[103] Let’s Turn It Around

Chapter 103: Let’s Turn It Around

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The tension in the room thickened as he folded his arms across his chest, a stark barrier to her pleas. "No point calling him that. He doesn't like you as much as you think he does, well, not anymore." His words were like cold steel, slicing through her determined face.

Her expression faltered, eyes clouding with a storm of emotions. "I... I can guess why," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. The realization was a bitter pill, hard to swallow. "But it's none of your business. I shall talk with Aqua about it in detail when he returns."

But he wasn't done. Leaning in, his gaze was unyielding, piercing. "It is my business, though. How can you accept him as your son if you don't accept me, and the others within him? We're all facets of him, facets of myself. Or do you want him to pretend to be your little son, who had never lived a life before?"

Her scowl deepened, a fierce protective instinct rising within her. "Whatever the case, you're not leaving this house. I can't let you mess with Aqua’s life, his relationships. You’re a lot ruder than he is, you’re not allowed to deal with his girlfriends." Her stance was resolute in defending who could possibly be her future daughter-in-law. "Multiple personalities or not, there are boundaries and respect that need to be upheld between you lots."

“Quit your blabbering,” His impatience was evident as he dismissed her complaints with a wave of his hand. "The so-called multiple personalities aren’t as complicated as you think. We're the same, united in our emotions and experiences. What belongs to Aqua belongs to me too."

"Really? How can you claim to hate me, Aqua's mother, yet show affection for his girlfriends? That's a glaring contradiction," she challenged, and for a moment, he was silenced.

- You talkin' money, need a hearin' aid, You talkin' 'bout me, I don't see the shade, Switch up my style, I take any lane, I switch up my cup, I kill any pain~

In the silence, now [Starboy] played in full volume. The two of them stared at one another until Aqua raised a hand and destroyed the sound box with a lightning spark.

“Aqua wouldn’t destroy anything like this either,” she didn’t look away from his eyes and said. “He would have just turned it off.” She appeared a lot braver, a lot more willing to talk, transformed into the guise of a Battle Goddess as she was right now.

Her armor shimmered with the same celestial light as the Light Goddess from Avatar 5; they were the same character. This outfit, however, was an armor now instead of mere fabrics. He couldn’t manhandle her like before; her [Wardrobe] was annoying. He could only harm her if he got serious, but since when was harming her the point of this talk?

Instead, he rubbed the back of his head, a gesture of frustration. "You're overthinking it. I am not a collection of different people. I'm the same person, experienced through different lenses of time. And for the record, I don't hate you. If I did, you wouldn't be standing here."

She remained silent, her gaze fixed on him.

The few strands of blonde hair he had earlier seemed to have infected the black hair near them. A small percentage of his hair changed back. Since he had been forced to hold back the Venerable One’s usual personality just now by not attacking her, his normal senses were coming back.

This wouldn’t end in a grand fight between the two of them.

“I'm… sorry,” to his surprise, she lowered both her hands and her head, apologizing. “You know I don't understand these things. Magic is new to me, moreover all of these reincarnation shenanigans. So if you don't explain…” Tears bubbled up in her eyes and her lips shook. “How am I supposed to know what to do?!”

His discomfort was palpable as he averted his gaze. She approached him, her hands gripping his collar. "You're older than me by a lot, right? Is that why you don't show me any respect? You got angry and left. Why? Where's the persistence a son should have for his mother? Did I kick you out? I didn’t. Then why did you leave, and why are you threatening to leave again right now?”

She continued, not letting him have any chance to intercept. “Do you think I care about your other relationships? I don’t care if you go and sleep with your date, is it Akane? I don’t care if you go, or if the usual Aqua goes. I lied earlier, I’m not stopping you because I don’t want you to mess up Aqua’s relationships, I just don't want you to leave again. I don't want to let you go when you say you won't return."

He remained silent, absorbing her words.

"Explain things to me, please. Don't just… give up on me," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "Is it because you've faced similar situations with your other mothers, and they failed to understand? I'm… I’m different, I will understand. Just don't give up on me."

Her hands trembled as she held onto him, her sniffles piercing the heavy air. "You say you don't want to torture yourself, yet here you are, pulling away from me. That's a form of torture too, isn't it? I know you care about me, you must, or you wouldn't have done what you did last night. So withdrawing yourself from me is torture, isn’t it?” He tried to open his mouth, but she spoke first. “Don’t call me delusional, please.”

He frowned, struggling with his response. "I don't care as much as you think I—"

"No, I don't believe that. After what happened last night, I don’t trust your refusal. You're just withdrawing from me without reason, but why? Tell me. Is it because of some trauma, or is it something else?"

His glare intensified; he didn't appreciate being labeled as 'traumatized'. "Now you're being annoying," he growled.

“You don't like being called ‘traumatized’?”

“….” If anything, she was the traumatized one. She was telling him to not abandon her because she had abandonment issues with her parents.

She stared up at him, unflinching. After a tense moment, she exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry. I won't say something like that again."

“....” He remained silent, unsure of how to navigate the emotional turbulence. Did the Goddess of Light have some emotion-reading-related ability?

"For all your blabbering, you still don't see me as your son," he said, cutting through the tension.

"You don't know that," she retorted.

“I am certain,” he replied firmly. “and no, I’m not generalizing you based on my other mothers, but understanding who you are. Despite your apologies and referring to me as your son, there's a lack of genuine maternal sentiment in your heart. You’re making yourself feel an obligation to care for me, especially after last night's events. Just caring for someone and seeing them as your child are profoundly different.”

A deep scowl creased her brow. “So, you care for me but don’t view me as your mother?” Instead of denying his accusation, she played into it.

“I do see you as a mother,” he insisted.

“No, you don’t,” she shot back.

He sighed. “You gave birth to me, you nurtured me, you raised me. Why wouldn’t I acknowledge you as my mother?”

“Because you’ve had other mothers in your past lives? Why else,” she argued.

“That’s the nature of having lived multiple lives. Yes, I've had other mothers, but that doesn't diminish your role in this life,” he explained.

“But there’s an undeniable sexual tension between us,” she pointed out, her voice trembling slightly.

“That’s a separate matter,” he responded, a touch of frustration in his voice.

“Is it really?” Her skepticism was evident.

He opened his mouth to argue but found himself at a loss for words. With a scoff, he said, “I understand now. You're convinced I don’t see you as a mother, which is why you struggle to accept me as your son. Even if I do prove it to you somehow over the next couple of years, I don’t think that’d change things much.”

She turned her gaze away, silent.

“Do you want to change that relationship then?” he asked, his tone softening.

Her eyes widened, misinterpreting his suggestion as a proposal to sever their ties. “No, that’s not it! We can fix this, give it time. People adopt children all the time, and with time, they come to love them as their own. You and I can develop the same way. Just give it time, okay, Aqu? Over time, we’ll find a way-”

He exhaled a deep sigh, knowing the reality was more complicated. “We both know it's not that simple.” In a swift motion, he guided her to the couch, her body sinking into the cushions. Before she could react, he was there, hovering over her, their faces inches apart.

“Plus it’ll take too long, I don’t want to waste that much time on you,” He whispered, “Rather, I have a better idea.”

“....” she breathed out, her voice quivering. “What?”

“Call me 'daddy',” he suggested.

“Aqua!” she exclaimed in shock.

“I'm serious. Let’s reverse our roles. I’ll be the parental figure, and you’ll be my child. It sounds fitting, doesn’t it?”

“That’s absurd! It’s just... weird!” she protested.

“Is it?” He tilted his head, shrugging at her. “In many cultures, it’s common for parents to affectionately refer to their children in those endearing terms. Fathers call their daughters, ‘my little mum’ and stuff. It wouldn’t be perceived as odd.”

Her voice was firm. “It’s not about societal perception. I know the connotations when a woman calls a man ‘daddy’ in today’s context. You can’t fool me with this. After what you've done, the kisses, the closeness… I know what you’re insinuating.”

He moved even closer, their noses almost touching. “And what’s wrong with that?” His voice was a low murmur.

She averted her gaze, her internal conflict evident. “It’s not about that. I... I don’t feel that way about you,” she finally admitted.

His expression softened a hint of understanding in his eyes. “I know, I was joking. But I’ll take your rejection as it is. Alright then, Ai,” he said, emphasizing her name, backing away slightly. “Since we’ve clarified that I’m still Aqua at heart, I’ll proceed with the date. Plus, you said you don’t care about my girlfriends. So it’s time I go, I can’t disappoint her by being late on our first date.”

“Please don't leave me,” she implored, clutching at his sleeves with puppy-like desperation. When he didn’t say anything, she bit her lips. “I... Fine. I'll call you that. But the deal is that it won’t come with any weirdness, okay? Then from now on, our roles reverse. You're the parent, I'm the child. From now on, I accept you as my… father.”

“Hm?” He looked at her, his head cocking slightly, awaiting the precise term.

Ai bit her lip further and averted her gaze. “I accept… Daddy.”

He abruptly pulled her into a firm, sloppy kiss, her waist caught in his strong grasp. She struggled, shocked and betrayed that he went against the agreement, but he kissed her anyway. He squeezed her ass, her crotch pressed against his, as he kissed her for a long minute.

When he ended the kiss, she shouted at his face, “I- I said none of the weird things! The agreement is invalid if-”

“That's the last kiss on the lips you'll ever get from me, Ai,” he declared, silencing her protests. “I needed to savor your lips just once more; they're irresistible. Now, enough. I have to leave.”

“Y-you’re still leaving? Hey, don't go…” she tugged at his sleeves.

“I'll be back. Don't be clingy,” he said, glancing at himself in the mirror. “Look, half my hair has turned back to blonde after this conversation. That should reassure you.”

“When will you return?”

“I'm not sure. Might spend the night with her.”

Silence.

He walked to the door and walked out, as she followed behind him.

He stepped out into the yard, then paused, turning back to her. “Oh, what happened to Shoko and Yuzuru? I just remembered.”

“Huh?” Ai's frown gave way to realization. “Ah, the girls from last night.” After she had woken up from losing consciousness, Tsubasa told her about those two. “Tsubasa moved them to safety during the attack, and after that they returned to their home. Remember when you crashed against her house’s wall? The loud thud alarmed her to move the civilians out of the way. They're safe. You go on your date without worry; I'll call them later to discuss the thing they wanted to discuss with Ruby.”

He stood still for a moment. “How are things between you and Ruby?” he inquired, sensing the unspoken tension.

She remained silent, prompting him to rub the back of his head. “I'll talk to her about this when I return. Sorry, I really have to go now.”

Her smile was tinged with melancholy upon hearing the compassion in his tone. “Alright then, goodbye.”

“Goodbye, what?”

“Goodbye…” She scowled. Did she really have to say it? “Da… dd… y. Ugh.” He smiled back at her and then soared into the air.

Ai stood there, feeling the awkwardness of this new development. She had to admit that it was a lot better than him leaving her completely. Her affection for him ran too deep to simply let him go. This strange turn in their relationship, while uncomfortable, at least kept him in her life. She loved him too much to lose him, regardless of the odd dynamics now at play.

Besides, he’ll get bored of it soon. Right…?

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