The marble street was filled with all kinds of people. The crowd had one thing in common: they were all staring at Hajime. Perhaps admiring his handsomeness, his prowess, or his charm. In fact there were two reasons, both clinging to his arms, bickering with each other as they walked with him. Sakura and Aveline were yelling insults at each other, both women trying to one-up the other.
Hajime's ears were red. He wanted to pull at his collar, to cover his face with his hands, to shove his hands in his pockets but the two women held onto his arms like a pair of pit bulls biting on a bone. On any other occasion, he would be smiling. Aveline was expressing herself for once, and Sakura was getting along with someone else, kind of, he thought. But Hajime wasn't the biggest fan of crowds, especially the ones who stare.
"Ladies, can we uh calm down?" he said.
Two pairs of eyes stared at him, "We're perfectly calm.", they said in unison.
A sigh escaped Hajime's mouth.
"If you guys keep arguing then people will keep staring," he said.
"Good," Sakura said, her grip tightening, "Everyone will know you're my daddy."
"He's my partner, little girl." Aveline said, "Besides, I'm a princess while you're just a-"
Hajime's ears were burning.
"Girls, girls, can you please stop?"
The two ignored his cries and kept fighting. Sakura began to yell louder and Aveline matched her volume.
Hajime tried to look for a way to distract them or at least get them to stop yelling. His eyes darted to various clothing stores, restaurants, and even a blacksmith but those wouldn't work. Then he saw a mini carnival.
"How about you ladies compete?" he blurted out.
The two stopped arguing. They looked at each other before fixing their eyes on Hajime.
"Compete? What's the prize?" they asked in unison, yet again.
'Why are they in sync today of all days,' he thought.
"How about the winner gets to continue on this date with me?"
The two looked at each other, their hands tightening around Hajime's arms, stopping the blood from reaching his hands, before their eyes met his.
"You're on," they said.
The three made their way towards the carnival, stopping by a wooden booth. They bought tickets for three games.
"Best out of three," Aveline said.
"Deal."
Hajime watched as the two threw balls at the ducks, knocking them over. Aveline won this round. Next, Sakura was the first to play the archery game, her aim precise as she set her sights on the center of the targets, managing to hit every arrow, scoring her enough points to win this round. The final round was a fishing game.
The smell of fish assaulted Hajime's nose. He stood on the edge of the pond, curiously looking for any water critters, a fish popping its head out of the water before dashing away.
Footsteps interrupted his focus as a man approached Hajime, a man with bangs, a man with blond hair, a man who had the pleasure of meeting a certain ice princess.
"Hi uh-um I'm A-armand." he said, his voice reaching an octet higher at the end.
Hajime forgot about the fishes as his attention shifted to the man. His eyebrows inched a little higher. He didn't know this man but he did seem familiar.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
The man's face reddened, "I-I I'm your classmate. I sit t-two rows behind you."
"Oh right, Armand." Hajime scratched the back of his head.
Armand awkwardly laughed.
"Poor Julian huh?" Armand blurted out. The moment the words left his mouth, he began shaking his head, lifting his hands and waving them.
"I didn't mean to say that I swear-"
"Julian?" Hajime asked, interrupting his rambling.
Armand rubbed his hands against his shirt, a nervous habit.
"Y-yeah, the guy who was iced by Ave-" he covered his mouth with his hands.
"No, I know who he is," Hajime said, he was the one who asked the system to kill him after all, "Why did you bring him up?"
Armand scratched the back of his head as his eyes glanced at Aveline and Sakura who were preoccupied with the fishing game.
"Well, you know, I-I just think it's brave of you to still bond with the Princess." he said, "S-she actually asked me to bond with her before the incident."
"Oh?"
Armand nodded his head repeatedly, "But I already had a partner," he pointed towards the brunette, who was bickering with Sakura and Aveline.
"Her name is Iris."
"She's cute. Congratulations." Hajime said.
"Th-thanks. Sorry, I tend to ramble. I-I um wanted to introduce myself to you earlier but I'm shy so-" he stopped talking.
Hajime gave him a polite smile that was interrupted by a pair of hands pulling him away from the pond. It was Aveline.
She gave Armand a cold glare before she dragged Hajime away.
"Why did you leave?"
"To look at the fishies?" he tilted his head, smirking.
She rolled her eyes at him.
"We're about to start," Aveline said, dragging him to the edge of the pond where Sakura was sitting on a chair, waiting.
She held a bucket in her lap, filled with dozens of worms. On the grass next to her, lay a fishing rod and another bucket filled with worms
"Okay, the first one to catch six fish wins," Sakura said.
Both ladies grabbed their buckets of worms, standing on the edge of the pond, both throwing all the worms into the water, the princess quickly growing a root from the ground, guiding it into the water, stabbing a fish, the oleander swiftly copying the princess' actions. After the ninth fish, Aveline smirked at Sakura.
"You're out of mana aren't you," she said.
Sakura smiled before catching the ninth fish.
"What? You've bonded with someone?" Aveline said.
A wicked smirk appeared on Sakura's face as she held onto the tenth fish. The score was tied.
"Took you long enough to figure it out."
Aveline's face scrunched.
"Who?" she asked.
Hajime felt a chill down his back. Sakura loved to play jokes but she wouldn't reveal their secret just to one-up Aveline, right? He swallowed and stared at Sakura.
Sakura met his stare with eyes that twinkled. She chuckled.
"A cousin," she said.
His legs wobbled.
Aveline caught the last fish, a satisfied smirk resting on her face as Sakura finished after her. Aveline took a step forward, holding her hand out to Hajime.
"I won, so you're coming with me," she said.
"I have to get back to the academy anyway." Sakura said, "I need to bake some muffins for my assignment."
Sakura stood up and hugged Hajime before whispering something in his ear, "I'm sorry I almost revealed our secret. I couldn't resist teasing her."
Hajime didn't respond, he just looked at Sakura with a blank face.
She chuckled again.
"Bye bye daddy." she waved before disappearing into the crowd, leaving Hajime and Aveline standing alone, next to the pond as the sun set over them. The golden hour shone down on them, a ray of sunlight illuminating Aveline's beautiful eyes, bringing out the green in them. Her luscious lips and smooth skin seemed to glow in the light.
"Where to next?" she bit her lips.
Hajime didn't answer her, instead, he enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his. It was cold to the touch yet it felt warm to him. He snapped back to reality and noticed that he had been staring at her.
"Sorry, I spaced out," he said, "I know a great spot."
They left the carnival, entering a nearby alleyway. Hajime guided her through the twists and turns, passing by the antique store, turning right just as the bridge came into view, stopping in front of a watch tower that was connected to the rampart. He opened the iron door and gestured for Aveline to enter.
"Is that a cobweb?" she asked, pointing towards the staircase.
"Probably."
Aveline shook her head defiantly.
"No no no, I refuse to go in there," she said, turning away and crossing her arms.
"I promise it's safe," he said.
"Hah, yeah right." she said, "What if there's a spider inside?"
Hajime had no idea that the stoic princess was afraid of spiders.
"There's no spiders here. Trust me."
"Lies," she said, "There are spiders everywhere, they're just waiting to jump on us and eat us."
He chuckled, "Eat us? That's ridiculous."
"It's not."
Hajime stretched his hand with a big smile on his face.
"Just hold my hand. I promise nothing will hurt you."
She paused for a moment before grabbing his hand. Hajime could feel her pulse racing as he led her up the dark staircase, opening the trapdoor and climbing up into a small room.
"What's that?" Aveline said as she rushed over to the window.
"The ocean."
Aveline reached her hand out to the ocean, the sea breeze brushing against her fingers, the sound of waves crashing against the shore echoing throughout the tower. She turned to Hajime and smiled.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"It is. But there are so many dangerous things under the water," he said.
"Dangerous? Like what?"
"Like sharks, jellyfish, eels, squids, and-"
A scream rang through the tower. Aveline desperately tried to get something off her hand. Hajime rushed over and laughed, removing the spider from her hand and dropping it outside.
"I hate spiders," she said, staring at her hand.
"You know, it's probably more scared of you than you are of it," Hajime said, his face inches from her face.
"Shut up."
Hajime smiled before he gazed back out the window.
"Have you ever seen a map of the island?" he asked.
"Yeah, I have but that was from before mana existed."
Hajime smiled at Aveline as he recalled what the System told him. He shook his head. There was plenty of time for that.
"Have I told you, how beautiful you look in the moonlight?"
Her cheeks reddened as she averted his gaze.
"Don't change the subject."
"What subject?" he said, gently grabbing her chin, turning her towards him, lovingly stroking her cheek. Their eyes met.
"I meant it, you know."
Aveline's eyes sparkled in the dim light. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"You're too sweet."
He brushed a strand of her violet hair away from her face, his eyes unable to stop staring at her, the once expressionless face of Aveline now revealing more of her emotions.
"I know," he smiled.
Her eyes fluttered open, her lips parted, and her breathing slowed. She played with her hair. Her gaze ping-ponging between Hajime's lips and the trapdoor in the empty room. Tilting her head in a side-to-side rhythm before she pushed herself away from him, away from the ocean, away from their relationship.
Grabbing her lithe waist, stubbornly preventing her from escaping, pulling her close to him, the wall preventing him from falling, their chests touching, his other hand resting on the side of her face, her warm breath tickling his nose, the moon reflecting in her eyes, her eyes closing in anticipation, driven by desire, he kissed her.