In one of the darkest corners of a room, a girl sat. She had her phone in hand, browsing through the internet and looking for information.
'Catastrophe'.
'A meteorite?!'
'I know I'm not crazy, I saw giants!'
'Why are all the footage being deleted the moment they're uploaded!?'
It was all chaotic, but that wasn't what she cared about. Anna Yamada was left to her own designs, with questions unanswered and an unsorted anxiety. She had been home at that time, taking a nap... the next thing she knew, she was in the middle of the streets, people were running all over the place and the sirens screamed loudly.
"Anna-chan wake up! we have to go!"
Her parents pulled her away amidst the confusion, her eyes still drowsy and wondering what was going on.
All she was ever told was that her crush and childhood friend had an accident, her heart collapsed, but her parents didn't have the time to stop for a moment and talk to her, tell her what was going on.
Sanae and Yuki dropped Anna at the house of some friends before rushing out.
'T-They always treat me like I'm a little girl... even Ray-chan, they never tell me anything-'.
"An-chan, here you are-"
"I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!"
"..."
She screamed with tears in her eyes at the person who had just entered through the window, when she carefully analysed who it was, she covered her mouth, astonished.
"R-Ray-chan!?"
"I know you're not a little girl..."
Anna jumped on him, tackling him to the ground and crying, "I'm not a little girl... I'm not!"
Ray, for his part, gulped and felt her huge chest pressed against his, reaffirming in his mind that she was indeed not a little girl, hugging her and soothing her cries. He had come here to tell her about his departure, he knew it wasn't going to be easy, but her current mental state only made things more difficult.
Still, those were her words: 'I'm not a little girl!'.
She longed to be treated accordingly, and he realised that by not telling her how things were openly and without beating around the bush, that's precisely what he was doing.
"An-chan, do you want to hang out? I want to tell you something".
She nodded, went to the toilet to clean her face and mucus, dressed up casually and entwined their fingers. Her eyes were swollen, she had been crying a lot.
Ray took her to the park, along the way the streets were desolate, and people were confined to their houses like Japan was in the middle of a war. Not by regulations, but by choice. A square mile of flat destroyed land brought back memories, hideous ones.
"Ray-chan, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Why do you think that?"
They say on a bench dead in the night, just the two of them with a light post on top, eating snacks. Yet the vibe was not the same and she could feel it.
"Usually you'd talk more with me, but you have been silent all this time".
Ray sampled his ice cream, looking at the hanging moon and thinking how to tell her.
"… it is true, I have something to tell you" He realised that he couldn't keep treating him like a little girl.
"I will be-"
"I like you, Ray-chan!"
"…"
"I said I-I l-like you!" She repeated herself, a bit stuttering, screaming so loud that the whole street could hear.
"I heard you the first time".
"Then say something!"
He resisted the urge to laugh, failing miserably, "You couldn't wait for me to confess first?~"
Her heart fluttered, it was a confirmation, but deep inside she never doubted. Anna pouted and pulled his arm, "Because you would take your dear time! a-are you waiting until we are both old and wrinkly!?"
"I'm sorry, I like you too Anna".
Her countenance brightened up in relief, but not for a long time.
"And also… there are… other girls".
"W-What do you mean?"
He decided to come clean, it was unfair to give this step but not give it all the way.
"There are other girls I like, Anna. I'm sorry for not telling you until now".
"Y-You already have a girlfriend?"
"Not really, we are in a sort of odd relationship where they share me. I don't have an official girlfriend *cough* I have a fiance though, a wife, and a pet... two pets actually".
Anna remained there, looking at Ray, unresponsive, thinking about all the internet articles about relationships she read and how everything seemed to be inconsequential now when faced with reality
"Who are they?" Her expression darkened, it only took one second before the light returned to her eyes. She was able to fool Ray, but she wasn't able to fool the two ladies floating far away, concealed in the darkness of the night.
"Anna-chan is scary~" Hasshaku-sama giggled.
"That's a massive killing intent she has there" Azrael commented, tightly gripping her scythe.
...
Ray looked at the girl whose eyes looked as clear as the skies, but there was something deeper in there. It wasn't a type of energy he could feel. More like something instinctive.
He didn't dare tell them who the other girls were, at least not now, as he wasn't going to be around to solve any bad feelings.
"It is not important who they are, Anna-chan" He didn't want there to be any enmities, let alone he also didn't want her to feel frustrated, "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know if you would be able to-".
"I can, I can share! I don't mind!" She pulled his shirt harder, anxious.
"Eh?"
"I don't mind…! My mom has been telling me… about the possibility, I have been thinking about it" She bit her lips, "You were never close to any other girls our age, even Rias-chan and Akeno-chan... I don't think you look at them with those eyes".
'Sanae told her that...?' He didn't know if he should thank the mother-in-law or be suspicious.
"And we aren't precisely normal. Ray-chan, I can't if it's not you..."
Her eyes expressed longing, a concealed sense of possessiveness. It had been too many years together, too much love to give it up to a group of unknown vixens.
Ray smiled, held her chin and planted a kiss on her cheek, she flared up, for her, this was already so intimate.
"Let's have a proper date, Anna, come with me~"
'A-Anna...' She noticed the change in the way he addressed her, it sounded more mature albeit a bit foreign, nevertheless, she blushed and decided to 'woman' up.
"O-Okay, Ray".
They hooked their arms together, there was not much at this time of the night, but they had spent enough time together to know their way: Snacks & Fun.