Volume 7 – Chapter 2 – Part 1 – Funeral and Spain*

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

"Kahaha! That was certainly interesting, wasn't it?" asked a masculine voice.

"Hohoho, Heavenly Emperor-sama, are you looking for a revenge match for yourself?" asked another man.

These two were Indra and the First-Generation Sun Wukong. They had watched the exhibition match between [Team Dragon Legacy] and [Team Transcendent Time]. They, like many others were looking forward to the tournament that would commence in a day. The prospect of fighting other powerful people from different factions and mythologies intrigued them.

"I might. How about you? Didn't you recently say you were retiring? And yet you decided to create your own team and invited the First-Generation Zhu Bajie, First-Generation Sha Wujing, the Dragon King Yu-Long and Prince Nezha into it. Are you trying to live out the last moments of your youth?" asked Indra.

Sun Wukong simply laughed at the question. "That, we are. However, what kind of wish do you want to ask if you win, Heavenly Emperor-sama~? I doubt young Jin will allow you to fight Shiva in a war, and even if you ignore everyone and start one, he will certainly intervene."

Indra stared at Sun Wukong for a few seconds before he looked back at the screen in front of them. "Well, either way, if I do stir up some trouble, I get to fight either Shiva or Jin seriously, won't I? I want to taste the power of an outer god to its fullest, kakaka~!"

Sun Wukong shook his head. "The one thing me and my comrades share is your passion for causing trouble, although the types we like are less…chaotic."

"By the way, what plans does Jin have for those Evie and Phantasma bastards?" Indra asked while taking a sip of his drink that was beside him.

"I have not heard too much detail, however…he said he plans on taking the 'war' to them after the Games go onto the main stage. However, before that, he'll simply deal with the troublemakers in our universe," replied Sun Wukong.

"The remnants of the Khaos Order, huh? Well, if it's him it'll go down smoothly. Well…I might as well stir up some trouble for the games, too, huh? I can't wait to fight the teams that have been under his care. They'll surely be entertaining fights!" Indra shouted and laughed again.

"If it's coming from you, it will surely become a reality," replied Sun Wukong.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

A day has passed since the start of the tournament and it's in full swing. Many teams have already fought each other at various locations as there were many stadiums built for it. My own new base in the Dimensional Gap will be done soon. Antares said he wanted to go over a few touch-ups before letting me go there and then allow the rest of the supernatural to come visit it and let some Games be played there.

However, today…it was a moody day for certain people. Looking over at Akeno, she had mixed feelings about the entire thing, and Suzaku wasn't here today, but me and a few others will be going over to the Himejima clan, and the other clans for a few funerals.

During the war, Lapis killed a lot of people, this also included several people from the Five Principal Clans—one of them was Suou. Many people in the clan were saddened by his death, even Shuri and Suzaku to my surprise. Akeno, Tobio, Sae and Baraqiel were also coming with me to this funeral.

I went and checked him out along with a few elders and executives…and they were already long gone, their bodies were soulless. That's why Suzaku left me along with Lavinia when I was going around the Faerie Kingdom. She was called to that.

Regarding Atsutarou, no one was sure if he would show up or not. Baraqiel and Shuri spoke with him when I visited them in Grigori not too long ago, although I had different reasons for visiting. He went out back and spoke with them. I had no idea what they spoke about since it was before my evolution, but…I do now.

Even now, he's 50-50 on it. Tobio, Sae, Baraqiel and Shuri will meet us at the entrance of the clan's main territory. Suzaku should be there, so it was only Akeno and I that were left to go.

I also met Koga Hyousuke during that visit…he was an interesting person. He's not part of the Slash/Dog Team, but he's an ally. He was apparently on a year-long mission in Europe, so that's why I hadn't seen him yet. He's a mix of Kouki and a nerd. However, he looked after Shigune when they were both being pursued five years ago, so he's okay in my book.

And also…Frida Zagan, a devil. She was taken advantage of the Khaos Order and Glenda much like Lavinia, she frequently visits Grigori because of her powers. However, during that specific visit, she finally found her own footing and will, and I've been helping her get stronger and better control of her powers.

Even now she was training with Lianne and others, but she hasn't done too much yet. However, I am hopeful that she will come out of her shell. We were supposed to leave in thirty minutes, so I checked the [Training Facility] and found Frida training with Lilith. Those two had started speaking to one another more frequently, and have gotten quite close.

No one else was here since most teams were off training or participating in their own teams in the tournament. I approached the two as Lilith watched over Frida's training.

"[Blades of Water]!" Frida shouted, and three blades made of water appeared in front of her. She then used her left arm to aim them at a target dummy, the attacks flew forward and pierces the dummy.

Frida was happy with the outcome and looked at Lilith who nodded, and then she looked at me. Frida followed her gaze and I put my hand up.

"Hey, good work," I told her and walked up to her. She looked at me rather expectantly making me chuckle. I put a hand on her head and stroked it. She closed her eyes like a puppy and happily accepted the gesture.

While she wasn't completely open with everyone, she's accepted people into her bubble. Lilith is one of them. She's also fine with a few devils, but she's still a bit afraid of humans, which sounds insane when thinking about it.

A devil, scared of a human—if a normal person heard this, they'd laugh at it. Lilith looked at us with a curious yet amused look, but said nothing. After a few seconds I stopped and she didn't look happy about it, but didn't complain.

"How's her overall progress?" I asked.

"Good. Like Ingvild Leviathan, she has talent. She's quickly learned how to use her demonic powers, as well as regular magic. I mentioned it in passing, but she went out of her way to learn it by herself and master it in no time," said Lilith.

Frida smiled at me, looking at me expectantly again. I guess she likes head pats and praises, huh? Well…given her life up until we took her away from the Khaos Order and Glenda, I can understand why.

From a peaceful life in the human world with her remaining family, to being captured, tortured, abused, and used. To being taken over by that one woman you had some sort of hope for, and then being betrayed—not to mention her entire lineage nearly being wiped out.

I think doing this for her is fine…

"But she still has a long way to go before she can fully master her clan's trait. But as you saw earlier, it's made progress too. However, she can only do it a total of twenty times before her stamina and demonic pool runs out," added Lilith making Frida freeze.

She looked back at the Mother of Devils with a pout and Lilith chuckled.

"It's the truth, Frida. Accept it," she bluntly told her. Frida looked back at me looking for an ally in all of this.

"…While she's right, I think your progress so far has earned you more praise, so good job," I told her and she brightened up.

"Don't spoil her too much," Lilith said while sighing.

"I'll try no too," I replied.

Frida looked at me then at Lilith and opened her mouth. "You two…are acting like my parents…"

Lilith raised a brow at her comment but said nothing. I just stroked her head more also not responding to the strange comment. Although—

[If you do add Lilith to your harem, you're a literal mother fucker.]

'Well, I certainly can't deny that—'

[Granny fucker? I mean, Göndul is—Hgyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

{When will you learn…?}

'Well, we did see this quite a bit over the 10,000 years. Even Apophis was confused by his actions at times,' said Rudra.

{Let's just pray he doesn't end up dead soon enough with his comments…}

'Fufu, that would be interesting.'

[No it's not! Also get me a damn bucket! Cúntóir, you have one, right?!]

Cúntóir: Answer: I am in no obligation of giving that to you…also Aaron told me not too.

[God dammi—]

Frida grabbed my hand and started moving it on her own. When I looked back at her, I had stopped stroking her head as I was focused on Ddraig. Lilith seemed even more amused by this, but I had to end it soon.

"I'll be leaving to the Himejima clan soon, so I can't stay long. You know…I have to attend a funeral," I told them.

"Do you not hate Suou?" Lilith asked looking confused.

"I held my tongue when Atsutarou told me back then, and I also held my tongue about the matter when I was asked by Tobio and Akeno. So for Suzaku's sake, I won't bad mouth the man or say anything too hurtful, but…I am still not fond of him, if that's what you want to hear."

Just because he died, he won't suddenly become a good person. Even if he tried to change the systems and rules himself…he didn't try hard enough—I saw it—I saw his attempts. After around eight times, he gave up and kept following them. Suzaku didn't, she kept on trying, and when she became the clan head, she kept on pushing. He had no excuse to give up so easily…

"Aaron…we have to go."

Turning around, I found Akeno by the elevator door giving me an awkward smile. I sighed and said my goodbyes to those two one more time before joining her. We stepped into the elevator without saying a word.

"I'll keep my mouth shut, alright? But Lilith asked me for my opinion so I informed her," I told Akeno.

"I know…and I also know you'll never like him or forgive him. Suzaku-onee-sama is also aware of this, so she won't force you to. She's just thankful that you're coming…but we're still not sure about Atsutarou-san. Even mom doesn't know if he'll come," said Akeno. "…I'm also attending for Suzaku-nee-sama and mom, I don't particularly want to go…"

Once we arrived in the entrance hallway, she quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed some items, most likely food and drinks. Once she was done, we left for the Himejima clan.

— ○ ● ○ —

We arrived just outside of the gates and we saw Shuri, Baraqiel, Tobio and Sae. They saw us and waved us over, so we went over to them.

"So no Atsutarou?" I asked when we got there.

"No…we couldn't find him in Grigori at all, but we couldn't stay and search the entire place, so we had to leave," replied Shuri already looking upset.

I can't blame the guy. He hates him (I think?) so he wouldn't attend. I'm more surprised that Tobio and Akeno managed to go here today. Maybe they're a lot more forgiving than I give them credit for.

"Everyone, thank you for coming, please follow me." When I looked up, I saw Suzaku there, wearing her priestess attire.

We agreed and followed her. All around the clan's inner parts were various decorations which I'll assume are for when someone passes, and since there were a lot of deaths this time around, they probably decided to decorate the entire place, both inside and out. I wonder how funerals are handled here?

Suzaku led us to a large open area with several caskets in a straight line. There were already a lot of people there, and it looked like the casket in the middle belonged to Suou as it looked the most expensive out of the others.

"I'll get going. The immediate family can go to the front…Sae and Aaron, since you two aren't 'immediate family' yet, you must be at the back, I'm sorry…Akeno, you also need to beat the front," said Suzaku.

Everyone had mixed feelings about this, but not wanting to cause any drama, they walked away, leaving Sae and I at the back. I guided Sae near a pillar and we stood there as the ceremony began.

"You didn't bring your baby with you?" I quietly asked.

"We didn't want her to cry during it, and we didn't want to go with Azazel's suggestion of using sleeping magic on her. It felt a bit…I guess inhumane?" replied Sae.

I guess that makes sense. Having a crying child here would probably annoy the clan members, and also start unnecessary drama and hostility between Sae, Tobio and the grieving clan members.

Suzaku along with several other priests and priestesses did some sort of dance while others chanted a sutra.

I wonder if this was unique to the Himejima clan? However, I could see that Amaterasu and Zhuque in her human form were also here. There were also several other deities here in disguise. The occasional weep from someone could be heard, but generally it was mostly silent despite the chanting.

Near the end of this ritual, Amaterasu and Zhuque came down and said a few words to the Himejima clan members while other people gathered up the caskets into a pile and put a couple of logs around them. At the same time Amaterasu recalled Suou's life story to everyone present. After that, Zhuque transformed into her original form and along with Suzaku and Amaterasu lit the logs and caskets on fire.

As the ceremony was coming to a close—a person showed up. He jumped down from the rooftop and landed in front of the burning caskets. There were a few gasps and they looked at him.

It was Atsutarou Himejima—Suou's son.

"Atsutarou-san…" mumbled Suzaku. Once the people there heard the name, it became tense. Everyone waited for him to do something. Amaterasu and Suzaku glanced back at me, almost asking what to do. I simply shook my head. He wasn't going to do anything reckless.

"Just because you died doesn't make you a good human being all of a sudden," said Atsutarou. It was almost like he was repeating my words. "You were a piece of crap that didn't try hard enough. Because of your past and how you came to be, you should have tried even harder than Suzaku, yet you didn't. After a few attempts you gave up."

He took a step forward, and to their surprise, with his clenched right fist, flames erupted from them. They weren't flames from magic, but from the flame manipulation of the clan, Atsutarou with a distraught face laughed.

"See? Thanks to a certain someone that's here, I managed to gain use of our clan's specialty, isn't that great? Apparently, something was just 'blocking' my usage of it. I was born with it! You threw away anyone who couldn't use it, you threw away anyone who was different!"

"Be it if they were born with a Sacred Gear, if they went against tradition or if they were born that wasn't human—or even a hybrid. Aren't we supposed to evolve as the human species?! Keeping traditions is fine if you don't kill people over it!"

Atsutarou gritted his teeth and the flames around his fist increased exponentially and he threw it at the burning caskets further increasing the flames around it. He then clicked his tongue and said, "Good riddance…" before he vanished in a burst of flames.

Everyone there was left confused and in shock at the sudden events. No one knew what to say, and it wasn't clear if Atsutarou forgave his father for what he did, or simply wanted to shout his frustrations at his father one last time. However, we had to continue, so after a few more seconds, Suzaku, along with everyone else continued with the funeral.

— ○ ● ○ —

Once everyone was said and done, they moved the remains of the members that were cremated into an urn. A couple of them were prepared because of the amount of people that passed, and again, Suou's one was the most expensive-looking one there.

Sae and I followed everyone once they were doing putting them all into the urns. Evidently, there were tombs underneath the clan's territory, and that's where these guys would be laid to rest.

When we arrived down there, we could see nearly thousands of graves down here. I could only imagine the amount of people that this clan has gone through over the years. Some of them were just from previous elders and high executives. It seems the clan heads were laid to rest in a different part.

Surprisingly enough, the place felt a bit eerie. Shinto magic was used to keep it illuminated at various points. It wasn't bright enough to completely illuminate the place, but bright enough that it wouldn't be considered 'gloomy'. It felt like…a haunted house if I had to compare it to something—especially the ones made in schools. It was illuminated by that much.

They started with the executives, then the elders, each one took a little over twenty minutes, and then once all of them were done, we moved over to a different spot. There were also numerous graves here, but there was one that was ready, and it was for Suou.

Like the regular Japanese people, they had stone monuments erected as graves, just like the ones we buried earlier. However, Suou's seemed a bit more extravagant than the previous heads. People were invited to say something, but most declined, and so it finally ended after Amaterasu gave him some blessings.

I was only at a funeral once in my previous life, and that was when I was young, so my memories of the event weren't that clear, but it was apparently for an uncle of mine. He like me wasn't that fond of the family, yet a funeral and ceremony was still conducted for him.

For my own funeral, only a few people attended it, and that man (my 'dad') didn't attend, though I expected that. I've also found his soul in another universe and I plan on going there at some point…

When we went back up to the clan's grounds, mostly everyone dispersed and we were left to ourselves. Shuri, Baraqiel, Tobio and Akeno joined up with us. Sae, went back to Tobio and they spoke a bit before going off somewhere followed by Akeno and Shuri.

Baraqiel walked over to me and said, "They're heading to a different room with Suzaku, Amaterasu-sama and the Sacred Beast."

"So just the ones with the blood of the Himejima? But Sae went with them?"

"I believe she's going back to Grigori to get their child."

"Ah, that makes sense." We walked over to an area with chairs and sat down. "Do you know why Atsutarou showed up?" I asked.

Baraqiel shook his head and said, "He was against coming. He told me that he found out a bit more about Suou during the Halloween attack, but even then, he didn't fully forgive him for what he had done and said he should have tried harder. He has very mixed feelings about the whole situation, but we were surprised that he did show up, even after he repeatedly told us he wouldn't."

I guess he wanted to… Er, I guess tell Suou his frustrations one last time even though his soul isn't there yet, and I informed them that day too. It seems like his emotions have gotten the better of him. Some people learn to forgive on days like this, but I guess I can't.

Akeno hasn't, Shuri…I have no idea how she feels. Even though she was exiled and then killed by him with the collaboration of rogue fallen angels to get back at Baraqiel, but if she forgave him, then she's a lot stronger than me.

I also know what he did to Suzaku. Even if she told me he showed genuine kindness from time-to-time when he taught her—to me, his cruelty toward her and how harsh he was with her training overshadowed that. Anytime I look at that part of history it annoys me. Though the same can be said for Lavinia, because it pissed me off when I looked back at her history when I was in that dimension for 10,000 years.

I'd like to do it now, but the future showed me that she'll be the one with others to end them. Similarly to how Vali ended the life of Rizevim, she deserves the same. She can have the chance to end Oz's life along with Augusta's and the rest. Although I don't mind fucking with them, and making their plans fail while I'm here, so that's a sort of consultation.

As I kept thinking about these things, I felt a hand on my shoulder and when I looked up, I saw that it was Baraqiel.

"I've been told by Suzaku, Akeno, Lavinia and Asia about that face you make. At the start I was unsure if I would be able to tell, but I think you're making it now," he told me. "It doesn't suit you, whatever you're thinking about—don't, let's just relax for now."

I'm quite curious about that face I made, but I'll just take their word for it. Deciding to 'relax' I sighed and leaned back on my chair and looked up at the ceiling of this place. It was a normal ceiling made of wood, nothing special about it. And that's how I spent my time there until the group I came with came back.

— ○ ● ○ —

"I'll be here for the rest of the day, so I'll come back home tonight," said Suzaku. She looked tired and had dark circles under her eyes. It also looked like she had been crying.

Tobio and Sae left earlier, so it was just Akeno, Suzaku and I who were left. Amaterasu and Zhuque went off somewhere, probably to go check on the other clans. We planned on going to them too since there were casualties there too, but surprisingly enough none of the heads died. However, a few of their own executives did, and some elders, but not as much as here.

"Contact us if you need help, okay? I'll come rushing over, Suzaku-nee-sama!" Akeno declared and the two cousins hugged.

"I'll come back when the time's right," I told her. She seemed to understand what I meant and agreed. "Let's go to the other clans, Akeno. Baraqiel said they'd stay here for a bit longer and then go back to Grigori."

As we walked away, I summoned a woman into my arms and Akeno seemed surprised. "She's Chiyo Shinra, she has the same Sacred Gear as Asia—[Twilight Healing], she was killed a few months back, but after evolving I got her back and thankfully her soul was still with her."

Akeno was surprised by this and stared at the sleeping girl. "I've already spoken to her and she's agreed to come back. I made with the current head, Rakko Shinra that I'd bring her back to them, and if I did, they would fully cooperate with changing their own rules and systems. Byakko also agreed to back me up."

"…So they'll finally cooperate? I heard from Suzaku-onee-sama that they have been cooperating, but sometimes they push back on certain ones, but with her back…"

"Yeah, so let's go."

— ○ ● ○ —

When we got there, it seemed their own funeral had concluded. I let my presence be known and multiple heads turned towards us, including Byakko and Rakko, and when they did, they were shocked to see who I was carrying.

They rushed over and I handed the sleeping Chiyo over to them. "As I promised, I brought her back. I'm sorry for the delay though."

I wasn't sure if this was the appropriate time. However, seeing as how I probably wouldn't be coming here that often unless I come with Tsubaki or for official business, I decided today would be appropriate.

Byakko suddenly sent a punch towards me and I caught it. He grinned at me and said, "Well, it seems that Baihu was right about you. So, how about it, Rakko?"

Rakko handed the sleeping Chiyo to another member and calmed herself. She turned to look at Byakko then at me. "Firstly…thank you for keeping your word. I will contact Suzaku-san in a few minutes and she along with the other clans will have our full cooperation starting from today. Truthfully, I was starting to doubt your words, but…thank you again."

"A few things prevented me from fully committing, but I eventually got to her, so thank you for holding out for so long," I replied and she nodded. She turned around with Byakko giving me a nod before she turned back and glanced at me.

"…Tsubaki is welcome here. I know I told you that back then, but please tell her I was serious," said Rakko.

"Yeah." Tsubaki and I visited the Shinra clan briefly not too long ago, and she reconnected with her clan members too, much like Akeno. She's also slowly reconnected with her parents. It's still a bit awkward as they were forced to abandon and shun her or else the elders and executives also exiled them.

"Let's go, we still have some other clans to check out," I told Akeno and we left.

— ○ ● ○ —

We ended our journey after we visited the Nakiri clan, and Ryuuta was there to greet us. They were hit less since they didn't suffer too much damage, although Ryuuta himself also died during the war. However, he was brought back to life with no repercussions like both his fiancés and parents. However, some elders didn't come back so that left a hole in the clan too.

"Aaron?" Akeno asked as she tugged on my sleeves.

"…I'll go check on Suzaku. Can you go home before me?" I asked. Akeno stared at me briefly before agreeing.

"I'll go to Grigori. Mom and dad should be home already, and I think Asia is heading over there today," she said.

"Alright, stay safe," I replied and we shared a quick kiss before she teleported away.

I also teleported directly to Suzaku's 'office' in the Himejima clan's territory. Once there, I saw her looking over documents and other items. She seemed even more stressed than earlier, so I approached her from behind and put a hand on her head. She was slightly startled and quickly looked up but only found me.

"I'm back," I told her and she quickly got up and embraced me.

We stayed silent for a few seconds until she muttered, "I'm tired…with great uncle's death, to the battles for your [Queen] position and now today…not to mention my own position as the head of the clan…I just want to curl up and sleep for a little while."

Since no one was near us, I locked the door, cast a spell that would discourage anyone from approaching this room and I sat down while bringing Suzaku with me. I leaned against her desk and began stroking her head.

The things she had to endure since she was young, being one of the best in her clan, being chosen as the inheritor of [Zhuque], being trained by Suou and various people, upholding their traditions while also opposing them, the events of Akeno, Shuri and Baraqiel, what happened five years ago. She had to endure it all while also acting as the older and mature one.

I'm surprised she lasted this long without breaking down.

"…It's fine. Like Grayfia, you can just let it all out, Suzaku. Having all that responsibility placed on you since you were young must have been tough, right? I'll share those burdens with you…so go ahead," I told her and I tightened my embrace around her.

"…I could…act like a normal girl my age when I went to visit Auntie Shuri, Uncle Baraqiel and Akeno-chan back then, but…that place of solace was also ripped away from me. But it's finally back, and everything else that happened…I…" she didn't continue as she began to quietly sob into my chest.

After five minutes of staying in the same position, Suzaku suddenly looked up at me. She was blushing and suddenly kissed me. After she separated from me, she uttered words that stunned me.

"Impregnate me," she said with moist eyes, slowly reaching down towards my pants, but I stopped her.

Suzaku was emotional right now—even vulnerable. If I accepted this, would I be taking advantage of her? Even if we're engaged, that doesn't give me a free pass to do anything to them.

"Suzaku…wouldn't it be better if we did this when you're in a better mood? Making a child when you're distraught like this, it would feel like I'm taking advantage of your emotional state. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have children with everyone in my harem someday, including you, but right now…"

She stared at me for what seemed like forever, before she buried her face back in my chest. "…I'm sorry, I must have said something strange. You're right, it's not an appropriate time for that…"

— ○ ● ○ —

Suzaku Himejima's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

The day slowly came to an end and Aaron helped me with the documents I had been sorting through since a week ago. Coming back to this place daily used to be exhausting, however, I loved my clan members and I wanted to do them right, so I bared with it, for the sake of that love.

But it was strenuous work. Being the head of the clan, especially at my age was a challenge. Because of that age, many laughed or ridiculed me for the changes I wanted, yet I pursued them, because I didn't want a tragedy like Auntie Shuri's and Akeno-chan's to repeat.

However, this time I had someone by my side who would help me achieve that—someone who held the same love for others as I did. In our day and age, it's quite hard to find that, even Tobio's love was limited to those around him, but I still found it quite endearing.

"With that, we're done, right?" he asked.

"Yes, we are, however I cannot leave yet. I will be meeting with Amaterasu-sama, Zhuque and other Shinto gods as well as Rakko Shinra, the current head," I replied.

He looked at me for a few seconds before he asked, "Do you want me to come?"

I would love it if you could. Those were the words I wanted to say, but I shook my head. "No, it's alright, I'll be fine on my own. You have your own things you have to deal with, right? …Also, if you go to Grigori, give my regards to Akeno and everyone."

"…Alright, if that's what you want, Suzaku."

We shared a quick kiss before he left. I started to understand how Aaron thinks and acts over time. In that brief silence, a small glow was in his pupils, he must have looked into the future. Is that how he checks, or did he do it on purpose to show me?

Velgrynd seems to be the one who knows, apart from Azathoth. I've started catching on and so did Lavinia and Danu.

As I stared at the spot where he was previously at moments ago, the words he told me today echoed in my head.

'—Having all that responsibility placed on you since you were young must have been tough, right? I'll share those burdens with you…so go ahead.'

In honesty, it felt like he had more responsibilities than me. His previous burdens of losing his memories, his job as the Middleman and Oppai Dragon, his new tournament organizer role and the biggest one of all—the new ruler of the Omniverse.

Compared to what I'm going through…it felt like a tiny spec, yet he still offered me that comfort. Shouldn't I be the one to do that? I should be the one hugging him and telling him he could share all his frustrations with me…

'—My baby, Aaron. Ever since he was young, in our previous lives, he intentionally or unintentionally shouldered other people's burdens. I even had to actively tell him to leave the issues of adults to myself and Cindy, or else he would shoulder that too. Being in this world, he's become emotionally and mentally stronger thanks to all of you, but…I do hope all of you keep on supporting him, Suzaku.'

Róisín's words echoed in my head too. She told me that when Aoife dragged all of us to try out the 'Grand Chariot' technique Aaron and Lavinia performed. She stood beside me and randomly told me that, I understood it, but today highlighted how serious she was being.

I got up and dusted myself, looking at the door. I still had various things to do before I could end my day. But at the same time, I wanted…to be more selfish because of today.

"…I want him to make me his number one. I'll try to actively steal that spot from you from now on, Lavinia…" I quietly declared to myself and walked out of my office.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

I believe I started an unintentional war just now, but…that was something that would inevitably happen down the line. As much as I would like to keep peace between all of them, I have noticed that they do compete for my time a lot, so it's nothing new…

Walking through the underground graves of the Himejima clan members was quite eerie when it was just two people here. I had gone back to this place after I left Suzaku's office, because a certain person had sneaked in…with my help earlier of course. That's how he was able to use the flames of the Himejima.

When I arrived at the stone monument of Suou Himejima, I saw him—Atsutarou Himejima. He sat crossed-legged in front of it, with a bottle of sake and a cup. He was already drinking some when he turned to me and chuckled tiredly.

"Thanks…for everything you've done, Jin—no, should I call you Aaron?" he asked.

"You can pick, I don't mind, Atsutarou," I replied and sat beside him. He nodded and offered me some. I was going to decline but decided to summon my own cup and he poured me some sake before I drank it in one go.

"Shuri and Baraqiel are waiting for you in Grigori. How's the new job by the way?" I asked after being poured another shot.

"I'm just helping around Grigori for now. Because of my actions during that war, I've been given a lot of leeway as of late. I can even leave Grigori for periods of time, and because it was his funeral today, I was allowed an extended amount…though that should be coming to an end soon, so I can't stay for too long," he explained.

"Hey…those Khaos bastards told me, you're some big shot god, right? Can you tell me where my old man is at right now?" he suddenly asked me.

I agreed and told him. I had more influence on what happened to those souls, but in the end, I didn't do anything. I let reincarnation do its own thing and let them decide. In the end, Suou reincarnated in a war-torn world where newborns were put to work as soon as they were brought into the world.

Science and magic had mixed together and they were used regularly in wars. Suou himself was born into a family with powerful magicians and were quite wealthy, he was also trained in a good environment, but because the world was already shit, he was also corrupted like the rest of them, he didn't have his memories after all.

Currently, twenty-seven years have passed and Suou was fighting in a war right now and he had a high chance of surviving it. That was his life so far, and I told Atsutarou that. He seemed to go into a daze once he heard it, so I let him process it for the time being.

"Whether you forgive him or not, it's entirely up to you, Atsutarou. I myself won't, I can't do it. No matter how hard I try, I just can't…but that's my feelings on the matter, but as I said, it's your own choice if you forgive him or not…anyway I'll go back to Grigori," I told him, got up and patted his shoulder.

"…Heh, I guess you holding grudges against weak humans makes you a little bit more human, eh? …Thanks," he said and I finally left.

I do hope I never lose my humanity. The thought of it scares me. Though…in those 10,000 years, I don't, but whatever past that—we'll see.

— ○ ● ○ —

The next day and we got up early since Japan and Spain had a seven-hour difference. It was currently… four in the morning. So it should be around eleven in the morning in Spain.

"Spain without the 'S' is pain~" sang Penemue. She was quite excited for today.

Today, I take both fallen angels on our aforementioned date to Spain. When Inaie found out about it, she became quite jealous and said she'd work hard to go on one with me, but I told her I'd take her on one soon, maybe out in Kuoh, and she was happy with that…

"Are you ready Raynare?" I asked. The fallen angel herself was wearing casual clothes just like Penemue, ones that were appropriate for the country and its weather.

However, I do remember that we went there for our trip in TY, and it rained during it, but it was only for like an hour or two before the heat came back trying to murder us. Barcelona, it was basic, but I knew it personally because of the trip and I also wanted to visit it again, so we decided to go there for the first part of our date, afterward we would go to the country side and finish it off there.

"…Ready as I'll ever be," replied Raynare.

"Spain…I'd like to go there someday," said Elsha. She like Amaris were at home today while Belzard and Garrett manned my restaurant for the day.

"We can go anywhere in the future, once things calm down, so don't hesitate to tell me," I told her and she smiled at me.

Lavinia, Suzaku, Danu and Velgrynd were also there. As Lavinia was about to speak, Suzaku came forward and stood in front of me.

"…Be safe, Aaron," she said before kissing me. To my surprise, she also forced her tongue inside my mouth and then pushed me to the ground before forcing a mini make-out session to happen, stunning everyone there.

"Ara, ara, ara~?" Akeno walked in and saw this too, completely surprised by what was happening. Lavinia stood there stunned, the same with Velgrynd and Danu—well, no, everyone was stunned by Suzaku's actions.

Finally, she stopped, and with clouded eyes, she said, "Have a safe drip, dear…" It was quite obvious that she used her tongue because of the string of saliva between us.

Dear. She started using it too like a few others—Lavinia usually saved it for when we were alone, unlike Irina or Akeno. I stood back up while bringing her up with me. I already knew that this was going to happen, but still let it.

I patted her head and said, "Don't take it too far, alright? Anyway, we'll get going. We'll be back tomorrow. Have fun, guys."

As I rejoined Penemue and Raynare (who were still shocked), Lavinia ran over to Suzaku looking confused and began shaking her shoulders.

"What was that?!" she asked as we left.

— ○ ● ○ —

Barcelona. The location we chose to go to spend the first part of our date. I prepared food for our dinner, so we'll eat in the countryside where I booked a place for us to stay for the night. It was also quite picturesque so I believed it would be an enjoyable way to end the night.

Our first stop, at Penemue's request was the Parc del Laberint d'Horta, or 'Park of the Labyrinth of Horta. This is sometimes referred to as 'Jardins (Gardens) del Laberint d'Horta'. It is a historical garden in the Horta-Guinardó district in Barcelona and the oldest of its kind in the city.

We made our way there, with a lot of people looking at us—well, at both Penemue and Raynare since they're quite beautiful...oh.

"You guys look great, by the way," I abruptly said to them.

"Oh, so you did remember to compliment us. We went out shopping to get these, you know? Ah, Raynare was so against it at first though…fufu, maybe she only wanted to show you and not anyone else?" teased Penemue making Raynare blush again.

"I-I can wear this any time I want, Penemue-sama. Also, I wore extravagant clothing outside all the time before I m-met Aaron," countered Raynare.

As Penemue continued to tease Raynare and with her trying to defend herself, we eventually arrived at the Parc del Laberint d'Horta. Right next to the entrance of the park stood the former palace of the Desvalls family, a building with Neoarabic and Neogothic elements. The Torre Sobirana, an ancient medieval watchtower, is also part of this complex.

The park, which extends over a surface of 9.1 hectares, is divided into two parts: the Neoclassical garden and the romantic garden. All around the park there were numerous sculptures, some depicting motives from Greek mythology and others with folk motives. In addition, there were fountains, springs, and pools.

However, what I didn't expect was to feel two divine auras here. After their bickering, Penemue and Raynare even noticed them.

"…Um, do you know who those are, Aaron? They feel familiar," Raynare asked while looking around the park.

"Astraea and Physis. We met them during the little celebration in the Greek realm. Though I'm curious as to why they're here," I said, paid the entrance fee and started walking into the park with both of them hugging my arms.

It also seemed like they were near the center of the hedge maze and didn't seem like they were moving, so I suggested we make our way there first and they were both fine with it. As we walked through the park, we saw many people there too, families, tourists, and couples walking around.

But like earlier, our small trio attracted attention, especially if two beauties clung onto me. A few jealous stares from guys were sent my way, and a few scornful glares came from women too—probably thinking I was scum for having two women with me.

"So much hate, how about we tease them back?" suggested Penemue.

"That wouldn't be a good idea," I replied and urged them to move forward.

"Fine, how about some speculation then? It'll be a few minutes before we get those two goddesses since we have to go through a maze. Oh! And don't you dare lead us, I want to do it blind!" said Penemue. I agreed and let her have her fun. Well, it's a date after all, we have to have fun, otherwise what's the point?

We arrived at the entrance of the labyrinth. There is a marble bas-relief depicting Ariadne and Theseus and, in the center, a statue of the Greek Primordial God of Love and Sex, Eros. Speaking of Eros…doesn't he help with making the [Eros Engine] for Issei's Ryuuteimaru and AxA?

I don't have a Ryuuteimaru, so I wouldn't need an [Eros Engine], but I already know what my own 'AxA' is going to be like, so I won't worry too much about it.

"That's the Greek God, Eros, right? I didn't expect to see a statue of him here," said Penemue and she looked at it.

Spain's mythology, like a few others are a mix of various ones, so I expect to see some Celtic or even Roman gods here, as well as Greeks. There were also a few others that were unique to here, but…I don't feel any of them yet, or they're simply not here which is a surprise since Barcelona is quite a popular destination.

"Did you meet him yet?" asked Raynare.

"No, but…I do want to meet him and see how he's like," I replied. Though, I think he'd just have very perverted and lewd topics ready for me if I do seek him out, or if he seeks me out. I am the Breast, Butt, and Thigh Dragon after all.

We spoke about that as both Raynare and Penemue led us through the hedge maze. We ended up at dead ends around three times and even came across some people. However, it seemed like those two goddesses weren't trying to keep normal humans away from the center of the place, so they weren't doing anything serious. But we eventually got there and the statue of Eros was in our full view and on one of the stone benches were Physis and Astraea talking to one another. They also captivated the people here as they kept glancing at the two.

They looked up, saw us and waved us over, we quickly made our way over there.

"I didn't expect you two to be here today. What's the special occasion for?" I asked. Both Penemue and Raynare let go of me and started looking at the statue behind us.

"We're just on a small outing, Jin. That's all. It's been a while since we last saw each other. I take it you're well? Also, a new look, huh?" asked Physis. She got up and circled me while poking at my body.

"Yes, it's as she says, we're on a day trip here in Barcelona…I can see that you're on a date with two fallen angels, correct?" asked Astraea.

"Yeah, it was long overdue and with everything happen right now…and me being the event organizer for the tournament, I get a bit of free time," I replied.

"What about college? Didn't you start that this year?" she asked again.

"I let my avatar do that. I have my restaurant job, my job as the Middleman, and Oppai Dragon to deal with. But when I do find time, I attend the classes myself," I added and proudly nodded my head.

Astraea got up and pinched my nose while smiling. "You shouldn't skip too many, don't you think? Education is imperative, Jin."

Physis stared at her friend for a few seconds before also getting up and pinching my cheek. "Right, right, don't skip classes, Jin~!"

"…Okay?"

I wasn't sure why they suddenly did that to me, but I had even more eyes on me while in this small area. The crowd wasn't a lot, but they did stare at me. They knew I came with Raynare and Penemue, and now these two older beautiful women were doing this to me. It would definitely make people jealous of my situation.

"Ara? You're on a date with us, but you're flirting with two goddesses? This man has some balls~" Penemue said as she hugged me from behind.

"I was just speaking to them, Penemue." Even after telling her that she began to rub her face against my back making me sigh. Both goddesses let go of me and looked behind me. I also followed their gazes and found Raynare being hit on.

However, my assistance wasn't needed…

"Hey do—"

"No."

"How about—"

"No."

She had denied all their advances. In total there were six guys there, and they all became a bit frustrated with her. One of them grabbed her wrist, but Raynare quickly grabbed his arm with her right hand and swing him to the sky and then put him back on the ground. The guys she brought up freaked out and let go of her. Everyone around her was dumbfounded.

"Piss off," she hissed and they awkwardly and quickly left. Everyone else did the same and distanced themselves from her.

I walked over to her and put a hand on her head. "A bit extreme, don't you think?"

"They're ruining my experience here; can't they see I'm with someone?" she replied still sounding angry.

Suddenly Astraea grabbed my hand forcing me to turn around and face her. "Eros, he wishes to meet you—he would like to discuss some things with the famous Oppai Dragon. If I had to guess, perhaps some lewd topics?" she said and let go of my hand.

"Quite ironic. We saw his statue just now and I was wondering when I would meet him," I replied. Well, I already knew she was going to say that, but I might as well play along…and it's as she said, it's nothing but lewd topic after lewd topic.

"It must be destiny then," she added and then turned around. "We'll get going and not get in the way of your date. If you're still around—we'll have dinner at Cinc Sentits. Come and meet us there," said Astraea.

"…Fine dining never gives enough good, I'm always left feeling hungry afterward," mumbled Raynare.

Astraea giggled at her words. "I believe it's more about the experience than the actual food quantity, and the food quality is generally higher, hence the price and small quantity."

"I still don't like it…" Raynare mumbled again.

"It's fine, we won't go there since I prepared food for our dinner, so the place we're going to later will be our stopping point," I told her. Astraea tilted her head before smiling.

"I see. Good luck to you three then—"

"Let's go Stra-stra!" Physis complained while waving at us. "Ah, I wanna go check some places out, bye!" she added before dragging Astraea away.

We continued on our short date in the park, eventually arriving at the romantic gardens. We walked around there for a little while before heading to the canal.

"…I'll be honest, maybe it might be a bit more romantic at night, but right now…it's just hot and lackluster," said Raynare as she stared at the water shooting out of the sides below the canal. The canal was just a small orange/red bridge with a small river/pool of water underneath.

"There's beauty in it, Raynare, well, let's go back to the waterfalls in the romantic garden then~" suggested Penemue and so we double backed and checked out the waterfall.

"…How's that a waterfall? It's just water falling from some slightly elevated rocks…" said Raynare, again disappointed by it.

Isn't that how most waterfalls are defined as…? Though I don't have extensive knowledge on that topic…

"You seem a bit…bored, Raynare. Do you want to go to a specific place?" I asked. I stopped myself from saying 'Only old people like these kinds of things—walking in parks, I mean'. If I did that, Penemue would get upset about it.

Also, I'm 10,000 years old. I have no say in whether I'm young or not…

Raynare blushed and hesitantly asked, "C-can we go to Tibidabo Amusement Park?"

Tibidabo Amusement Park, 'Parc d'Atraccions Tibidabo', is an amusement park located on Tibidabo in the Collserola Ridge in Barcelona. The park was built in 1899 by the entrepreneur Salvador Andreu and opened in 1905. The park is among the oldest in the world that's still functioning. It's Spain's longest running amusement park and Europe's third-oldest. Most of the original rides, some of which date to the turn of the 20th century, are still in use which is a pretty remarkable achievement.

From what I understand, it's free to walk around certain areas and enjoy the scenery there. However, if we want to go on rides and other things, we need to pay an entrance ticket. It's around €35 per adult, so it's not that expensive for all three of us.

"Sure, why not?" I told her and immediately influenced reality that we had already booked our tickets…my god I use my new powers for the weirdest things…

"Fufu, Raynare wants to go to an amusement park? I don't mind, there are restaurants over there, right? We can just have lunch there, so it's not that bad," said Penemue.

"I heard the views there are amazing, so we can still enjoy ourselves if we don't plan on going on any of the rides," I replied and Penemue was all for that.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" cheered Raynare and we teleported near to the place.

— ○ ● ○ —

Once outside the amusement park…it was long—like the line of people was absolutely long! Even though it's not 'summer' for the rest of the world, this is just a bit ridiculous. We hadn't even gotten into the lines, but—

"Aaron, I give you permission. Go and use your powers to make us get to the top of the line!" Penemue asserted and pointed her finger at the large crowd. People that walked past us gave her strange looks.

I don't need your permission, woman! Also, I already planned on doing that. I'm sorry, everyone, I don't want to stay out here waiting forever. First, I guided them to the back of the line. They began to protest but I told them my plan, and they quickly quieted down.

Once back there, I simply changed reality. Now…whoever was at the front was now where we once were—at the back of the line, and now we were at the front. I brought my phone out, showed them our booking form, and they gave us some passes and we went in.

Once we were inside, I simply reverted reality back and that family who were originally in our place were back at that part of the line. I didn't want them to suffer too much…

"We spent around an hour over at Parc del Laberint d'Horta, so now it's twelve. We can have lunch now or in an hour. What do you gu—"

"In an hour! Let's go to that!" Raynare pointed at…the Krüeger Hotel. It's basically a haunted house tour.

"Fufu, a haunted house, huh? Now that I think about it, you enjoyed the haunted house during the festival at Kuoh Academy, didn't you?" asked Penemue.

Raynare smirked and nodded her head. "Of course, I like hearing people scream!" she declared.

"Oh, don't worry, Raynare, you'll be screaming soon enough tonight," Penemue said and grabbed her arm before hugging it. "Shall we go?" she asked—Raynare herself had blushed again and said nothing.

Dear me, Penemue is definitely controlling Raynare today, maybe even in general? Well, it's not like she's doing it out of spite, she's doing it to just tease her constantly, so it's fine, right? Also, the Krüeger Hotel's line wasn't as long as the other ones today for some reason.

"Why not? I'm all for it," I said and we went and lined up. As we did, a group came out of some doors to the side screaming and laughing. It seems like this may be a lot more fun than I thought?

Raynare seemed excited at the prospect as she was kind of cutely bouncing around as Penemue tried to hold her down.

"Give up, she won't calm down until we go in there," I told Penemue. She sighed, let go of Raynare and hugged my arm instead.

"We're nearly there, so we won't need to wait too long," said Penemue as we slowly moved up to the front.

The few things I found out about Raynare were…interesting to say the least. She liked horror, like, a lot. I don't know why, and she herself said she didn't know why, so we left it at that. However, I suspect she does know and is just too embarrassed to tell me.

She liked taking bubble baths, so she asked me to add a dedicated bathroom in her own room so she could take them in there with some privacy…she has also invited me there a few times, and we spoke about a number of things. Her insecurities, the things she wishes to accomplish in the future, where she'll go with her job prospects since she's already strong enough that she won't need to worry about being killed by anything.

The last thing I found out over time was…she liked cuddling—especially when sleeping with me. She's but heads with the other girls that sleep with me when she's in there, especially with Akeno and Lavinia since she likes taking their sides, but we usually find a compromise.

"It's our turn," said Penemue and I looked back in front of us as we were ushered into the dimly lit room with Raynare leading us.

We walked through a small corridor that was barely illuminated by lights, there were some smoke coming from the ground and some creepy ambient music being played. At the end of the corridor was another door. However, around us were some props that ranged from fake skulls, to spider webs, pumpkins, and fake severed hands.

They really went above and beyond to decorate this place. But Raynare, who was in front of us seemed happy so I think it was the right choice in going here.

We eventually got to the door and she opened it and we followed her inside. This time, it was even darker and the room was even less illuminated. There were a few creepy paintings on the wall, and other grotesque items strewn about. There were also some creepy dolls that followed us with their eyes.

"I hate dolls…" muttered Penemue. "Ah, but Lavinia's are cute though," she added.

I wonder how Lavinia would feel in a haunted house based on dolls? I know she doesn't hate her Sacred Gear anymore, but I don't know about her personal stance on dolls. I'd rather find out about that from her own mouth than just looking into it now, so I'll ask her in the future.

"Gaaaaaaaaah!"

Suddenly, someone in an elaborate make-up and doll costume jumped out and screamed at us. He also brought his arms up, trying to scare us.

"Kyaa~" Penemue pretended to be scared and hugged my arm tighter. Meanwhile, Raynare and I stared at the guy without making a sound, unblinking…and we kept staring at him as he awkwardly shuffled back into his spot.

Penemue suddenly and gently smacked me on the head. "At least react, jeez! You too, Raynare!"

"It was a decent attempt, I would say…a seven out of ten. I like the makeup and costume, but the delivery needs some work," she told the man, who awkwardly nodded at her words before we moved on to a different spot.

I didn't expect her to give a critical review while we go through it. Now, I expected her to do the same thing for everything, and probably do an overall score and evaluation at the end…

As we continued in our little tour of the haunted house, various other set ups were around, and with each and every one of them, Raynare gave a score. The next one involved zombies, and they tried to chase us…but we didn't exactly run and it became awkward, and she gave them a six out of ten. The next area was a hall of mirrors. Some were fake, some were real, and some were powered by electricity to do a jump scare when we passed by them.

As we passed by a few, one of the mirrors did a jump scare with a bridal woman with a very disfigured face. Like earlier, Raynare and I stared at it before walking away. Penemue tried to keep up her 'sacred' act, but she got quickly bored with that too, so we walked through the place in mostly silence.

Maybe I'm just desensitized to this sort of thing because we're part of the supernatural and the things we experience are more intense than this, I mean, there are literal ghosts and youkais, right? Even monsters and other worldly creatures…

Afterward, an actor appeared out of some curtains and did the same thing. Raynare stared at her and said, "You look good, you need to work on the blood splatter though, but everything else is nice, but you need to scream a bit louder—so, eight out of ten."

The actress stared at her, dumbfounded before nodding and walking back to her spot. And…this is how it repeated until we walked out of the doors of the place. I felt bad for the actors of the place. I mean, they must have prepared and tried hard to scare people, right? Only for us to come through and not react to any of it…

When we left, the staff at the front looked at us strangely. Maybe we should have played along more, or at least faked our reactions…well, we can't really take back anything at this point. As we left the haunted house area, Raynare seemed very satisfied with herself.

"So, what's your final verdict?" I asked as we stepped over to a less crowded spot. Raynare briefly glanced at me before she went into thinking.

As she did, Penemue tapped me on my shoulder and showed me an online map of the park. She pointed at 'Bar Piratta', and said, "I'll go get some food for us, stay with Raynare, okay? I'll just get whatever I think we might like, that's fine, right?"

"Go ahead, but if you're not back soon we'll just go and join you," I said and she agreed and walked off. Knowing this place and how many people are here, that place definitely has a long line. If it does, I guess I'll just have to do a bit of reality changing.

I made my way to Raynare who was still standing there thinking about my earlier question. She finally seemed to come to her conclusion as she nodded to herself and looked back at me. But she looked confused.

"Penemue left to get some food for us, and I stayed behind to look after you. So, what's your final verdict?" I asked again.

She nodded and said, "It wasn't bad, first, all the props and costumes they used were high quality, after that, their entire set-up wasn't bad either, but they could still improve on a few things like slightly better lighting and the ambient music because a lot of it was quite generic and overused in other parts, and—"

Raynare started talking and didn't stop for at least three minutes, and by the time she did—

"My final score for the Krüeger Hotel is an eight out of ten. It was quite well done and I would recommend it to anyone coming to Barcelona, if you're a horror fan that is," she said proudly.

"Good girl," I said and patted her head, but she quickly swiped it away.

"I'm not a child…anyway, let's go to Penemue-sama since she hasn't come back yet," she said and started walking away…but then stopped and looked back at me.

"I'm coming," I said and joined her. As we walked towards Penemue's aura, Raynare seemed a bit fidgety, so I held her hand and she stopped. "You could have just said you wanted to hold my hand you know."

"…Shut up…" she mumbled and we eventually found the bar where Penemue was ordering from. To our surprise, she was getting her order now, and after she received it, she turned and saw us.

However, as she started walking towards us with her hands full, just like earlier with Raynare, Penemue was suddenly surrounded by men in their early to mid-twenties as they started asking her various questions. A total of four of them.

As I began to move, Raynare stepped ahead of me and pushed past the guys and grabbed some of the food that Penemue had ordered. I also joined and took some off her. I checked the invoice and saw that she had ordered something called 'Duo 3' three times which cost her around €64 in total.

This had one super Frankfurt, one chicken roll with cereal and seed bread, two soft drinks and some French fries.

[That's pretty expensive. Not even your own restaurant has prices that high. Isn't the most expensive item just €20? And that's some custom order they want?] asked Ddraig.

'Yeah, pretty much. I don't necessarily need money, so I didn't find a need to make them super expensive,' I replied.

[But you make them pay extra for Lavinia to sing more?]

'......Look, it's a matter of letting them gawk more at her, okay? Lavinia's also quite an excellent singer and pretty mesmerizing when she sings, I—'

[Alright! I get it, shut up already! You jealous psycho…be glad no one else knows this side of you, sheesh, Partner.]

I'm not the jealous type…though at times I regret letting her do that. However, she begged me and she did the puppy-eye routine and I couldn't say no…ugh, I'm a weak man. I guess she missed her singing job at the Black Dog Bar that they previously worked at. Although it's still in operation since the new members took over running it.

However, I heard from Azazel that some regulars were upset that Lavinia, Shigune and Natsume parted ways from it. But it was rectified when Kalawarna and Mittelt joined. Although I also heard that Meruem also joined making many wary of him and their approach to Mittelt, the same with Kalawarna and Kouki. But generally, he's not as possessive as Meruem.

"Hey man, what's—" As one of them began to complain we simply walked away and found a seat for ourselves. But we knew that this wasn't going to be the end of it, so as soon as we sat down, they stood in front of us.

Why can't I have a day without this? Although it's only becoming even more frequent, I've seen this from my avatar that this sort of thing happens in the college division too, because I'm famous for having a harem around Kuoh town. Even before I entered the place, I already had people hating me.

A few tried to speak with Akeno, Rias, Ingvild, Kiyohime, Sona and Tsubaki, but they were shot down immediately, and they just assumed because it was me—I mean they were right, but still…

Before anything could escalate, I influenced the security guards of this place to go over to our spot. However, they'll arrive in a minute, so we had to distract them enough and also force them to be a bit aggressive so they'll be taken away.

"Hey man, you can't go hogging all the chicks!" one of them said and did weird signs with his hand.

It felt like they were trying hard to be hip. As far as I could remember back then, during my trip here in my previous life, the youth here were pretty normal and tame. Unless we only went to certain spots where they didn't act like this, then…I don't know, I don't live here…

"Yeah~ yeah~ share 'em with us~" another one said and did the same gestures as his friend.

I could tell Raynare was getting annoyed by this, so I patted her head with my left hand. 'It'll be fine, the security is coming in like thirty-ish seconds,' I told her. She looked at me and nodded, but then a grin flashed across her face.

"I don't need small dick losers near me, fuck off," she suddenly said. The four men suddenly froze, and two of them looked angry while the other two were unsure on how to continue.

{Well, you did say to aggravate them, so the security would have a reason to take them away…}

[She's just helping you, Partner.]

"What the hell? My dick's the size of the moon! The 12-inch punisher! The Goliath! The T-rex! How the fuck do you know what my size is, you flat chested bitch!" the leader(?) of the group shouted at Raynare.

Penemue giggled. "Any man who immediately starts talking 'big' about their own package is the most insecure about it, and usually has the smallest one out of their group of friends," she said in a mocking tone.

"That's exactly right, any guy who starts talking up their dick size is always the smallest, and is always insecure. Go home and cry to mommy you pathetic idiot," Raynare added, further angering the guy.

I was fine with aggravating them, but…he may just attack us at this rate, because he reached into his pocket and pulled out a switch blade. His friends were surprised by this and the other three backed away. Even the other one who was angry calmed down and looked panicked.

He showed it off, but both Raynare and Penemue weren't bothered by it in the slightest, further pissing him off…dude give up…

But he didn't, so he finally thrust the blade towards Raynare and I finally stepped in and stopped him by putting my left hand in front of the attack and purposely letting my left hand be stabbed by him.

This may be the second time in my new life that I've been physically hurt. The first was against Nyarlathotep. In order to make this more convincing, I didn't use any of my powers and let myself be hurt. Even the guy looked mortified. Maybe he only wanted to scare Raynare and didn't actually plan on hitting her?

The area we were in became deathly silent as the small commotion had attracted attention, and like on cue, the security arrived, saw what was happening and tackled the guy. The other guard went over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at my hand that was bleeding and the switch blade.

"I'm fine, a bit of alcohol, disinfectant, and bandages will do the job," I replied before removing the blade from my hand and handing it to the guard. He looked dumbfounded but nodded.

"I'll take you to get patched up. Come with me, young man." I doubt he'd take a no for an answer, so I agreed with him.

'Give me a minute, I might get questioned too, or something,' I told both of them and they agreed, although Raynare looked surprised by my actions.

— ○ ● ○ —

Around thirty minutes later, we were done. I was patched up first, then questioned afterward, and it was unnecessarily long. As I walked out of the building they brought me to, I sighed.

"I just wanted to have a peaceful lunch, and that's what happens? Just my luck," I muttered to myself. After they covered my hand with bandages, I healed my injury so it was already long gone.

Those two were waiting at the same spot and I joined them. I got a few calls from strangers saying 'Good job' or something. I just awkwardly smiled at them and sat down. Luckily my food was still there too.

"Were you two questioned as well?" I asked.

"Yeah, it only lasted like five minutes though since there were cameras here and a lot of eye witnesses," said Raynare as she grabbed my food and tried to feed me. I complied and opened my mouth accepting the gesture.

"Fufu, you're being called the 'hero' because of your actions, Aaron~ like the prince charming~" added Penemue.

"I'd rather not get called weird things, thank you very much…well, let's just continue with our time here. We have a few hours left before we go to that place."

"Eat." Raynare thrust some fries to my face and I ate them. Penemue joined in and fed me the chicken roll. Just like that, they helped me eat and then we toured the amusement park afterward.

— ○ ● ○ —

The sun was now going down, it was around seven in the evening and the park closed at nine at night, so we still had two hours left, but it seems that those two were hungry. All that walking probably got to them. Well, we also went on some rides like the Ferris Wheel and bumper cars.

"I guess it's time then, let's leave through the entrance first," I suggested and they were more than happy to comply.

As we left the amusement park, Penemue asked, "Where are we going for dinner? You said you had food ready, right?"

"We're staying at a place that's nine kilometers away from Tejeda in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. That's where we're staying for the night. I chose one of their biggest rooms too," I replied and glanced at Penemue who seemed satisfied. "As for dinner, we'll just eat outside. You guys already ate my cooking so…"

Penemue suddenly hugged my arm again and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

— ○ ● ○ —

We quickly arrived at the location where I had booked our stay for the night. It was a place called 'Parador de Cruz de Tejeda'. We entered the building, showed them our booking form, my debit card and passport and got the keys to our room. The receptionist looked horrified at my black debit card though…

"Seems pretty expensive, but the views from here are pretty great…" said Raynare. We passed by a glass window and saw the mountains and the night sky from there.

"Hmm. It's also pretty quiet, so we won't have to worry about interruptions later on," added Penemue.

I feel like she's getting increasingly horny as time marches on since she kept making dirty jokes as the day progressed. This comment made Raynare blush again and sigh. We eventually reached our room and entered it.

The bedroom we had was quite spacious. There were two beds near the center and directly beside it was a balcony with two chairs and a table. There was a large TV on the right, along with a desk and some drawers. A small grass screen and door separated the room from the balcony. There were a few trash cans and lamps in the room.

"It's tiny," said both women.

"…Well, compared to our home then yeah it's tiny, but a bit of magic and reality warping will do the trick," I replied. "It's also one of their biggest rooms…"

A quick click of my fingers and the room became bigger, the TV became a flat screen, and the two beds turned into one larger one. I also influenced the staff here to perceive it as normal, so they won't make a fuss about it.

"Now that's more like it." Penemue nodded sagely after seeing the new room. "You even made the balcony a bit bigger, so all of us can fit there."

I don't know what she's implying there, but she's definitely wrong about it. "Anyway, let's go and have dinner. We can come back here when it's time," I told them and we quickly left.

— ○ ● ○ —

Our destination was Tejeda, a small village that was just nine kilometers away from the hotel we were staying at. Once we arrived, we began walking around the place, but since it was already eight in the evening, most places there were already closed. However, just like us, there were a few tourists walking around enjoying the nighttime scenery.

The specific spot I wanted to go to was the cliffs just above the place, and that's where I plan on having dinner with both of them. I've already changed a small section of it to have a table and chairs as well as some ambient music playing to set the mood.

"Alright, let's go," I said and teleported us away. Once we got there, there was a small campfire that couldn't be seen by normal humans, three chairs made of wood and a large table made of wood with food on it.

"I thought you…wait, did you just set this up? Huh? When? How?" Raynare asked, become increasingly confused.

"I've been changing reality quite frequently today, Raynare. I simply did that just now too," I replied and she just sighed at me. Penemue walked ahead of us and examined everything.

"You made our favorites? My, to think you'd do all of that for us. Although…fufu, we'll just need to reward you properly," said Penemue.

I looked up at the night sky and said, "The view here is even better, right?" both of them turned to look up, and their eyes widened as they saw the night sky above us.

Just like many things today, I influenced the weather, so there wouldn't be any rain, which would certainly ruin today. But I also wanted to take this opportunity to propose to both of them. I'm skipping steps like Raiko and Kanami, but I've delayed them long enough. But first, we'll eat dinner.

"Let's eat then," I said and we did. There were various dishes that they both loved, and I made them all earlier in the morning before anyone woke up.

We ate and talked about the day, as well as the upcoming games that we looked forward to watching. The ones that they wanted to see the most were of our comrades facing off against each other.

"Are you two in a team?" I asked. As far as I know, they tried out for my own team, and if they wanted, I could have put them in the reserves.

"Well, I was invited to join the Fallen Angel's team, but in the end I declined. Even after I became stronger, I never really had the desire to fight, so I declined the invitation. Raynare's the one who's still undecided. But since you know the future, what do you see?" said Penemue.

Raynare looked at me, almost asking me to decide for her. "You're right, I know what decision she makes, but in the end, it's her decision and I'd rather not decide for her. Follow whatever you think is right," I told them.

Raynare looked at her food, at me and then at the sky. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, a decision was made…and in turn, the future I saw changed. Raynare who originally declined the offer has now decided to join the Fallen Angel's team that was representing Grigori.

"Thanks," she said and began eating faster.

Penemue tilted her head and asked, "It changed, didn't it?"

"Maybe." I didn't give a proper reply, but from the expression on my face, it was probably obvious, and so we kept on going and with that another hour passed us by.

— ○ ● ○ —

As I was preparing to leave, the two of them had gone closer to the cliff and were looking at the village and valley below as well as the night sky which was full of stars. It's a view that city folks won't see that much because of pollution. But seeing the clear night sky with all the stars is pretty amazing once you do.

[It's time…do it, Partner.]

'I was going to, give me a second…' I replied. I approached them, tapped them both on the shoulder and they turned to face me.

"…What?" asked Raynare, she was already blushing.

"Hmm~?" Penemue on the other hand was quite giggly as she also expected something from me.

"You're really not making this easy for me, jeez. You two probably already know what I'm going to ask too," I said and scratched the back of my head while sighing.

"Fufu, I'd still like to hear it from your own mouth, Aaron," said Penemue. Right now, she looked pretty mystical. The smile on her face made my heart skip. Raynare on the other hand couldn't even look at me in the eye since she was blushing so hard.

"Yeah, you're right. Raynare and Penemue, I know with both of you we got off to the wrong start, with the teasing between Penemue and I, and Raynare being partially part of the Khaos Order. But since a lot of time has passed since then…I think we've grown closer…so will both of you stay by my side for the rest of eternity?" I asked.

"Oh! You worded it differently, I like it," said Penemue. She took a step towards me and looked up at me. "Hmm. Should I say yes? Or should I say no? Which one would you like, Aaron?" she asked.

I see what she wants…sheesh. I leaned over and kissed her. It wasn't the first time, but she seemed satisfied with my decision.

"I guess I'm saying yes to this proposal, Aaron Toole-sama~" she said with a wink. She then turned to Raynare who I stood in front of.

"W-what? Do you expect me to say—mmm…" she began to ramble so I just kissed her too. It seems to me that Raynare is becoming more of a tsundere as time goes on. Once I stopped kissing her, she looked at me still blushing, but had a weirdly happy smile on her face. "I-I guess I can be with you forever…"

"Tsundere," Penemue and I said at the same time.

"Who are you calling a tsundere?!" she screamed at us. She started to softly hit me on the chest and tried to grab Penemue who avoided it.

We finally went back to our hotel room…for 'that'.

— ○ ● ○ —

Lemon Start

— ○ ● ○ —

As soon as we arrived back in our room, Penemue immediately stripped which startled Raynare.

"P-Penemue-sama…?!"

"We're going to do it, so why are you still hesitating? Unless you plan on letting me go first, Raynare," she said with a wink.

Penemue was wearing light purple lingerie underneath the clothing she wore today. Without waiting for Raynare she stepped towards me and hugged me. Her eyes told me everything, and I removed my own clothing too. I quickly glanced at Raynare as she blushed at us and I pulled Penemue onto the bed.

"…Y-you want to do it like this…?" Penemue asked, her face turning red now.

I had sat on the bed and brought Penemue onto my lap. She herself was facing forward, and Raynare, who was still near the door saw her legs stretched apart by me.

"I-I'm feeling a bit self-conscious when Raynare is watching me like thi—…ah…" Penemue's eyes wandered to my erect member. I had also removed my briefs and my member poked underneath her. Raynare also stared at it as she froze on the spot.

"Well…" I lightly bit her ear earning a moan from her. "Since you're going first, and you teased her all day long, I thought it was your turn to get teased."

Penemue turned to look at me with tears in her eyes. "Meaning…" she mumbled cutely.

That was cute, way too cute, so cute in fact that I removed her panties with a simple touch, exposing her nether regions to the world. I then started to grind my erection against it, earning a few elicit yet quiet moans from Penemue.

"A little bit of teasing already has you this wet? …No, you've been looking forward to this all day, haven't you?" I asked. She didn't answer so I softly bit her ear again and kissed her neck. "Tell me…and I'll put it in."

"…Yes…yes, I have…I knew this would happen once our date ended…I wanted to masturbate last night but didn't…God, I've been wet all day…please…Aaron…shove it in me, make me your woman…" she pleaded.

"Oh? My little fallen angel was actually horny all day? Dear me…what should I do?" I kept on teasing her. Penemue began to grind against my member, trying to get pleasure by herself.

"…You promised…" she cutely complained.

She was too cute; it was unlike her usual self. The confident, teasing and mature purple-haired fallen angel wasn't there at all. So I aligned myself to her entrance and slowly put it in. Her narrow entrance clamped down on me almost painfully. But once I got the head in, I got it all the way in to the base in one go.

I felt a bit of friction once I got to a certain spot, and a trickle of blood left her vagina, indicating her maidenhood. Penemue herself was breathlessly gasping, eyes wide and mouth hung open—reality had hit her that I had taken her virginity just now.

"Wow…Penemue-sama was a virgin…" muttered Raynare. I couldn't help myself and snickered a bit. Penemue shot me a teary-eyed glare, but I quelled it by kissing her.

"I might melt inside of you, Penemue…" I told her. Her vagina was astonishingly hot, her juices and a bit of blood spilled out, dripping down my member and onto my crotch.

"…Do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it, and you," I said and kissed her again. Penemue blissfully kissed me back too. I could feel that Raynare was feeling jealous too and she had moved to a nearby by seat and sat on it while watching us. "…I'll start moving," I declared after I stopped kissing her.

I started swinging my hips without waiting for her to respond and that elicited another moan from her. As I held her body, I rubbed her insides with my member, seeing as how she wasn't slipping off me, I took one hand and started massaging her breast, as I did, I removed her bra too.

"Mmmh?! Ah, w-wait, Aaron…n-not my—aaahh~" moaned Penemue as I pinched her nipple.

I ignored her pleads as I groped her soft and marshmallow-like boobs, knead her nipple with my finger and thrust upward with my hips.

"Fuah~ n-noo, at the same time…! Aaah…! It's too much, all of this at the same time…I can't!" moaned Penemue as I kept thrusting into her.

She was so wet inside that it felt like she was melting, but she was also clamping down on me like a vise. I slowly, intensely thrust against her deepest parts to loosen her up more.

"Aaaahh~ d-don't grind there, it feels too good~ if you keep going, you'll enter my womb, you know…~~"

"…If I put it right against that and cum, there's a possibility you might get pregnant," I whispered into her ear. Seconds later, Penemue's insides became even tighter. She was already aware that wouldn't happen, but I feel like a lot of the women I've said this to really want to become mothers…

"Is that you saying 'yes', Penemue?" I asked as I held her frame even closer. Her body shivered and relaxed a little as the tension vanished—she had just entrusted her entire being to me, and also gave me a silent answer.

But her vagina only tightened in response to my teasing. "Khh…you're really tightening up. You really want to become a mother, Penemue?"

"I-I don't know whyy… My body's doing it on its own! …Maybe I want it…? Nnkh, aah, hyahn, aaahhh!!" Penemue's moans echoed in the quiet room. Raynare watched all of this unfold and she began to quietly and discreetly pleasure herself too.

I smirked at her once I saw this, and she blushed even harder but didn't stop. Penemue's moans also turned me on even more, which in turn made my hips swing more forcefully. Penemue let loose a loud cry that she couldn't hold back. It resounded in the silence.

She covered her face in shame and blushed even harder than Raynare. "N-noo, please, hearing myself moan like some kind of wild animal…it's too much…aaahhnn~~ but…your dick feels too good~!"

"…Your pussy feels good too, Penemue…" I replied and kissed the back of her head.

Her body shivered again in response. "T-that…makes me happy…I want to feel more of you…nnk, hyah… I love you…I love youuu…Aaarrrooonn~~!" she declared in delight and at the same time, her insides tightened even further. It felt like she was trying to rip my member off.

Penemue began to repeat 'I love you' to me over and over again, as well as demanded more kisses. She wasn't like her usual self anymore. She decided to abandon all of it and let her instincts and love-filled-self take over. Then, her entire body tensed up, her insides undulate and entangled me.

"Fuck…Penemue, I'm—"

"In me!! If you're cumming, do it in me!!" she shouted at me. She wrapped her arms around me the best she could even though she was in front of me and without turning around. "In me, only cum in me, unless I'm sucking it, do you hear mmeeee~~~!?"

I thrust frantically as I matched Penemue's movements. The tip of my member grinded against the entrance of her womb. Skull-piercing pleasure started building up inside me.

Again, Penemue started mumbling 'I love you' to me over and over again. "Haaa…! Haaa…! I'm cumming…! I'm cumming…!" she breathed out.

"…Me too…!"

As if the dam inside me broke, I painted the insides of Penemue's vagina in a white sticky liquid. I kept on cumming as her vagina also tightened and pulsed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh~~~!!" she screamed in pleasure, also reaching her own orgasm. Even though I already came, I kept on thrusting, with each thrust I hit her entrance and also came in there. The entire lower part of my body felt warm, especially my member that was inside Penemue.

Penemue's eyes became hazy, and she became slightly unresponsive. So I quickly removed myself out of her, and shoved my still cum-covered member into her mouth—she wasn't even surprised, but her tongue and mouth began moving on its own, slowly cleaning it all off.

"Phew…" I let out a sigh of relief…and then looked at Raynare. As I moved a tired Penemue to the side, my semen oozed out of her vagina. Her breathing had become steady and calm—it seemed like she had passed out.

I silently gestured for Raynare to come over and she obediently did so. She got on the bed and crawled over to me. At the same time, I also took off the rest of her lingerie, which was a cute black one. I pinned us to our side and made us face the sleeping Penemue.

To start, I brought our faces closer together and once we began kissing, I pushed my tongue forward and into her mouth. Raynare responded in kind—she was no virgin, so I could be as rough and hard on her as soon as we started. From my member touching her entrance, she was already quite wet too since she was pleasuring herself as she watched Penemue and I have sex.

"Mmlh…kchu…mmhl…mlhm…my tongue…chupah…chlh…mmph…" mumbled Raynare. She also looked for my hand and intertwined with it, she seemed to like— "I've only been one-sidedly r—ped in the past, and also had boring and forceful sex…I heard a lot from your other women…so please be gentle with me…" she requested.

I agree to both Raynare's requests. The immediate one was with her tongue, and I began to tangle my own with hers. Raynare is both aggressive and gentle with her tongue. She sometimes curls both of ours together and then gently pokes mine as if asking for permission.

Spit gathered on her tongue and she swallowed it while blushing the entire time. She was acting really cute; I didn't expect this side of her—especially now. I was expecting really aggressive and rough sex from her…

"Nnhahh…your…spit…habh…nnphh…tastes good…nngh…chupha…" she mumbled as we kept on kissing. With a very adorable expression on her face unlike her usual stoic, grumpy or normal face, she added, "…I get all tingly just from kissing you…hehe…I love you Aaron…"

"…I love you too, but kissing isn't enough, right?" I asked and pressed the tip of my member into her entrance. This elicited a cute moan and a cuter nod from Raynare. As I let go of her hand and attempted to grab her breast, she stopped me and intertwined them again.

"…Please don't let go…" she begged. I felt an imaginary arrow pierce my heart. Who the hell is this cute creature?! Raynare began grinding on my member, wordlessly asking for me to put it in.

I lined up the tip of my member with her vagina and adjusted my positioning.

"Ah…t-there…come…" she muttered, her body shivering.

I slowly thrust my penis in, and when I did, I felt incredible heat and wetness, even though I only had my tip in so far. It was like Raynare was trying to suck me in.

"Knnnh…aah…y-you can put it in all at once…nnh…"

I teased her a bit by putting the tip in and pulling it back. Raynare looked visibly distraught, until tears fell from her eyes which I didn't expect.

"Please, don't tease me…" she begged.

I felt horrible, so I plunged it all in one go.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaahhh!!" she screamed, not expecting me to bury myself in her. "A-ah…you…suddenly came all the way iiin…haaah, aaah…oh my god…it's snuggled up to the entrance of my womb…!"

Raynare's body then shook all over. "Haa…haa…I came…a little just now…"

"You said you wanted to feel all tingly, didn't you?" I asked and moved my member around a bit.

Raynare pushed herself up and bumped our noses together. "Mmmph…I want to feel all tingly…but please be gentle from now on…" The look she gave me right now was of a woman utterly entranced by pleasure and love. I felt myself shiver too.

What's up with these two tonight? Acting unlike themselves and so…adorably cute. I held Raynare's leg up and started moving my hips back and forth.

"Nnmmh…ah…hah…aaahnn, ahn, like that…slow…it's good, I like this…slow and gentle sex…it's so good…nnhh…" she mumbled as I continued my slow movement. "Ahh…I can't…"

As I stared at Raynare's face as I moved my hips, she suddenly closed her eyes and tensed up. Her vagina squeezed me tightly and her body began to shake for a few seconds. When she looked back at me, her eyes were clouded, her breathing was ragged and a bit of drool ran down her chin.

"I…I came…I'm sorry…I can't take this…it's so good…" she apologized adorably and I kissed her and shoved my tongue into her mouth. Just like earlier, she aggressively but also gently intertwined our tongues together.

Both Raynare's were good—the usual sharp-tongued, sarcastic, chaotic-good Raynare and this one—love struck and adorable. I love both of them. I wonder if she'll be a bit more like this after tonight?

I also liked this position, since I could get a clear look at the girl's face when we made love like this. I also liked it when they're sitting on me as we hug. I think both are very intimate.

I stopped kissing her as she looked at me longingly. "You're really cute, Raynare…" I muttered before kissing her again. She was happy with my comment as she had renewed vigor as she increased her tongue play.

This time, she's the one who stops kissing me. "…I want you to pump my pussy while we kiss," she cutely demanded.

I silently complied as I pushed my tongue forward as she wrapped her own around it. A sweet fragrance filled my mouth. Any time I exchanged saliva's with the girls they always tasted good—did sex do this or something? I kept repeatedly moving my hips back and forth as we made out, all the while one of our free hands were intertwined with each other's.

I was still quite sensitive from earlier, so I felt my second orgasm coming, so I increased my speed slightly while still being gentle since that's what Raynare wanted.

"You're…about to cum, right…? I can feel it…you're getting bigger…in me…just like Penemue-sama…cum in me…" she muttered in-between kisses.

Silently grasping her body, I began thrusting a little harder, but not hard enough to call it rough while maintaining my previous rhythm. At the same time, I increased Raynare's sensitivity and separated from our kissing.

"H-huh…?! E-eh—w-what did you do…? I feel even better than just a few seconds ago—n-no, I'm going to cum again…Aaron…!" she said in a slight panic.

"I'm cumming, Raynare," I whispered into her ear as her moaning kept getting louder.

"Aaah, I can't…! I'm cumming again…agaaaaaaaaain…!!!" she screamed. With one final thrust, I hit the entrance of her womb again and released everything I had.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh~" Raynare achieved her orgasm, as did I. "Ah…hih…hyaaah…haah…khah…I came…again…oh…my…khh…"

My own orgasm didn't calm down as I kept pumping her insiders full of white sticky liquid. It felt never-ending…

"Nnnh…it's…so…hot…your semen's…so…hot…I feel like I'm…being…burned…" she breathed out. She looked at me before kissing me again, a normal kiss—unlike the sloppy ones we had earlier.

"…Thank you for being gentle with me…" she said and kissed me again. "I love you, Aaron…"

"I love you too, Raynare." I pressed my forehead against Raynare's as she closed her eyes and happily smiled at me.

— ○ ● ○ —

Lemon End

— ○ ● ○ —

Both of them only lasted a single round, but…I was also satisfied with it. It was Penemue's first time and she fell asleep right away. Meanwhile, Raynare also drifted off to sleep after our one round because it was her first time having non-violent sex.

I quickly cleaned up all three of us and fixed the bed. I lay in the middle and had both of them at each of my side. I'd say this was a successful day…

"I better get some sleep too," I mumbled and closed my eyes.

— ○ ● ○ —

The next day, we arrived safely back in Kuoh. Although it was already five in the afternoon, we left around eleven in the morning after having breakfast and having a short sight seeing adventure around the place.

Earlier in the morning, Raynare was texting someone. She said it had to do with the Rating Game Tournament, so we left it at that. However, once we arrived at home—

"Aaron! Come here!" Akeno said and dragged me into the living room.

The two with me also followed after us. Once we were there, we saw the TV screen, it had information regarding the upcoming matches of the tournament, and one of them caught my eye.

"Heh," said a feminine voice. I looked up and saw Aurelia there with a grin plastered across her face. She stared down Raynare and she did the same to her, on the screen…one of the upcoming matches was shown…

[Team Golden Rakshasa] vs [Team Lightning].

"You told Baraqiel that you were joining his team, were you not? I look forward to our match, Raynare," said Aurelia.

"…I did inform him this morning, yes. It was sort of last-minute, but…I'm looking forward to it, too, Aurelia-san," replied Raynare. The other two who were in Aurelia's team were also in the room and they stared at Raynare too.

"May the best team win, Raynare-san," said Rossweisse.

"I look forward to playing with you, Raynare-sama," added Ravel.

"Yeah, good luck," she replied.

Even though we just got back from our date, the fighting spirit in this home just ramped up significantly. However, all of them were smiling at each other. The next Rating Game I looked forward to seeing was definitely between those two…

— ○ ● ○ —