Visiting the Newbies I
The Takemikazuchi and Hestia Familias had gotten quite close and were both in the home Nox provided for the Hestia Familia, spending their downtime together and awaiting Haruhime who, unknown to them, was actually bringing Nox along.
Needless to say, once he showed himself behind Haruhime on arrival, some were happy, others less so, well, it was pretty much just Ouka that had a bone to pick with Nox for being Mr. Steal Yo Girl. Not that Haruhime was ever Ouka's girl in anything beyond his delusions.
The first one to come forward with a serious expression on her face though, was Mikoto.
"Nox-dono!" She called out.
"Yes?" Nox raised a brow at her demeanour.
"Over that last few days, we have noticed Haruhime-dono has been quite worried but she has vehemently denied to share her worries with us, her friends due to rules that you, Nox-done, have set. What is that all about?" Mikoto seriously inquired.
"Hmm . . . ." Nox gave it a bit of thought.
"Well, simply put, there are things I would prefer remain within my own group, information I would rather not see being spread. As for the source of Haruhime's recent worries . . . That would be my now healed but previously quite severe injuries suffered in my latest Dungeon Dive." He succinctly explained.
"You were injured!?" Everyone responded with shock.
"What's with the reaction? Nobody's infallible, myself included." Nox said in response.
"Don't you have that Panacea that can even bring someone dead back life though Nox-kun?" Hestia asked.
"Well Hestia-chan, let's just say my injury was that serious and leave it as such." Nox avoided giving a straight answer and in doing so, incited the diminutive goddess' curiosity.
"Are you truly okay now Nox-sama?" Chigusa asked.
"At least someone cares!" Nox clamored.
"And I'm pretty much at a 100% to answer the question." He added.
After that exchange, everyone argued that they cared and all congratulated him on his recovery despite only now knowing he had actually been injured in the first place. Well, almost everyone did with Ouka being ever the exception.
With the greeting phase done, the group proceeded to hand out and just enjoy the day together with the new adventurers sharing their exploits in the Dungeon with Nox, listening attentively to his advice and being delighted in his praise.
After chatting for a while, Haruhime and Nox moved away to flirt, leaving a steaming Ouka and a blushing mess of girls behind, all feeling intense jealousy with Ouka feeling jealous of Nox and the girls feeling jealous of Haruhime.
There was one exception though, a girl who stealthily followed the lovebirds to ask some questions on her mind.
Moments after Nox and Haruhime walked away, as they were about to get into a passionate kiss, Chigusa popped out of nowhere.
"Apologies for the interruption but I would appreciate a moment of your times, Haruhime-sama, Nox-sama." The diminutive girl spoke.
"Chigusa-chan, timing!" Nox wryly said.
"Don't be like that Nox-sama! You can have all the time you like Chigusa-san." Haruhime said and Nox shrugged, taking it in stride.
"Well, you're a cutie so I'll forgive you." Nox joked and Huruhime nodded, taking it seriously and making the poor girl blush.
"I wanted to ask some questions . . ." Chigusa fidgeted which made Nox raise an eyebrow.
After a moment of silence, Chigusa finally worked up the courage.
"I want to discuss relationships between men and women!" She blushingly exclaimed.
"Okay?" Nox replied with some doubt wile Haruhime had stars in her eyes at the thought of discussing romance.
"So what did you want to ask?" Nox inquired.
"Say you have f-f-feelings for someone . . ." Chigusa nervously started.
"Okay." Nox bade her to continued.
"But that person seemingly became completely different so you begin doubting your feelings." Chigusa continued now more fluently as her desire to solve her emotions overtook her embarrassment.
Nox just nodded saying he understood.
"What do you do is such a situation?" Chigusa asked.
"First thing you have to do is properly ascertain not only the situation but also your feelings I guess." Nox started but Chigusa was confused by his response, prompting him to try and clarify it.
"For example, in regards to the situation, the object of your love might have indeed changed, or perhaps they're just going through a phase or perhaps they were like that from the start and you just didn't notice. There are many possibilities." He broke it down.
"As for the part about your feelings, it's a bit more complicated but you just need to ask yourself questions and be honest with yourself while responding." Nox continued.
"Did I truly love the real him, or just my image of him? Do I still love him or am I just holding on to my now waning feelings out of obsession and stubbornness." He gave a few examples.
"How would I go about responding to those kinds of questions?" Chigusa asked.
"Well . . . You can approach the guy you think you love and see how you naturally react. Does your heartbeat quicken when you get close to him? Do you feel self conscious when he looks at you, wanting to look your best? Do you feel jittery when he compliments you on something you do for him?" Nox explained.
"What if he doesn't look at me and doesn't notice the things I do for him or pays them no mind?" Chigusa asked and Nox along with Haruhime could only grimace.
"What?" Chigusa asked.
"Chigusa-chan . . . That's . . ." Haruhime was looking for a nice way to put her point but didn't find any.
As such, she just had to give straight to Chigusa . . .
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.
You'll get to read up to FOUR weeks ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novels Kage of Kages and FATE of DxD, do check them out!
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