"I would very much like that! I just assumed you would have grown tired of me by now… so…"
"How could that possibly be?" Cassius gently cupped Grace's left cheek, his smile warm. "Your presence is always welcome. Even after today, you can feel free to contact me anytime."
Scarlet colored Grace's cheeks; his smile was far too dangerous. And the way he was considerately holding her cheek… Gah…! She was on the verge of fainting from sweetness overload. Yet Cassius was also feeling something similar upon seeing her flawless face warm up and twist beautifully.
He had to let her cheek go if he didn't want to get too caught up in the moment.
She dismayed a bit at him letting go of her so soon, but quickly found more enjoyment as they continued strolling through the city.
Cassius had long since grown accustomed to controlling his body under the stress of so much weight, as he seemed to have a natural talent for it, so the date passed in a relaxed manner. At least, it did for them…
CRACK—
Aya's face became covered by more and more black streaks as she crushed yet another metal pole, making it the twentieth one today. She fumed and darkly mumbled to herself, scaring away anyone in the area. Meanwhile, inside her mess of a head:
'First, they act all lovey-dovey with each other, and now they even hold hands and go couple shopping with each other!? They have already been into over ten different stores—do they know no shame!? Have they no consideration for others!?? Gawshh!! Gah!!'
Aya lightly banged her head on the metal pole, feeling so unbelievably vexed. She didn't even really know what she was so angry about, but she was angry about it! She was so, so annoyed!
Cassius had been feeling something since the date first began, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, or even if it was really all that malevolent. However, seeing as no real deathly intent was mixed into this feeling, he left it alone, same as before.
He had a good idea of what—or rather who—was producing these feelings, but it didn't feel appropriate to confirm his suspicions just yet; therefore, he kept them to himself.
As the jubilant day neared its end, with the sun's rays receding into the background, Grace and Cassius stopped in front of the gates to a large mansion. A winding path ahead of the gates led up to that mansion, which was situated atop the lip of a neatly trimmed hill. Though, despite the beautiful scenery of this isolated area in the outer parts of Hoshito, Grace's face seemed to lose a lot of its color upon seeing this home of hers.
Puzzled, Cassius asked, "This is the correct location, right? I can check again if it isn't—"
"No, it's the right place. It's just… it's complicated…" Grace's voice trailed off as she left Cassius's side, with the gates automatically opening up as soon as they sensed her presence.
However, before ascending the winding path, she suddenly turned around and rushed up to him before pecking him on the cheek.
Embarrassed, she mumbled, "T-Thank you again for today…! B-Bye…!!" She then ran up the hill, her face redder than that of a tomato.
Cassius stood there, sword in hand, staring off with a blank look on his face. Although he knew of the tropes for events like this, he still hadn't expected it to happen to someone like him…
While lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the black miasma exuding from the curvaceous figure of a blonde girl draped in all black. She tightly clenched onto a tree, with her fingers pressing down so hard that the tree cracked.
Abusing random inanimate objects seemed to have become her new hobby.
'Gahh!! That damn cutesy whore! Doesn't she know that I have known him longer!? To do something so shameless with me right over here; just Gahhh…!!!'
Aya pulled at her hair while silently hollering like a lunatic. Yet, it was in her lunacy that she let that dummy get away…
"Noaarr!! I can't let him get away that easily…! He needs to be held accountable for this adultery!!" She jerked and bolted through the small forest that surrounded the fancy manor. To the wild animals in the vicinity, she appeared like a crazy yellow blur, with her aura spooking the hell out of them.
By the time Aya caught up to his sauntering figure in the cityscape outside, something unexpected occurred. Three men covered in tattoos and wearing lascivious grins leapt out from a shadowy alleyway. They obstructed her path, and right before she could reach him no less.
Her face twisted in annoyance, but that only seemed to further excite the men.
"Listen, beautiful, you are going to come with us, okay~?"
"We have some very high-end clients that would be interested in someone with your… qualities. And you could even potentially make some good money if you do a good job."
'Human trafficking?? And right in our neighborhood no less???'
Aya's expression morphed into one of disgust. She tried to look past the men and find her stepbrother, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Cassius…"
"Cassius?" The leading man smirked. "Is that your boyfriend or something?? If so, then you should just forget about him and let yourself succumb to the bliss of a better life!" He reached out his grubby hand, planning to catch a feel of that bountiful body that had been a feast for his eyes. 'We should get a taste of her before selling her off to the highest bidder!'
Yet, before his hand could make it to her large breasts, a vein popped on Aya's temple as she planted a fist straight into his stomach, causing him to violently cough up blood. He flew backward like a cannonball before crashing into a grouping of trashcans, seemingly returning to his origins.
The other two unsavory men slowly turned their horrified expressions away from their unconscious brother, only to see a face that was nothing like how she was at the hospital.
With a voice colder than the depths of the abyss, she intoned, "If you don't want to spend the rest of your pathetic lives in a wheelchair, leave."
"!!!" "!!!"
...