a mission to distract my mind using – once the sun rose. Perhaps I could relieve some stress today if I had the chance to spill blood and clear my mind.
That'd allow me to make a good decision.
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