Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two hours passed.

Over the course of those two hours, Komi basked in the company of the many friends she had made over the past few months.

...You know, once they were finally able to find her.

Okabe and his Doomsday Party had already left the shrine before then to go make their own preparations ahead of returning to the Kingdom of Marvel, so for a short while it was just Komi and all 22 of her friends (plus Tony) moving as one cohesive unit.

They were one big huddled mass of friendship, with Komi naturally finding herself dead in the center of them as if they were a giant slime monster and she was its nucleus.

After praying and receiving their fortunes, most of Komi’s friends eventually peeled off from the group one after another to attend to their own separate matters. Nakanaka and Yamai, however, remained steadfast at Komi’s side from the moment they had laid eyes on her.

Rei stayed with her ‘mom’ Komi as well. As did Tadano and Najimi... But those two go without saying, do they not?

As would be expected, Nakanaka’s state of health was quickly discovered.

By this point, she was—embarrassingly enough—leaning into Yamai’s side for support while they walked... (Purely for medical reasons, of course!)

There was no longer any chance of keeping her condition concealed.

Thinking fast, Yamai had quickly spun up a believable enough excuse as to what happened:

“I-It’s just food poisoning!”

She could not help but laugh anxiously after saying such an absurdity, knowing full well just how flimsy that cover story was.

“I-it’s n- ...nnnghh!” Nakanaka said in knee-jerk fashion, finding that lie to be more than just a little insulting. She looked away while growling under her breath after catching herself.

She tightly clenched her teeth together to keep from contradicting her girlfriend. Annoying as it was, she could only bear with it for now, because what else could she say that it was...? Only the truth came to mind.

As a small bit of revenge, she pinched Yamai’s side... This only made Yamai laugh again, however, even though it did hurt quite a bit for a few seconds.

The explanation Yamai provided was bullshit, but... Komi believed it.

After all, why would her friends lie to her?

The two lovers naturally felt guilty about deceiving Komi like this, but the reality of their situation was far too embarrassing for them to disclose. Especially since disclosing that would also require disclosing the true nature of their relationship.

That was something they could not abide!

Yamai was resolutely against revealing it to Komi.

And for damn sure not to Tadano!

Yamai stared daggers at him. Her reaction to his mere presence was more than enough to mask her otherwise giddy and flustered state.

She feared that he would figure out the truth on his own if given the opportunity.

From her perspective, his ability to read people was ‘creepy’... It was far too accurate! It was as if he could literally read their hearts and minds at times.

One step too close to either of them and he might well unravel their entire web of lies and deceit, and then ‘get a little too comfortable’ with Komi!

Yamai growled under her breath in his direction at the thought of it. Just because she was now in a relationship with Nakanaka, that didn’t mean that her goddess was suddenly fair game!

That sentiment rang true for Nakanaka as well, albeit to a lesser degree—she was much more passive in her disapproval.

After all, she could already tell it was a foregone conclusion. And if it was going to happen eventually, why bother fighting it at all? Doing so would only serve to put a strain on her and Komi’s friendship, and she would much rather die than let something like that happen.

Just as well, regardless of her own personal feelings on the matter—mongrel or not—she knew that there were far worse people in the world than Tadano who could be standing alongside her sworn ally.

It annoyed her to admit it, but at the very least, she knew that he could be trusted. Better him than somebody else...

Still, she scowled at Tadano whenever he happened to glance in their direction for more than a second or two.

Begrudgingly allowing him near Komi was one thing, but him staring at her and Yamai was another matter entirely! It was embarrassing enough already doing this awkward half-sideways hug while walking! She didn’t need an audience on top of that! (This sucked!)

...

For a while now, as they traveled, Tadano had noticed something strange about those two.

...You know, aside from the usual things.

It was the odd way in which mana gathered and dispersed around them like a swirling vortex of mist.

He was more than just a little curious about it, but upon sensing their hostility... He decided to just ignore all that and avoid eye contact with them as much as possible for the rest of their trek.

They were on foot, following Komi’s lead to her grandmother’s home, as that was where her parents and brother were currently holed up.

She felt it only right to inform them of her plans before departing for the so-called Land of Enchantments.

She could have done so by phone, just as Tadano had done with his family, but that would not have sat well with her. It felt too impersonal. And in truth, she also wanted to be doted on just a little bit more before leaving.

Before long, the six of them made it all the way to Komi Yuiko’s lavish, yet traditional home.

They were just a few meters away from reaching the door when Komi suddenly got cold feet and stopped in her tracks.

She wanted to invite her friends inside—really, she did!—but when the time finally came, the prospect of actually doing so made her eyes go wide in shock, and she started trembling in fear.

In her eagerness to get things moving, Komi had all but forgotten about her grandmother’s rather intense personality. She didn’t know what to expect should her grandmother come face to face with her friends here—most of all, Tadano.

Her grandmother had reacted quite negatively when she found his name at the top of her phone’s contacts list before... Remembering this made Komi tremble yet again.

She stood there for what, to her, felt like several minutes with her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she tried to decide what to do.

The clock was ticking. Between fight or flight, what should she choose?

...Well, being more realistic about it, what choice did she really even have in the matter? She had already delivered her friends all the way up to her grandmother’s doorstep, hadn’t she? What was she going to do, turn around now and just tell them to leave?

No! She could never do something like that! That would be rude!

And even setting that point aside, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she had truly locked herself into inviting them in for one reason if not another.

Nakanaka needed to rest.

Komi suddenly felt guilty, having not even considered the option of hiring a carriage for the lot of them.

Poor Nakanaka had been forced to walk all the way there—assisted by her ‘rival’, no less.

In Komi’s defense, her grandmother’s home wasn’t terribly far from the shrine, and there were no carriages in sight... but she probably still could have called one up or something, right? Why didn’t she think of that before?

...

Okay, well it’s more like Tadano could have called one for them in her stead... But still! The point remained.

It pained Komi to think how humiliating this all must be for Nakanaka to endure. It was already bad enough that she had food poisoning!

Komi shook her head to snap herself out of her spiraling negative thoughts... Or more like she shook the entire upper half of her body, with her hands raised up in front of her chest and balled up into loose fists.

It was much too late to worry about such things. They were already there, and they were going to go inside. That’s all there was to it. She just needed to steel herself for it first.

Of course, that was the hardest part.

...

Well... Maybe Obaasan isn’t home right now...? The voice in her head offered up a comforting thought.

Komi lightly furrowed her brows for a moment as the voice bothered her yet again.

It did have a point though. Her grandmother could be at the shrine this very second and their paths had just never crossed. She was on very good terms with the priests who looked after it, after all.

A part of her hoped that this was indeed the case, though only because it would save her from quite a bit of embarrassment—not to mention stress!

Komi turned to her friends, and Tadano in particular. She stared at them with full intensity, her eyes still open wide.

“Is something wrong, Komi-san?” Tadano asked, an understanding smile spreading across closed lips.

Komi shook her head in response... but nodded right after.

She alternated between these two answers frantically.

Tadano almost wanted to laugh, because he couldn’t help but find her doing so to be incredibly cute (like with everything else she did)... but he easily held it in. He simply smiled a little wider instead. She was like this when we went to her house for the first time too.

His smile could be called average, perhaps, by some people’s standards. But whenever he smiled her way, Komi always found herself more at ease—if a bit flustered.

It was a kind, inviting smile. One brimming with warmth, and completely devoid of any ill intentions.

Why was such a pure smile aimed at her of all people?

She could never bring herself to ask him that sort of thing, but whatever the reason might have been, it made her heart skip a beat.

Just w hat is he thinking...?

Komi really wanted to know, but unfortunately for her she did not have Tadano’s ability to read the atmosphere... Oh how simple things would be if she did.

She tilted her head, trying to somehow puzzle it out anyway, but her focus was drawn back to his lips again instead.

He’s so cute... If only this were a dream, I could just...

She jolted at that thought—and where it was heading!—and shook her head again wildly to set it aside.

She then turned on her heels a full 180 degrees and made her way to the door with tiny, rapid footsteps, leaving Tadano and the others confused.

...How could I think about wanting to kiss him at a time like this?!

Komi gently pushed her way inside the house, quiet as can be.

She was still blushing over her sudden ‘immoral thoughts’, but with the odds stacked against her that her grandmother might be home, she quickly forgot all about that—at least for now.

She stood in the doorway for a moment, then finally breathed in relief when nothing immediately went wrong (or happened at all, really). So far, so good...

She rolled her eyes upwards briefly, and knitted her brows in annoyance. This voice in her head would be a permanent fixture from now on, it seemed.

The house was completely silent.

Komi had expected at least somebody to be there, such as her mother or aunt... but maybe nobody was?

There was a hallway lined up with the front door that essentially split the house down the middle. Diagonally to her left, several steps away, was a wooden set of stairs leading up to the second floor. Next to that? A guest room.

From this guest room, tiny, rapid footsteps not unlike Komi’s own could suddenly be heard—and they were approaching fast!

“Shouko-chan...?” called a young girl’s voice, shortly before the girl herself came into view. She seemed excited for Komi’s return, judging by the hopeful, energetic tone of her voice. Not to mention the haste with which her little feet brought her out into the open area surrounding the stairs.

The second she saw that there were guests, she skidded to a sudden halt.

This girl was 14-year-old Komi Akira... Komi’s cousin.

Her hair was styled into a tidy bob cut, with her eye-length bangs parted mostly towards the middle of her face to keep them out of her eyes. It was in the same shade of black with violet undertones as was typical of all the women in the Komi family.

She had on a simple, pink sleeveless dress over a white collared blouse, and she was running around in ankle-length socks due to Grandma Yuiko’s strict ‘no shoes on in the house’ policy. (Such a policy was quite common around these here parts, as a matter of fact.)

“Ah! So cute!” shrieked Yamai from the doorway as soon as her eyes locked onto Akira.

Akira let out a tiny gasp, and as if she were under threat of attack, she went stiff out of fear for the briefest of moments before fleeing up the aforementioned stairs as quickly as her feet could take her.

Komi pomphed in amusement at this, and soon followed after her.

The others weren’t far behind, as once they had finished removing their assorted footwear, they all made a game of it to see who could find Akira first.

...

As if the rules came naturally to them, none of them used magic in their search... because that would be cheating, wouldn’t it?!

The search and chase lasted for only a few minutes before Akira was found.

In the end, Komi had driven Akira into a corner in some dark guest room... where she proceeded to tickle her relentlessly until she was on the floor, on the brink of tears, pleading for her to wait through a fit of giggles.

After that ordeal, once they were all back downstairs.

Akira was about as embarrassed as can be expected for a girl her age. (Rei totally empathized!)

Akira overcompensated for this by suddenly giving off an air of extreme maturity while Komi’s friends introduced themselves to her one after another in the kitchen. She was 14 now, after all. She wanted to be taken seriously! (Rei thought Akira was very cool and so relatable for this.)

A neutral, detached expression... Subtle, silent nodding... ‘Absentmindedly’ running her fingers through her hair... It was all carefully calculated to maximize her idea of a Coolness Factor.

All Akira could think about while struggling to maintain this ‘cool’ of hers was the high of excitement she got from running around and hiding from her cousin and her cousin’s friends just moments ago.

It was way too fun!

More than anything else right now she wanted to continue playing that sort of game with them, but she knew all too well that asking to do so would completely shatter this cool image of hers she was trying to replace their first impressions with.

She wasn’t ready to give up just yet, however... So she got to thinking.

Her cousin and her friends were certainly there for a reason, right? She had no way of knowing what that reason might be, but if she fished for clues, and then directed the flow of the conversation in a favorable direction... maybe they would be interested in playing with her some more!

With that goal in mind, she quickly asked them, “Um... So what brings you all here?”

Her smile was cute and innocent enough, but a notable glint in her eye hinted at ulterior motives.

She tried to suppress her lingering embarrassment to the best of her ability, but the butterflies in her stomach kept her distracted.

Out of nervousness, she subconsciously brought her hands to her chest, balled up into little fists—a habit she picked up from her cousin.

While Akira’s attention was aimed mainly at Komi, Komi’s friends all looked at each other in a knowing way and smiled, almost as if they could predict in some way where her line of questioning might lead.

Finding it impossible to speak, but also finding it too embarrassing to use manascript in front of her cousin for some reason, Komi instead leaned down and whispered into Akira’s ear inform her of their plans.

On hearing this information, Akira’s eyes lit up.

There it was! The vital piece of information that she needed to enact her scheme! She didn’t expect it come so easily!

Ignoring her first instinct, which was to chuckle darkly to herself, she instead responded with some useful information of her own. “E-everyone went to the shrine for some ‘important business’, so they won’t be back for a while...”

Najimi, ever the playful agent of chaos, could somehow taste the impending fun in the air—and the anticipation was already beginning to kill them.

Feigning ignorance, Najimi slid into focus and put a hand to their chin in a thinking pose. “Mm... Well that’s a shame...” they said in a casual tone, “Hey, what do you suppose we should do while waiting?”

Their eyes met, and for the briefest of moments, they flashed each other smug grin.

Akira realized right away that she had somehow been found out by this... person... But they were clearly an ally, so it hardly mattered.

“If you need to kill time, I know what we could do!” Akira said innocently, barely reigning in her excitement.

Before she realized it, Akira had lost her cool. It only took her a moment, however, for her to cross her arms and shift back into cool mode.

In the most mature tone of voice, she continued, “It may seem a bit childish at a glance... but believe it or not, the game of hide and seek is an excellent exercise for honing an adventurer’s instincts... O-or so I’ve heard...” She looked to the side in an effort to conceal a sudden wave of shyness from all of the eyes that were trained on her. (Rei’s were sparkling at this point.)

Tadano couldn’t help but smile.

“That sounds like fun,” he said before inevitably turning to Komi, “What do you think, K... Um, S-Shouko-san...?”

Tadano looked down, his face quickly going red hot from being forced to say Komi’s given name all of a sudden to avoid confusion. Shouko-san... I called her Shouko-san...

Komi was startled stiff.

Both by Tadano suddenly calling her by name(!), and also him suddenly asking what she thought of Akira’s proposal, as if she were the one who should decide in the end.

Her face went pure violet in response, and then she finally nodded with a vacant expression on her face. Shouko-san... He called me Shouko-san...

While the others all agreed to play one after another, Komi and Tadano remained lost in thought, with steam practically rising from their heads.

Akira was elated, as everything was coming up roses. She was happy enough she could cry!

...If she were just a few years younger, she would have.

She was so bored waiting around the house all by herself after everyone else had left, but now she could finally have some real fun!

“...So who is ‘it’?” Nakanaka asked suddenly. Despite her condition, her one uncovered eye was filled with an intense, competitive fire.

“Well it sure as heck ain’t you,” Yamai insisted before turning over to Akira, “Um, I don’t suppose I can take her to hide first, can I? She’s actually very sick... with food poisoning.” (Nakanaka disliked that.)

Nakanaka looked away and clicked her tongue in annoyance. Because first of all, it wasn’t food poisoning! She didn’t really want a handicap either! (This sucked!)

“Oh no...” Akira said while looking around nervously, “Will she need to throw up or anything? Our bathroom is in a detached building, but I can probably find a bucket or something if she needs it...”

“You’re so cute,” Yamai said with a giggle while patting her head, “That’s okay though. I’m giving her lots of ‘medicine’, so she will be fine. She just can’t move too quickly due to her... muscle aches and chills...”

Akira blushed, and shrank back from the sudden doting. Especially since she was once again called cute... (Note that she did not deny it.)

“I think Akira-chan should be ‘it’ since she was caught a while ago,” Najimi said like the treasonous gremlin they were.

Akira gasped at their sudden betrayal, but she ultimately accepted her fate.

“Very well,” she said while closing her eyes and crossing her arms in defiance, “I will be ‘it’.”

With that decided, she pointed at Nakanaka and Yamai and continued, “You two can have a two-minute head start since Nakanaka-san is sick. After that, I will count to 100 while the rest of you hide.”

She pulled a small, white, egg-shaped magical device to her hand through some form of telekinesis and set a two-minute timer with it by twisting its upper half. There were evenly-spaced black markings along the sides of it ranging from 1 to 60 to clearly indicate duration.

“Oh. Just don’t hide in any rooms with a closed door,” Akira added as an afterthought while Yamai carried Nakanaka off supported by her shoulder.

“We won’t,” Yamai cheerfully replied before they eventually disappeared from view.

“Understood!” Rei said in a low, but forceful voice. She was completely serious, but finished things off with a pomph. (Akira thought she was cute.)

Two minutes passed, and so the others were finally allowed to go hide.

Akira remained in the kitchen, as this was the room furthest from all available hiding places.

She placed the kitchen timer back on a counter by the stove, then closed her eyes and at last began to loudly count.

Tadano was the last to leave the kitchen, with the others eagerly running ahead of him—Najimi nearly trampled him in passing, though Tadano quickly moved aside to avoid that fate.

He laughed to himself and shook his head, but quickly made his way down the hall when he realized Akira had already counted to 10.

Overtaken by a slight panic, he anxiously looked around for a room to hide in that was neither too close nor too far away.

The tatami room was a no-go, as there was nowhere at all to hide.

There were three other rooms down the hall, but the doors were all shut.

The guest room by the front door and the living room were both out of the question as they were closest in proximity to the kitchen. Akira would undoubtedly hear him, and the likelihood of good hiding places there was dubious at best.

He had already killed 20 more seconds or so by the time he realized he had no choice but to go upstairs.

He quickly made his way up, cringing with every little sound he made. He may have been down to his socks on his feet, but that did nothing to mask the slight creaking of wood. Not to mention the faint thud accompanying each footstep.

With probably less than a minute to go by his estimation, his sense of urgency was skyrocketing. He needed to find a place to hide. NOW.

Aha! He thought. A guest room...! I’ll hide under the bed. No one will ever know!

It was not ideal, but it would just have to do.

...He was not the first to come up with this idea, however.

As he leaned down to assess whether he would even be able to fit, he was met with a most-hostile hiss.

“Find another room, you mongrel!” Nakanaka said in a quiet, but no less threatening voice. Her right hand was awkwardly concealing the lower half of her face.

Yikes!

Tadano stood straight up in an instant—partially out of fear, but also of grave concern was his ever-dwindling time to find a hiding place of his own.

Given Nakanaka’s threat, he decided there was no choice but to find another room... so he left.

“That was close,” Yamai whispered into Nakanaka’s ear, accompanied by a giggle.

“Y-you’d better not be planning anything strange back there,” Nakanaka insisted sternly. Now was neither the time nor the place for Yamai’s shenanigans.

“Shhhh...” Yamai whispered again to reassure her, “I have more common sense than to do anything like ‘that’ in someone else’s house, you know.” She had just enough room to maneuver her arm to pull Nakanaka closer.

“Sure you do...” Nakanaka whispered back while blushing.

Out in the hallway, Tadano anxiously whipped his head around looking for another open room.

Rei was hiding in the next room he entered... and so was Najimi.

Najimi was under the bed. They smugly made an X with their arms when Tadano checked.

Rei, meanwhile, was hiding in a closet for storing futons called an oshiire.

The doors were white, and they were the type that slid open and closed sideways. There was a sturdy wooden shelf around waist height inside, which was where Rei was currently sitting with her legs crossed.

Rei let out a frightened breath upon being discovered, then politely shooed Tadano away with her hands for fear that they would both end up caught.

There were only two more rooms to choose from now, as the others were all behind closed doors.

One was on the left, while the other was on the right.

Tadano was nearly out of time, but he still weighed his choices briefly before finally committing to the room on the right.

Akira had already counted to 86 by the time he entered this guest room and made a dash for the oshiire, so he had to act fast!

He opened the door carefully, hoping to not make any noise... and was surprised by what was waiting for him on the other side.

Komi stared back at him, frozen in shock. Once she realized it was him, however, she lowered her shoulders, and allowed herself to relax a little.

Tadano took this time to put his hands together and apologize with his eyes closed.

“91-,” Akira started counting louder, “92-.”

Tadano jolted, then turned to run. Maybe there’s still time to get under the bed?!

Knowing Yamai, however, he feared that’s where she was.

He’s not going to make it! This, Komi knew with certainty.

How did she know? Easy: because she had stuff under the bed... This was her room, after all!

Before Tadano could take even a step in the bed’s direction, Komi forcefully pulled him into the oshiire by the collar of his shirt, then quietly closed the door.

At first, Tadano couldn’t even register what happened. All he knew was that in an instant, he had been enveloped by darkness... He couldn’t see a thing!

He seemed to be sitting on a hard and flat surface, but he was also laying backwards a bit, leaning against something extremely soft. A pillow...?

The next thing he noticed was the sensation of something slender that was comfortably, though tightly wrapped around his midsection. ???

He was so confused by the event of being yanked into the closet that he had forgotten all about what he was doing just seconds before.

This confusion did not last, however.

After the initial shock wore off, everything came flooding back.

“E-eh...?” Tadano whispered. “K-Komi-san?!”

Komi didn’t say a word. Rather, she couldn’t say a word.

Even if she could say something here, she didn’t know what to say!

Her eyes had gone wide over the shock of the outrageous thing she had just done, and she began shaking uncontrollably—a fact which was not lost on Tadano.

What must he think of her after what she’d just done?!

Komi’s trembling continued unabated, along with her fretting, and Tadano found it increasingly difficult to overlook, what with the vibrations being directly transmitted to him through their various... ‘points of contact’.

What’s with this situation...?! Tadano desperately wanted to know.

It took every ounce of his willpower to stifle a scream that got caught in his throat. He would have simply covered his mouth with his hands, but with his arms trapped beneath Komi’s, that was frankly impossible.

Tadano clenched his teeth and heaved a long, shaky breath through his nose to maintain his wits, and then slowly opened and closed his hands a few times to ensure they were still receiving circulation before doing anything else.

With how things were, though, what else could he even do? In such a small enclosed space, he had very little freedom to move around to begin with—and regardless of that, Akira was now on the hunt. Even if he were free of Komi’s grasp right now, he knew better than to press their luck by trying to find another hiding place so late in the game.

...So he just sat there.

It was awkward to the extreme, sharing such a small hiding place with a girl his own age.

Not just any girl, either... This was Komi we’re talking about.

To keep himself sane, he started rationalizing it all in his mind, while also trying to ignore the sweet, floral scent of Komi’s perfume as it began clouding his judgment. She just wanted to help me hide! That’s all...!

Yes, he just needed to think about it logically and it all made sense. Just because Komi pulled him in there to hide with her, that didn’t mean there was any special motive at play. It’s not like she had feelings for him or anything, right? There’s no way that she would...

...

She smells nice though...

In spite of himself, Tadano could not help but quietly drink it all in. He felt guilty for doing so, however. After all, Komi surely was not enjoying this situation in the slightest. Why should he be allowed to? Sorry, Komi-san...

He swallowed hard, and tried his best to calm his heart which was racing yet again.

Given the circumstances, however, how could it not continue to race? It was impossible to ignore the comfortable feeling of Komi’s arms gently wrapped around him over his stomach. Technically speaking, this was a hug, wasn’t it?

And as if that were not already enough, there was also that soft pressure against his back that was even more nerve-racking to endure! It could only be one thing—well, two things, really—and he tried his best to not even acknowledge it.

He closed his eyes briefly and took in a long, deep breath to at least relieve some of his growing tension before finally whispering again as quietly as he could. “It’s alright, Komi-san.”

Nevermind me... I can only imagine how nervous she must be right now.

The guilt was beginning to crush him. Especially since there was something he was thinking of asking her here that would certainly make matters worse.

It was better to do it now rather than waiting until the next time they were alone together like this. There was no telling when that next time might be, after all, and he didn’t want to risk somehow forgetting all about it.

...But did he have the balls?

What should I even say? There’s probably no way she would even agree to it in the first place...

Komi finally released him from her grip, having regained some of her senses, and immediately brought her fists to her chest before trembling again. What was I doing?!

Tadano leaned forward once he was free, and pulled out a seren crystal to give them some light.

It was only 1 carat, or roughly 6.5mm in diameter, and it was cut into the familiar shape of a diamond. It was just barely bright enough for them to see each other once he clumsily and quietly turned himself around to face her and set it down between them on the wooden shelf.

“W-well, let’s calm down for now...” Tadano whispered with a wide, nervous smile. I hope I don’t smell too much... I’m sweating a lot.

Komi looked down at the source of light for a moment, and then anxiously stared back up into his eyes.

She couldn’t believe that she was all alone with a boy her own age in such a small, enclosed space.

Not just any boy either... This was Tadano we’re talking about.

This kind of scenario terrified her. Not because of any expectations of what Tadano might do to her—she knew him far better than that—but rather she was aware of her own, hidden desires. (It was only just a few minutes ago that she was thinking about how she wanted to kiss him!)

She felt like she was going to pass out worrying over it. Maybe pulling Tadano in there with her was a horrible decision after all?

Tadano-kun is right... I need to calm down...

Komi shut her eyes tight, and prepared to do something that she never even would have considered doing under most other circumstances. She hated the very idea with every fiber of her being, but after having thought long and hard about it, it was undeniably something that would come in handy during future combat situations—better to get used to it now.

...

Well, this wasn’t a combat situation by any means. You could say, however, that it was a fight... from a certain point of view.

Trying her best to ignore everything else going on—such as the sudden bout of shrieking and laughing and hurried stomping of feet coming from another room—Komi took a deep breath, and finally found her resolve...

She gritted her teeth, and unleashed a weakened version of the calming spell.

Rather than a flash of light like the original, this one was an invisible pulse of energy that filled the immediate space around her for a few seconds as it took effect.

For a brief moment, it seemed as though nothing happened at all. Komi and Tadano merely stared at each other in silence and uncertainty.

It was certainly ‘calm’, however.

Komi shifted her eyes around, inspecting the closet as if to probe for signs of change. Not that there would be any visible changes in her surroundings after a spell of this nature. It was simply out of habit.

Nothing...?

Perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all when using this spell? She didn’t immediately blurt out her feelings for him, at the very least—that was her biggest fear at the time.

Relieved, Komi was just about to let out the breath she had been holding... but then Tadano went and opened his mouth to speak.

“Komi-san...? Can I touch your chest?”

...

‘What? Tadano would never say something like that!’

...is probably what you’re thinking.

And you know what? You would be so right in saying so!

There was, however, a very good reason that he did—a well-reasoned, reasonable reason...

To explain, let us first turn back time, once again, to ‘round about midnight.

This was just after Tadano had finished eating his bacon and eggs (sunny side up).

Todd, meanwhile, was just finishing up his fifth plate and waiting for the next to arrive. (The speed at which he ate was quite astonishing.)

“Something on your mind?” Todd asked coolly, dabbing at the corners of his mouth with a pure white napkin before stowing it away.

Tadano did have things on his mind, as a matter of fact. His face must have given it away, he figured, for Todd to ask him about it so directly.

Tadano felt, honestly, that the way things were going was not as ‘balanced’ as Todd originally claimed those three-plus months ago.

Referring to, of course, Tadano being Najimi’s apostle... And Komi also being included for good measure. Almost as if she were an afterthought.

But rather than ‘unbalanced’, perhaps a better way of describing it would simply be... ‘unfair’.

Tadano wasn’t quite sure how to broach this subject—or if he even should.

Gods don’t take well to criticism... probably...

That had been Tadano’s thinking over the last three months and change, but since Todd went out of his way to ask him, and he didn’t have anything better to answer with... He decided to just come right out and say it.

“I was just thinking...” Tadano said cautiously, “Why am I considered Najimi’s apostle, but Komi-san is not?”

Todd shifted into a thinking pose—kind of crossing his arms a little, and resting one hand on his chin while Tadano considered his words carefully.

“I was given two blessings as part of the deal, but to my understanding, Komi-san didn’t receive anything... even though she was also deliberately chosen for our party.”

Todd slowly leaned back into his cushioned diner seat, and inhaled deeply through his nose before putting his hands in the pockets of his blazer.

“I-I know that Najimi chose me, but still...” Tadano added anxiously.

“You know,” Todd started off, “It’s not so much that I didn’t want to give her one...”

As the God of Order, he considered himself to be nothing if not orderly and fair.

He was not, however, forthcoming when it came to details.

“I see,” said Tadano after a moment, relieved that at the very least it was not an oversight on Todd’s part—nor did it seem to be out of callousness.

So why?

What could possibly keep a god—and not just any god, but one of the head honchos—from bestowing onto Komi a blessing?

At least one...

She deserved at least that much, Tadano thought. Far more than he did, anyways.

“Was there some kind of problem then?” Tadano asked. He was more than a little confused on the matter... but he was mainly asking in the hopes that there was some way of changing Todd’s mind.

Todd smiled.

In a word, he was proud of Tadano. Not just anybody could take everything that’s happened in stride, all while maintaining such strong fair-mindedness—especially when put face to face with a god.

This was no doubt the true reason Najimi chose him, Todd decided.

“Hitohito-kun. Do you remember?” he asked in a measured, probing manner, “When I first gave you your blessings... What did I do?”

Tadano looked down at his empty plate, and his eyes lightly shifted from side to side in thought. What he did...?

He tried his best to replay the dreamlike event in his mind.

For Tadano’s first blessing, Divine Perception, Tadano remembered Todd gathering the essence(?) of the blessing into his fist, and then he touched a... flower(?) hanging in Tadano’s hair.

And for his second blessing, his unlimited dimensional storage, Todd had repeated that same action, but that time touched his chest instead.

...

Tadano’s face went pale at the realization, and his stomach twisted itself into a knot as he imagined Komi being forced into such a situation. His brow furrowed somewhat without his knowing.

Thinking about it made him somewhat... upset.

Komi, as someone who at that point would have never even had a proper conversation with a stranger, let alone a god... It would have likely been impossible for her to even agree to such a proposal in the first place, not to mention suffering through the admittedly simple procedure itself.

“I think you can understand,” Todd said finally, after seeing the shift in Tadano’s expression.

“Yeah...” Tadano said as his heart started to sink.

There was a growing pit in the bottom of his stomach as he felt, more and more, as if it was just not going to happen. Komi would receive no blessing.

He balled his fists on his knees.

He understood Todd’s reasoning—and even agreed with it up to a point—but it still left an incredibly bad taste in his mouth... It simply wasn’t right.

Before Tadano could spend much time marinating in such feelings, however, Todd snapped his fingers upon getting an idea. “You do it,” he said optimistically.

Tadano’s heart leapt, and his eyes shot back up at Todd in surprise. “E-eh?! Me?!”

“Yeah. Pick one and give it to her,” Todd said with a modest, but growing smile, “You’ll just need to transfer it over.”

“I-I-I couldn’t possibly...!” Tadano asserted anxiously. He blushed heavily, and dismissively waved his hands in front of him leaving dozens of afterimages.

“Why not?” Todd asked, trying to suppress his smile—at least a little.

“T-that would be sexual harassment,” Tadano pointed out quietly, then quickly looked away in embarrassment.

“I’m sure it will be fine if you just explain it to her properly...”

“What’s got the two of you so animated?” Howard asked brightly as he delivered Todd’s sixth plate of food—this one consisting entirely of scrambled eggs.

“Just a bit of small talk,” Todd said with a smile as if it were nothing, then rubbed his hands together while eyeing his eggs.

As you would have guessed, despite Tadano’s misgivings... He eventually made up his mind to do it.

...And that brings us back to now.

It suddenly felt even hotter inside that dark and stuffy little closet—partially a result of their combined body heat and breathing... but it was mainly in reaction to Tadano asking, seemingly out of nowhere, whether he could touch Komi’s chest!

Judging by the question, you will have no doubt guessed that Tadano’s mind was made up on which blessing to transfer. It was the more useful of the two, he thought, and he expected that Komi could make far better use of it than he ever could... He was not at all just using this as an excuse to touch her chest.

He didn’t know how he managed to keep this matter mostly out of mind all morning, but there was certainly no stopping it now. No, not after having blurted that question out so unexpectedly!

He had yet to realize that it was Komi who unwittingly pulled the trigger on this most unlikely of scenarios. He thought it was nothing but a mere slip of the tongue since asking was already on his mind... Granted, one with potentially devastating consequences.

Komi furrowed her brow and frowned slightly while thinking to herself. Why is he asking me that of all things?

She slowly covered her chest with both arms and shrank back a little... though in what she hoped was the least offensive way possible.

She didn’t suddenly hate him or anything—there was no chance of that ever happening, surely—she was just... disappointed?

She had to wonder if, quite unexpectedly, Tadano was some kind of pervert!

How long has he been holding it in? She wondered to herself about his supposed... ‘carnal desires’.

She wanted to say something in response—and she was fully capable of doing so thanks to the effects of her spell—but Tadano had asked her such a surprising and inappropriate question under the influence of her spell that she was at a total loss for words.

It was at this time that Tadano finally realized what Komi had done. It was the only thing that made sense given her relatively relaxed reaction to what he had just asked her.

It also explained why, despite him having said something so wildly inappropriate, he still felt so unnaturally calm. So this is what the calming spell is like...

After having thoroughly thought things through, Komi’s reaction was no longer so surprising, though it did still hurt his feelings... because how could it not?

Despite being completely calm, he still felt an urgency to clarify his motives—after all, he couldn’t have Komi thinking he was some kind of pervert, could he?!

He slowly bowed his head and upper body in apology as much as he could while paying careful mind to their currently cramped conditions... He didn’t want to risk any unwanted physical contact on her part.

“I’m sorry, Komi-san... Please let me explain,” he pleaded calmly.

“I would hope you have a good explanation for this,” Komi replied just as calmly.

She was pouting. She was disappointed in him, after all...! But for some reason she could not explain, as she watched him earnestly maintaining the pose of his apology, she could feel a growing, impulsive desire to smile at him instead.

Komi was a bit annoyed at herself for that. You’re supposed to be mad at him right now, dummy. Don’t smile!

She pomphed seriously after several seconds, and somehow managed to hold out.

Their situation was quite ridiculous, however. Adding to that Tadano’s prolonged apology, she almost had to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

...Almost.

But really, why in the world did Tadano go and ask her such a weird question? She again wondered this to herself as she lowered her arms and placed her hands on her knees, once again balled up into loose fists.

Just as Tadano opened his mouth to finally explain himself, the closet door opened a few inches on his side, ruining his chance.

Oh shit...

What felt like an icy hot jolt of electricity coursed through his body as he straightened up and turned to look out the crack. With this sudden wave of dread overtaking him, there was no doubt in his mind that the calming spell had suddenly worn off.

Before he could react in any meaningful way, a slender hand reached into the closet and firmly grasped his left shoulder.

“Got you!” Akira declared in triumph.

Everyone else had managed to evade her in one way or another, afterwards taking refuge in the safe zone that was the kitchen... but Tadano had no such luck in that regard.

From this point on... He was simply ‘it’.

After Tadano came out of hiding, Komi waited a while before leaving the closet as well to ensure that the coast was clear. If Akira were to find out she was also in there at the same time Tadano was... Well, that would undoubtedly be the end of her.

Komi breathed in relief, having successfully avoided detection. She nearly had a heart attack worrying over the potential scandal.

After making it back to the kitchen, while everyone else was teasing Tadano for actually getting caught, Komi did nothing but stare at him with her big ol’ eyes—quite intensely, I might add.

Tadano bore with it, sweating profusely the entire time, and tried his best not to call any attention to it. If any of their friends happened to notice Komi staring at him, and his reaction to said staring, they might start asking questions. Questions to which neither of them had any appropriate answers for.

Thinking about how they might press him for answers made him sweat even more—the sign of a guilty conscience, perhaps?

Indeed, revealing the truth might well be the same as signing his own death warrant under the circumstances.

...Of course, he had died a little on the inside regardless.

Gratefully, this humiliation ritual passed rather quickly and eventually everyone saw fit to run off and hide once more for another around, as if nothing happened. (If only they knew.)

Once they were all gone, Tadano started to count.

His counting was evenly paced, and rang out quite clearly throughout the house. He had to admit, it was a welcome distraction from the anxiety he was otherwise suffering through.

Komi decided, rather quickly, to hide in perhaps the least likely of places... The tatami room.

Akira and Rei thought this decision was strange, both having followed her there out of interest, but Komi simply brought her index finger to her lips in a shushing motion when questioned. That was all it took to convince them that this was some kind of brilliant plan.

...They didn’t stay, however. The pair instead ran off together somewhere upstairs.

Inside the tatami room, there was very little of note. Forget about places to hide.

As you would expect, the floor was lined with tatami mats.

Against one wall, there was a low desk that you would have to kneel in front of to use properly.

Right next to it, there was a table that sat just a little bit lower—both were made of a good quality bamboo, if that makes any difference.

The doors leading in and out of the room had a large, checkered floral pattern along their bottom halves, and there were two cushions on the floor right in the center of the room.

...That was about it.

It was the perfect meeting place, Komi thought. If she knew Tadano at all, he would go straight there once he finished counting. He had a cheat-level blessing that was tailor made for just such occasions after all.

This fact made her just a little jealous. It could hardly be helped, though, right? He was an ‘apostle’ after all.

Demon or not. Princess or not. Komi was just a normal girl in comparison to someone of Tadano’s high and noble status, she thought.

And though her heart ached at times—at the thought of someday becoming useless to him—she was more than satisfied with her current lot in life... Simply being his friend was enough for her.

To this date, starting from three months ago, she was able to spend nearly every day by his side. And not only that, but she had already amassed nearly two dozen friends, largely thanks to him.

She dared not ask for anything more than that.

...With the exception of Tadano’s explanation.

She anxiously sat on one of the cushions in the seiza position while Tadano continued to count in the kitchen. He was up to the 50’s by now, but somehow his counting felt excruciatingly slow... unnaturally slow, even.

With every passing second, she fretted just a little more about what to do. Tadano wasn’t even there yet, but her anxiety had already gotten so bad that she had to start microdosing on her calming spell just to keep from passing out.

Why did Tadano want to touch her chest?

Was she going to just let him if the reason was good enough?

What reason could possibly be good enough, though?!

She wholly expected something like this to come from Yamai, but never Tadano of all people.

Her head swirled with such questions and doubts to the extent she got dizzy. She almost didn’t even notice Tadano’s arrival, which came far sooner than expected. When did he finish counting...?!

Komi trembled in fear as she stared at his rigid, imposing figure in the doorway. He was staring right back at her, his fists tightly clenched at his sides, and his breath caught in his throat.

Tadano wasn’t ready for this in the slightest. And neither was Komi, he easily noticed.

As he slowly edged his way over to her, it felt like nothing short of a death march.

He was terrified of what could happen here... in theory.

Of greatest concern was whether he could even figure out how to transfer the blessing in the first place.

Todd made its bestowal seem so easy back then, but... Todd was a god. What if after properly explaining himself, Tadano couldn’t do it?

What if Komi lost faith in him as a result, and refused to ever believe him again after getting her hopes up and—assuming she even agreed to it—letting him touch her chest?

What if she decided she never even wanted to see him again?

The thought of this worst case scenario made his stomach twist itself into knots, and he was somehow sweating even more now than when they were in the closet together... Why am I like this?

In spite of his fears, he finally made it over to Komi—and somehow, another heart attack was avoided.

Following Komi’s example, he sat on the remaining cushion and also adopted the seiza position.

It was time for him to explain himself, but yet again, he did not know where to start.

Was it too much to ask for to have Komi hit him with another dose of the calming spell? Maybe if she did, it would clear his head enough for him to think?

...

He dared not ask for that. He was already on thin ice after all. What must she think of me now...?

He dared not ask her that either.

Komi shut her eyes.

With Tadano now sitting right in front of her, she was at her wits end. The trembling just wouldn’t stop.

She wanted to escape from this most uncomfortable of situations, but she knew there was no avoiding the subject for long—if they could even delay it somehow in the first place. That genie was out of the bottle now, and no amount of hoping or praying could ever put it back inside.

She almost wanted to cry.

It was already bad enough that she didn’t get any sleep the night before, but all of this worrying was also beginning to give her something of a headache—as if a giant, unseen hand had come down and started squeezing the top of her head, slowly applying more and more pressure...

Though she was graced with a demon’s high tolerance for pain, it was still not so high that experiencing it became enjoyable to her instead. It was still, for lack of a better word... painful.

She breathed slowly through her nose. If only she could just push through this somehow, things could go back to normal between them and everything would surely be fine.

...Or was that being too optimistic?

Either way, the silence was unbearable now, and growing more unbearable by the second. Even if it weren’t, one way or another this needed to be resolved quickly if they were to avoid suspicion.

Komi gritted her teeth; in frustration with herself as well as with her situation.

Since running away was off the table, she decided to do the next best thing that came to mind—a different method of escape. She’d done it multiple times in such a short span of time already, so why not just once more?

She hurriedly cast her calming spell again... though solely on herself this time.

In the first place, hitting Tadano with it earlier was purely an accident wrought by her inexperience with it—that, plus her natural, elevated anxiety also played a role.

Also by accident was the fact that this time, the intensity had been dialed up by several degrees.

What was meant to be little more than a slight boost to her confidence had twisted and morphed into something stronger... Something deeper...

It was as if every wall Komi had ever put up within her heart and mind to protect herself from the world at large had been torn down at once with a comically large warhammer.

In a matter of seconds, all of the tension and anxiety that had been welling up inside her body for so long had simply evaporated.

All of her worries? All of her fears? They were all gone with the wind... At least for the next minute or two.

Under the effects of the spell, she felt so unbelievably free. So at peace... but at the same time, she knew that this was not ‘her’—not really, anyways.

Sitting before Tadano now was no longer the usual, meek Komi Shouko.

This person was... almost somebody else entirely.

Even though Tadano was taller than her—by a whole 1.2cm, mind you—it almost seemed as though she were suddenly towering over him.

And that glare of hers?

It was far more intense now than Tadano had grown used to. As she was now, her eyes seemed to pierce through his soul like a thousand tiny needles.

Tadano couldn’t remember who or from when, but it vaguely reminded him of someone else.

In any event, if he were not already terrified, he certainly would be now.

And yet, he did not hate it. If anything, it was making him kind of-

“I don’t think we have time for any more delays,” Komi said dryly.

Tadano stiffened up, and swallowed hard. “Y-yes... You’re right,” he said while closing his eyes in guilt, and in shame. He suddenly felt as though he were a small child being scolded by a very attractive onee-san. He could practically feel himself shrinking.

Komi couldn’t have been more right, though. Tadano knew that all too well. They were ‘playing a game’ right now, and there was only so much plausible deniability they could muster if they took too long and questions started to fly their way.

How much time had they wasted already? He honestly couldn’t tell, but gods forbid if their friends got tired of waiting and actually came to check on them.

“Speak,” Komi said softly, though the softness in her voice was somewhat forced. It still came across as a demand rather than a request—and an impatient one at that.

What was the hold up? Was she really that scary?

To the point that Tadano just couldn’t say?

She knew that she often intimidated people, but it’s not like she was really trying to do so. She wanted to go easier on him, if anything.

But with that said, Tadano wanted to touch her chest!

Her boobs!

She couldn’t help but be a bit mad at him for that, right?! He had a lot of nerve asking a girl if he could do something like that—whether the question had just slipped out in a moment of weakness or what—and she needed to know why if she was going to be able to sleep at all that night.

...And believe me, she really wanted to sleep!

Tadano shook his head, chiding himself for not just spitting it out already. All he had to do was explain himself, right? He was innocent after all.

...Mostly.

He just wanted to make sure that he explained everything to her properly. Leaving no room for ambiguity.

But he had already bungled that once, and he was afraid he would end up doing so again if he wasn’t careful.

If only he could have more time to sort everything out in his head first, he would grab such an opportunity like his life depended on it—because as far as he was concerned, it did...

Just as Komi had said, though, they didn’t have time for any more delays.

Regardless of how unprepared he was, he needed to do it now.

So, no more stalling.

He took a deep breath, and though he was filled with a near-paralyzing amount of reluctance to do so, he finally opened his mouth to speak.

“This morning, I saw Todd-sama again...”

Komi’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the news.

“I see...” she responded flatly. She bit down hard on her tongue to stop herself from continuing with, ‘I’m jealous.’

Todd had never once gone to see her, and she could only wonder why that might be.

Just as she was about to stew in her bitterness from that fact, Tadano hurriedly continued, “When I asked you ‘that’ earlier. I-it was because of him...”

“H-” they spoke at the same time.

“S-sorry, go ahead...” Tadano offered, scrunching his head down in submission.

“It’s nothing... Please, go on.”

Tadano blushed, and took another deep breath before doing as he was told.

“Well, I-I say it was because of him, but that’s not 100% true,” he admitted cautiously, though the speed at which he spoke gradually increased as he went on, “What I wanted to say just came to me out of order before... I wanted to explain everything to you first before asking. It’s just that I didn’t know what to say yet, so the first thing that popped in my head came out of my mouth when you hit me with your calming spell... Oh! N-n-not that I’m blaming you for that or anything...!” He waved his hands in front of him to dismiss the notion as soon as he realized what he’d said could be taken as some sort of accusation.

Komi started to fidget slightly.

She was supposed to be angry with him right now, wasn’t she? That’s what she thought, at any rate. But instead, here she was getting flustered by his cute, if awkward rambling!

It was too bad that her calming spell couldn’t take care of that little ‘problem’ for her as well, but regrettably it only achieved a reduction in her total anxiety—not to mention a great deal of her self-control.

Honestly speaking, welling up in her right now was a frightening desire to scoop him up—and do who-knows-what afterwards.

...Fortunately, however, she still had enough restraint to remain firmly rooted in place.

She gritted her teeth again, annoyed at herself, and shoved those feelings down to the best of her ability.

“So what is the reason?” she asked, maintaining her cool through sheer force of will.

In spite of her efforts, her horns slowly began to grow until finally they reached 6.9 inches in length, adding to her frustration.

“Why would Todd-sama want you to touch my chest...?” she added, her supposed glare hitting him that much harder now, “That’s inappropriate any way you look at it.”

Tadano flinched.

With the sudden growth of her horns, in addition to the intensity of her expression, he was certain Komi was furious with him.

Her inner thoughts told a different story, however: Could there be a good reason for all this after all? Is that really possible? But what could it be?

Komi’s heart fluttered. These growing suspicions of hers had yet to be verified by any means, but she was already beginning to feel guilty for ever doubting Tadano. She wanted to believe in him... To trust him.

Tadano swallowed hard before continuing, “Yeah...” No matter the circumstances, he had to agree with that sentiment.

His fists tightened on his knees.

“But for whatever reason, that’s how you bestow the blessing,” he quickly added, forcing himself to maintain eye contact, “Todd-sama refused to do it himself for that reason, but because I wanted you to have a blessing too, he told me I could just give you one of mine...”

With those words finally spoken, Tadano at last felt some relief. As if he had been carrying a millstone around his neck all this time and it was finally cut loose.

He only hoped that Komi would believe him.

Komi blinked as she processed his words carefully.

The look in his eyes seared itself into her mind forever. She could tell just how seriously he was taking this. How worried he must be about being misunderstood... She knew it had to be the truth.

But of all the possible reasons to want to touch a girl’s chest, she never could have expected this.

Was that really the reason? So he could give her a blessing?

The more she thought about it, the more her love for him deepened. He would have needed a reason like that, wouldn’t he? I knew I shouldn’t have doubted him...

She tried to hide it, but she couldn’t help but smile a tiny bit—a teeny tiny bit.

“But what about you...?” Komi asked, that faint smile of hers quickly turning into a frown of concern, “Won’t you lose yours?”

A blessing was not something to be taken lightly... Or given.

“Y-yes, well I was given two blessings anyways,” Tadano said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, “I’m beginning to wonder if this wasn’t maybe Todd-sama’s plan all along...”

Komi slowly nodded in thought. I forgot. He does have two blessings, doesn’t he?

Her heart was pounding now.

She was still reluctant, not at all wanting to deprive him of a blessing, but since she no longer had anything to worry about—at least as far as Tadano’s motivations were concerned—she decided to tease him a little.

“So Todd-sama touched your chest?” Komi asked wryly, “...Twice?”

“W-well, no...” Tadano admitted nervously, “T-the first time he just touched the side of my head. I just picked this one to give you because I thought it was the more useful one. I-I-I definitely didn’t pick it just to touch your chest or anything!” He waved his arms around again in a panic.

Now he was sure that she thought of him as a pervert! He shut his eyes tight, expecting a hard slap in the face.

But Komi only laughed instead. What is with this situation...?

Could she just give this man a hug? She really wanted to...

He was actually willing to give up a blessing for her sake?

Perhaps her usual self would feel differently, but as she was now? In her opinion, even if Tadano did choose to give her this blessing so that he had a valid reason to touch her chest... would that even be such a bad trade for her?

She reached down and grabbed his right hand with both of hers. “Hey, Tadano-kun... Is like this fine?”

She pulled his hand closer, slowly, and placed it directly onto her left breast.

It was over her dress, of course... but regardless of that, Tadano’s hand still immediately registered the same warm, soft pressure that his back had felt in the confines of the closet just a few minutes prior.

...His anxiety flared up on contact, and the room suddenly felt unseasonably warm.

“O-oi-oi!” he screamed out in barely a whisper as he pulled his hand back out of reflex. His eyes shot open, stunned by the boldness of this unexpected—and frankly out of character side of Komi.

He gripped his right arm with his left hand, almost as if it were in pain... But to be completely honest, he was just trying to block out the pleasant sensations from worming their way up his arm and embedding themselves deeply into his brain.

He screamed inside his heart, knowing that doing such a thing was far too late.

He was flustered beyond words, and were it not for fear of whatever else Komi might do, Tadano surely would have looked away in embarrassment. What is with this situation...?!

This ‘Kalmi-san’ was far too much for him to handle. He needed to get through this situation as quickly as possible so he could make his escape!

“Why are you scared?” Komi asked with a more lighthearted laugh, “Isn’t this what you wanted?” Did he not want to touch her chest after all?

“Y-” Tadano stopped himself, “I mean, no! I need to... I-I-I need to, um... charge it first or something.”

He dared to tear his eyes away from her to look down at his hand, which was now throbbing. In spite of his efforts, there were was still a residual warmth lingering in the palm of his hand.

He needed a distraction to help him calm down, and what better way to distract himself than by attempting the transfer so they could get this over with?

He quickly closed his eyes.

He had no idea what sort of process he needed to follow, so he decided to just try and... feel it out. How did Todd-sama do it...?

Before he could make any progress in this regard, all of the heat was sucked out of the room as a switch flipped back on inside Komi’s brain.

This sudden influx of yin energy was all too familiar to Tadano. It was cold—bordering on freezing at times when it really flared up—but he always found comfort in it.

He didn’t even have to guess what happened. He knew it immediately... Komi was back to normal.

This was a major relief for him.

Komi, on the other hand...

She was currently suffering through the backlash from all of the things she had said and done while under the influence of her calming spell.

She was trembling again, and it made her trembling from before look positively tranquil by comparison.

Tadano anxiously held his breath, not knowing what to say—or if he should say anything at all. His face was dripping with a cold sweat unlike anything he had ever experienced before. What should I do?!

...He proceeded to panic.

Komi was agonizing over everything that had just happened, with her face buried in her palms. Now was probably the time for him to say something thoughtful and considerate to comfort her, wasn’t it?!

Tadano nodded once to brace himself, but really... What’s the worst that could happen?

...He opened his big mouth.

“Oh... Um, I totally didn’t feel anything,” he blatantly lied.

He regretted this particular choice of words immediately, as there was another drastic drop in temperature.

This is bad. Not only did her alter ego make me touch her boob, but then I also lied and said that ‘I totally didn’t feel any thing’! This is something she’ll remember for life! Get away... I gotta get away!

He opened his mouth again.

“Oh, I’m supposed to be looking for people hiding, right?” he said quickly while pointing back at the open doorway, “I’ll be going now, okay?” I can’t stand this awkwardness...

Tadano used RUN!

...But it failed! Eh...?

The second Tadano stood up—before he could take even a single step towards the door—Komi materialized several vines from the floor, composed of holy magic, and ensnared him from the shoulders on down.

He wasn’t going anywhere...

The vines were about a centimeter thick, and had heart-shaped leaves growing on them. They emitted a warm, golden light as they stretched around and gently entangled Tadano’s body, and despite the fact that he was completely restrained, he could only describe the experience as, well... ‘comfortable’.

In this same moment, time came to a halt; doing so in the most literal sense.

The very air itself seemed to turn solid around Tadano, as if it had perfectly taken his shape.

He couldn’t move. Not even a millimeter. Not that he was going anywhere in the first place with the vines tightly coiling around his body. What’s going on?

He could hear Komi’s labored breathing behind him. She sounded as if she had just overexerted herself, but he couldn’t even turn his eyes to try and see her let alone turn his head to see why.

Is Komi-san doing this?

Before he could marinate on that thought, time resumed. The vines all disappeared in a flurry of golden sparkles as well, leaving Tadano to catch himself before he could fall forward.

“...Komi-san?” Tadano asked worriedly as he slowly turned around. What was that?

To his surprise, she was already standing.

Not only was she standing, but her hands were firmly latched onto the bottom of his coat. Eh...?

“W-w-w-wait...” Komi pleaded, barely squeezing the word out past her fatigue and anxiety.

Komi herself had no idea why she was suddenly so tired. The fact that she had stalled the passage of time for a few seconds was entirely lost on her, just as it was for Tadano.

She only wanted to keep him from leaving the room and nothing more, so her sudden exhaustion from using such a ‘small’ spell was certainly a matter of concern for her.

What really had her worried, however, was the fear that she probably looked like a total goofball, desperately clinging onto Tadano’s coat like some kind of needy child.

Thoroughly distracted by such thoughts, her legs finally gave out—buckling under the weight of her exhaustion—and she was well on her way to the floor until Tadano (respectfully) caught her by the arms at the last moment.

Tadano was still in a mild state of panic over, well... everything... and as such, while pulling Komi back to her feet, he used just a little more force than either of them anticipated and accidentally pulled her into a hug as well.

Momentarily stunned, the pair was quickly enveloped by a complicated mix of emotions as they slowly melted into each other’s arms. One far too difficult to put into words.

Awkwardness was chief among them, however... as well as a deeply nested, hidden desire to finally admit their feelings for one another.

What would happen if they actually did?

Neither of them could say—and regrettably, neither of them was brave enough to find out either.

Coming back to their senses in a flash, they mutually broke free of each other’s embrace, with their arms shooting straight down at their sides.

They were just standing in front of each other now, stiff as boards, having a hard time deciding whether they would even look each other in the eyes or not.

Tadano tried his best to reign it in, but he was still smiling nervously to himself while looking at the ceiling at and angle, simply grateful for having caught her... It took all he had to hold in a fit of anxious laughter.

Komi, meanwhile, was currently lost in her thoughts, looking to the floor for answers instead. Once again, her hands found their way in front of her chest, clasped one inside the other.

Feeling uneasy about the silence brewing between them, Tadano finally responded to Komi’s prior request, “I’ll wait as long as you need...” Game be damned.

Komi pomphed in frustration at that, though she did so in a lighthearted way. He had said it in such a soft, thoughtful way that she really couldn’t stay mad at him. Though as it turned out, there was never any reason for her to be mad at him to begin with, was there?

Her frustration... her anger... was reserved now solely for herself.

It wasn’t fair of Tadano to be so kind to her. Not while she was so tempted to just accept the blessing she was offered. Who am I to take it away from him?

She felt selfish. Greedy... Unworthy.

Komi continued looking down. She definitely couldn’t look him in the eye right now.

Tadano smiled. On some level, he understood what she must be feeling right about now. His first instinct was to put himself down by saying he didn’t even deserve one blessing, let alone two... But he also somehow knew that Komi would not want to hear him say something like that—and that it would probably lead to a pointless argument of sorts.

“Please,” Tadano said, “I want you to have it...”

“But...” Komi said under her breath.

She wanted to cry again. Even her protestations regarding the blessing were halfhearted.

She felt ugly for even entertaining the idea of accepting it, knowing that it would only drag Tadano down.

This is quite the problem... Tadano thought to himself.

Adopting a thinking pose, he considered another option aloud, “If you don’t accept it, maybe I’ll just... never use it again.”

Hearing that, Komi looked up in astonishment, giving him the look of someone who couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

The absurdity of it.

Seeing her reaction, Tadano laughed lightly, almost as if he were only joking.

Komi punched at the air up and down in front of him with both hands, having no words to convey how ridiculous it would be for him to do such a thing.

To have a blessing and refuse to use it, because someone else didn’t want to take it away from him?

Tadano jokingly put up his hands to shield himself. I knew that would get a reaction out of her, but this is even cuter than expected.

“Please accept it?” Tadano asked again more seriously, though he was still smiling. “I wouldn’t feel good about having even one blessing if you don’t have one as well. Let alone having two of them.”

Komi stared at him, then finally looked down at the floor again in shame.

How many times would she have to reject it before he would be satisfied?

Would he get upset...?

She would rather die!

If that were the case, there was really nothing she could do other than just shut up and accept his goodwill...

She blinked, and a tear quickly fell to the floor.

“If... you really want... me to have it...”

What am I to him, exactly?

Tadano let out a satisfied breath through his nose. That must have been really hard for her...

“Oh,” Tadano said after another thought occurred to him, “Did you maybe want to use your calming spell again before I try to do this...?” Her comfort was his top priority after all, and so he felt honor-bound to ask.

After hearing those words, Komi’s face grew tense, and her eyes went wide. “I’m never using that spell again,” she said resolutely.

Tadano’s shoulders stiffened briefly in response. “I-I-I understand,” he laughed nervously. That’s probably for the best. Who knows what would happen if I had to deal with ‘Kalmi-san’ again!

He cleared his throat.

With all of their stalling out of the way, Tadano finally closed his eyes again and took a deep breath so that he could focus. He needed full concentration for this. He knew that much at least.

Touching Komi’s chest? The game of hide and seek? Those things were eventually pushed from his mind as if they never mattered to begin with... In this moment, only the two of them and the connection they shared had any measure of significance.

Everything else was background noise.

Mimicking Todd’s actions from three months ago to the best of his ability, Tadano first made a fist with his right hand, as that was where the ‘essence’ of the blessing needed to go first.

Though his eyes remained closed, they occasionally twitched as he worked out the rest of the process in his mind.

As he focused, he could feel a peculiar warmth inching down his arm and into his right hand... and after a few seconds, it started emitting a soft glow, just as it did on that fateful day. He couldn’t see it with his eyes closed, oh, but he could feel it.

The process was not even complete yet, but there was already a profound sense of loss in his heart.

He could feel himself wanting to cry, as he didn’t really want to let it go... but since he wanted Komi to have it even more, he continued.

Komi stared at Tadano’s hand, her own hands nervously making fists again as well. This feels wrong... If I run away now, I can still stop this...

Despite those thoughts, however, she couldn’t find the will to act on them.

She wanted the blessing—because of course she did... but she wanted to respect Tadano’s wishes even more.

She understood, in some way, how he must feel having two blessings to his name while most people never receive even one. She couldn’t even imagine how much pressure she would feel if she was put in such a position.

She trembled again as Tadano finally opened his eyes and lifted his hand.

Tadano swallowed hard and opened his hand, placing his open palm directly over Komi’s heart.

In a matter of seconds, the deed was done. Or so they hoped...

Tadano was the first to breath once it was over.

He quickly retrieved his right hand and pulled it to his own chest, pulled at the wrist by his left.

He laughed nervously again, unsure if it even worked or not.

His heart was still pounding—understandable, given the circumstances!—but after the fact, his head started to pound even more.

In spite of his now-throbbing headache, Tadano didn’t quite understand the increasing concern evident in Komi’s expression.

That was until he felt the first drops hitting his knuckles. Only then did he realize something was terribly wrong.

Komi looked down at his hands, horrified.

Tadano could feel ‘something’ dripping from his nose. Confused, he wiped under his nose and quickly looked at his hand.

To his surprise, he saw that it was now covered in blood.

From a combination of shock and the searing pain in his skull... he blacked out.

“Tadano-kun?!”

Out in the hallway...

...Grandma was watching.

From when?

Well, to her disappointment she did not catch the exchange from the beginning.

‘I’ll wait as long as you need.’

It was right around then that her observation began. (She liked this boy already.)

She was wearing a navy blue kimono with an off-white obi, and had her jet black hair tied up in a bun as per usual.

What the unsuspecting pair was up to was lost on her, but she continued to observe nonetheless, and eventually, she was able to piece together the plot.

How cute. Yuiko thought to herself.

She was still a bit annoyed at the fact that their ‘playtime’ had been cut short on Christmas Day, but at least now she was able to see something good.

“Tadano-kun?!” Komi suddenly shrieked worriedly as the poor boy tumbled to the floor unconscious and unhindered.

Yuiko narrowed her eyes, and realized the gravity of the situation only too late to intervene, as she could only see Tadano’s back from where she stood.

Without further delay, she quickly strode into the room.

Komi was hunched over Tadano on the floor, about to attempt some level of healing magic, but was shocked to see her grandmother closing in fast.

Obaasan...?! Komi trembled, her eyes filling with tears. How do I explain this? She hasn’t even met Tadano-kun yet and he’s bleeding all over her floor.

“Take a deep breath breath, Shouko-chan...” Yuiko said in a soothing tone as she knelt down beside them. She patted her granddaughter on the head and continued, “Calm down. It will be alright... Go get a towel from the kitchen for me while I keep him upright.”

Yuiko leaned Tadano forward, supporting his back with one hand, and lightly pinched his nostrils shut with the other to stop the bleeding.

Though Komi felt a tinge of jealousy that her and her grandmother’s roles were not reversed, she simply nodded and did as she was told.

On her way back to the tatami room, a medium-sized beige towel in her hands, Komi ran into her mother at the base of the stairs. The rest of the Komi family was only just now entering the house.

“Shouko? What’s the hurry?” Shuuko asked, her usual cheerful demeanor turning serious.

Komi’s breath caught in her throat for a moment before she could finally respond, “T-Tadano-kun... Nosebleed...”

She then continued to the tatami room with the towel clutched to her chest.

Unsure of what else to do, Komi delivered the towel to her grandmother and sat down on her knees beside her and Tadano.

Until now, she had no experience with nosebleeds, so she was unsure of how serious the situation might be.

Watching Tadano unconsciously spitting out small globs of blood over the towel, she felt guilty yet again. His nosebleed was a direct result of him giving her his blessing after all.

If she had known this would happen, she would have fought harder to turn it down.

“Is Tadano-kun alright?!” Shuuko asked worriedly as she sprinted into the room. Masayoshi was not far behind her, though he was less worried and was rather moody instead.

The others started spilling into the room one after another, having sensed that the game of hide and seek was unexpectedly over.

Though nobody was watching her (except for Yamai), Nakanaka made a persistent effort to keep her neck hidden by pulling the collar of her jacket over it. She had a mild look of annoyance on her face, and she was blushing slightly... For the last several minutes, she had been hiding in a closet with Yamai.

“It’s just a minor nosebleed and fainting spell,” Yuiko answered, “Let’s get him to a room so he can rest.”

The guest room Akira had been using was chosen due to its close proximity—a fact which bothered her somewhat, but she knew enough not to complain about it.

“Tadano-kun~” said a familiar voice, “...Tadano-kun~”

Tadano stirred awake after the palm of someone’s hand tapped his cheek a few times.

He was not really awake, however, he soon realized.

He was sitting in a wooden chair, at a rectangular wooden table. Both of which were a dull grey, and neither seemed professionally-made.

There was a red brick fireplace in the center of one wall with a fire going which kept the room warm and toasty.

The walls were the same dull grey as the furniture, and consisted of full logs intricately interlocked one on top of the other.

Sitting opposite Tadano at the table was another man; one which Tadano knew quite well by this point, though it was more accurate to call him a god rather than simply a man.

This time, he was wearing a Santa suit, though it was admittedly a bit late for such attire.

As you may have guessed, it was Todd once again.

“Todd-sama?” Tadano asked inquisitively as his eyes scoured the small room.

Todd popped a party popper between them, a small stream of confetti falling unceremoniously on the table in short order.

“Congratulations,” Todd replied in a relaxed manner, “Knew you could do it.”

“...So it worked, then,” Tadano said in relief.

“It did indeed,” Todd said, “Go ahead and check your notifications.”

“My what now?”

“It’s in your inventory screen.”

This instruction confused Tadano for a moment. After all, he had just given that blessing to Komi. Why would he still have it?

Regardless, he did as he was told and found that sure enough, he still had access.

In the top right corner of the faintly-glowing inventory screen was a tiny symbol vaguely resembling a starkphone. In its bottom right corner, there was an even smaller red circle with a white ‘1’ inside of it.

He opened it without much need for hesitation.

The contents were an unnecessarily long message written in a congratulatory tone.

To summarize, it was about-

“The Sainter Clause?” Tadano asked in bemusement while giving the message a read. He glanced at Todd in his Santa suit, and then continued reading.

“That’s right,” Todd answered, “Long story short, as a result of your and Komi-san’s selflessness, she has been promoted to a saintess... As for the blessing, it is now shared between the two of you. Be sure to let her know.”

“...Yes, sir.”

Todd exhaled through his nose in amusement. “Alright. Time for you to go. Have fun on your quest now.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Tadano soon awoke in Akira’s borrowed bed. He was buried under a thick comforter—well, all but his head.

On his right, sitting in a nice wooden chair made of Itanese cypress wood, was Komi. She stared down at him, seemingly as if she were trying to burn a hole through him with the intensity her gaze. (She was worried sick.)

As soon as she realized he was looking back at her, she jolted in place and looked away.

Tadano smiled at her.

“It-” he started, only for Komi to immediately jump up from her chair and run out of the room.

Seconds later, her father appeared at the doorway, brooding; horns protruding at their maximum. He was cloaked in darkness... as well as a thick, teal and white winter sweater and brown slacks.

Masayoshi pointed out of the room, in the general direction of the kitchen. In his mind, he was the Ghost of Christmas Future pointing at Tadano’s grave.

Komi naturally arrived in the kitchen first. She hardly even noticed her father skulking in the hallway near Akira’s room as she passed him in the midst of her flight response.

Up until now, alone in the kitchen was Yuiko. She was standing at the table where her chair normally was.

The table was square, and still had four chairs currently in place—two each on the left and right sides. They were all made of the same Itanese cypress wood.

Komi took a deep breath. “Tadano-kun is-”

Using telekinesis, Yuiko crushed a pomegranate that was hovering directly above a glass pitcher—it was half empty.

Komi trembled.

“Awake, is he?” Yuiko asked in a serious tone, “Bring him to me.”

“Um...” Tadano said in response.

Yuiko poured him a glass, then slid it on the table in his direction.

“Drink.”

Shuuko quickly entered the room to check up on him. “Are you alright, Hitohito-kun?” She put her hand to his forehead as if she knew what she was doing.

“Drink...” Yuiko repeated.

“Mom, did you make pomegranate juice?” Shuuko asked. Forgetting what it was she was doing before, she ran over to her mother-in-law and gave her a few playful pokes, “Yaaaaaay!”

Tadano smiled in embarrassment. He felt as though he should probably say something, but in the moment, he didn’t know what to say.

In any case, not wanting the vaguely-familiar teenage demoness in front of him to repeat herself a second time, he carefully took the glass of pomegranate juice into his hands and slowly drank the slightly-pulpy, reddish-pink liquid.

It was sweet, but not too sweet, and a sharp, but pleasant tanginess started to overwhelm his taste buds. It had a perfect balance of sweetness to tartness, if he had to describe it, and it was a taste that persisted for some time after swallowing.

...Wait. Mom? Tadano blinked, then nearly choked on his juice while finishing it.

Tadano coughed, “Thank you...” he said in a suddenly raspy voice. What?

He smiled awkwardly at the Komis, then looked at his glass, which still had a thin layer of juice coating the insides. He then briefly looked around the room and made a beeline for the kitchen sink with every intention of washing it.

“Oh, just leave it there,” Yuiko said, dismissively gesturing towards the sink. In her opinion, Tadano should have had a bit more. Or rather, in general he should eat more.

Masayoshi brooded in silence; the center of his face wrinkled into a scowl.

His voice somewhat recovered, Tadano asked, “Er... So where has everyone else gone?” He laughed nervously. Seriously though. What is with this situation?! Najimi, save me...!

Komi wanted to say that Najimi, Rei, Nakanaka and Yamai had all left... but as expected, she could not.

“Oh, that’s right!” Shuuko said cheerfully, “They left... Najimi said something about you all going on a trip. Where are you headed? Are you on a quest?”

Komi’s lips fidgeted for a moment. “It’s... um... S-secret stuff,” she finally said in a nearly-inaudible voice.

Tadano chuckled under his breath, and felt himself go warm in the cheeks. Cute...

“We don’t actually know yet what we will be doing,” Tadano said, “but we’re headed to the Kingdom of Marvel at their king’s request.”

“Oh, my...” Shuuko said with a smile, “Do be careful while you’re there... Are you sure you’re okay to be questing?” She suddenly remembered he had a nosebleed and fainted not but a few minutes ago.

Tadano blushed. “I-I’m fine... Really,” he insisted with an awkward laugh, though he still had a headache that he felt was hardly worth mentioning.

Komi quietly breathed a sigh of relief through her nose.

Some time later, after having said their goodbyes, Komi and Tadano navigated their way westward via carriage to Port Entous, which was situated on the coast of the Frank Ocean.

It was a big port. Very famous. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

It was not used for just any old ships. No, no... These were flying ships, see?

Tony’s ship was docked there. Because naturally he had his own private flying ship.

It was just sitting there on the water until it was time for liftoff. It was huge, and made of wood. A nice, sturdy wood, too. Live oak, they call it.

It was reinforced with magic, of course. Only the best for Tony. Only the best... Countless inscriptions were embedded all along the hull to reinforce its structural integrity, as well as to power the actual flight of the ship itself.

It had three masts, and no less than two dozen sails of varying shapes and sizes.

As Komi and Tadano made their approach to this finest of transportation vessels, a blue and pink blur sped past them, leaving a fair bit of wind in its wake.

Accompanying it was also a curious groaning sound which eventually came to a sudden stop.

Once the pair finally made it to the gangway of the ship, their confusion was all cleared up.

“Let me go! I have a ticket!” Yadano complained while restrained.

She had tried to jump on board from the dock itself, skipping the usual formalities of waiting in line and presenting her ticket, only to be caught by a small number of guards.

She was wearing a shiny, platinum suit of armor that had been polished to perfection. To complete the look, a silvery cape flowed from her shoulders on down to her shins.

“Alright, guys. Ease up,” Tony joked after coming onto the scene, “She’s one of mine. Come on. You can relax.”

Once loose, Yadano nyoomed onto the ship just moments before Komi and Tadano could board.

There was still time before liftoff.

...Oh, you didn’t think that was it, did you?

Not yet.

Now comes a moment long, long overdue...

A reunion of sorts.

“H-halt! You there!” a man cried out urgently.

His heart stirred with emotions after having caught just the briefest of glimpses of Komi and Tadano as they walked along the deck just taking it all in.

Uncertainty. Hope. Longing. Nostalgia...

Could it really be ‘that time’ at last?!

“Eh?” Tadano said as he turned in the man’s direction.

“We meet again at last, Your Imperial Majesty!” the man bowed his head briefly out of respect, after which a wide, toothy grin made its inevitable reveal.

“E-ehh...?” Tadano repeated in far more uncertain tone. Imperial what now...? Who is this guy? “W-who...?”

Okabe’s eager, hopeful expression changed dramatically at Tadano’s understandably confused response... He was disappointed, clearly.

He took a deep breath and shook his head.

“No, no... I suppose something like this was to be expected,” Okabe coped quietly to himself, momentarily pinching the bridge of his nose, then addressed Tadano once more, “Fear not. Allow me to jog your memory, my liege.”

He awkwardly cleared his throat into his fist while Komi and Tadano could do nothing but stare at the peculiar man.

An uncomfortable chill ran down Tadano’s spine as soon as Okabe struck an odd pose that vaguely resembled hugging an invisible man... His hands were facing downward, however, and his fingers were outstretched.

...Komi, meanwhile, was simply bewildered.

“Reincarnated from the great beyond. Two souls, bound together by fate...” Okabe started with a slow, but building confidence, “Yes, it was our destiny to meet again on this day. A far cry from a fortnight, what I speak of was in fact thousands of years ago. Together, we formed a league of legends...! We stood at the apex of the world as its overwatch! We were truly battleborn. Even the borderlands were our battlefield!”

Okabe sighed and continued, “How could you possibly forget? After all, it was you who enlisted me into that valorant call of duty...! We were brothers in arms... Hell’s Highway? The highway to Oblivion, where we ended the suffering of the walking dead on that accursed, cold winter? It was such a bright memory... Does none of this ring any bells?” He stopped to wait for any reaction.

“S-sorry...” Tadano said, finally coming to an understanding. This guy must be a ‘Chuunibyan’ like they talked about in that interview. Poor guy...

“You need not apologize, Emperor Hirohito,” Okabe sighed. Damn it all... I was certain that he of all people could have escaped the fallout of that wretched singularity.

Komi tilted her head, trying to process the word salad to no avail.

“Anyway... Come with me!” Okabe said, receiving his spiritual second wind, “I want you to meet my... Hm... Friends.”

Friends?

Okabe said the magic word.