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(Possible spoilers for chapters 1 & 2, and there are spoilers for chapter 3!)
Angie's Lab had opened, which meant she could finally create divine masterpieces for Atua in a more comfortable place than her room, and with more resources available. She had locked herself into her Ultimate lab, making sure no one could interrupt her, however before she could start Atua told her that she needed a book of her people that had descriptions of the many forms of Atua, that He couldn't show her right now. Angie nodded "Where could I get a book like that?" She asked Atua, who answered with ''The Ultimate Anthropologists lab'' Angie giggled and jumped up. "Nyahaha! Guess I'll pay Kiyo a visit!" She exclaimed as she unlocked her lab and left, making her way over to the anthropologists lab.
''Alola Kiyo! Atua told me ya probably have a book He can use for an art piece he needs me to make." She said loudly as she walked in. Thought Angie was surprised to hear no answer back from Korekiyo. "Ya-ho? Kiyo?" She exclaimed, again in a loud voice, but still no reply. "Guess he isn't here, so I'll have Atua guide me to look for this book!"
The pale haired girl had been looking for a while now, but with no luck, and no instructions from her God yet.. so she decided to just look around in general, Opening random books in the hope it would be the right one, looking in amazement at the artifacts. She was just about to open one of the glass cases that contained several glasses when she heard a familiar voice.
"Angie, I would kindly appreciate it if you would not touch the artifacts in this room without my supervision.." It was Korekiyo. Angie carefully let go of the glass and waved to Korekiyo. "Alola Kiyo!" she started, disregarding what Kiyo just said to her, and asked the question she wanted to ask before.
Korekiyo nodded and looked around the room, taking the stairs to a bookcase he thought would have the book Angie was looking for. Angie followed the tall boy to the bookcase, bumping into him when he suddenly stopped. "Let's see.." Kiyo mumbled under his breath, not minding the collision with the smaller girl. He looked through the books until he saw the one he was looking for. "Did ya find it? Atua says you do!" Angie said, but Kiyo didn't reply to her. The anthropologist simply walked back down the stairs and walked over to a table and gently placed the book onto the table.
"Kiyoo! Is that the book? Can I see, Please let me see!" Angie asked, not even giving Kiyo the time to reply. "Patience, Angie. The book might be too fragile to be simply given away and used for artistic purposes". Kiyo told the impatient artist as she stood next to him, peeking at what Kiyo was doing. It didn't take long for Kiyo to finish checking the books fragility and handed it over to Angie.
"I would like it if you took great care of this, You see-" Kiyo couldn't finish his sentence before Angie talked right over him "Yeah, yeah! Atua will watch over it, so no worries! Thank ya very much, I better get going! Byeonara Kiyo!" She happily skipped away, holding the book tightly to her chest to make sure she could give it back to Korekiyo in it's original condition.
However, while walking to her Ultimate lab she noticed she didn't know how to read the book, it was in an language different from her people, and there was still radio silence from Atua, So she walked back into Korekiyo's lab. He looked at her, his expression hard to read due to his covered lower face. "Already done?" He asked Angie, who looked at him with her signature smile, but he knew something else was up.
She was fidgeting a bit before she spoke up. "Atua can't read this for me, he is on his spiritual break right now.. He does need the energy to make his art work y'know, So I want you to read it for me, please!" Angie held out the book to Kiyo, who gladly took the book from the artist, still not fully trusting her to take proper care of the artifact. Korekiyo gestured to a vintage longchair sofa he had standing in his lab. "Take a seat". Angie sat down without any hesitation, gently swaying her feet. Kiyo sat down next to her, leaving a comfortable amount of personal space between them, but that was immediately closed by Angie, who wanted to sit as close to Kiyo as possible to make it easier to follow him.
Korekiyo didn't know how to feel about this, the only woman he had ever been this close with was his Sister, He wanted to ask her if he even was allowed this close to another woman, but she stayed quiet, so she didn't mind.. Right? "Are ya going to start?" Angie interrupted Kiyo's train of thought. "Ah, yes.." He started to read from the book, having studied this language before. He actually knew quite a lot of the origins of Angie's people, that's why he was so interested in her, since she told things about her people he had never heard before, nor the odd things her God requested. Kiyo knew Atua was just a way for Angie to get what she wanted from others, A manipulative tactic to speak her mind without the possibility for anyone else to doubt her. But he didn't mind, she probably had her reasons for it, and respected that to a certain extend.
Angie enjoyed sitting next to Kiyo, looking at the images while Korekiyo explained everything to her that was written over the many original forms of Atua. His voice was comforting to listen to, it made Angie feel very at peace. She slowly rested her head on his shoulder, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. Despite what the others thought about him, Angie didn't feel any discomfort, and never has had that feeling with him, not only because Atua told her but also because he has always treated her like a normal person unlike the others who were clearly uncomfortable with her simple requests for stuff like blood sacrifices for Atua.
Time seemed to stand still for both of them. Both Korekiyo and Angie felt content with each others company, the book bringing them closer ever so slightly. "Say, Kiyo, what was your home like?" Angie randomly asked, Since he was learning about the old ways of her people, she should learn something about him, seemed fair to her. The anthropologist stopped reading and looked at her, surprised at her sudden and unrelated question.
"Well, My village was a traditional Japanese one, I lived with my sister there. She would read me books, just like I am doing for you now.. Sister was very sick, so I took care for her and didn't spend much time outside of our village. Our village had limited beautiful stories to tell, but the ones that were there were just as beautiful as all the other stories from other places, Kukuku.." He softly laughed, trying to avoid talking about the actual people in his village, who saw him and his Sister as an outcast, which could infuriate him, but he knew his Sister didn't want him to have any negative emotions towards them. 'They are all such a sorry lot, they don't deserve your anger nor forgiveness..' Is what she would say to him about it, and that's how he would keep it.
Angie listened intently to Kiyo, looking at him with a soft and gentle smile on her face.. A genuine one. It made Kiyo blush a bit, but it was covered up with his mask. though Angie knew that there was something about the way Kiyo looked at her that was different from usual, which made her feel.. Weird, to say the least. Her stomach felt like it was doing back flips. The only time Angie had ever felt this way was with Shuichi, when she asked Him to marry her with the consent of Atua, but he declined, clearly being more interested in Kaede. Angie didn't mind though, because Atua didn't mind. He told her she could find someone more suitable more anyways.. Were these feelings Atua trying to tell her that with the knowledge and respect Kiyo has for both her and Atua, that he would be more suitable? That would be strange since Kiyo doesn't want to devote himself to Atua, and Atua will only bless the true believers with his divine messages. It was all very confusing to Angie since it didn't add up. And Atua didn't clarify anything for her as well.
When Korekiyo was done talking about his village he asked the same question. "So, what are your people like? What does Atua truly mean to them?".... Silence. Angie didn't say anything, partially because she didn't want to talk about her people when it didn't benefit her, but also because all Atua said was 'No.' And Angie understood that, the privacy of her people is something she wanted to protect at all costs, Because Atua said so."Nyahaha! Atua says his business hours are closed for today! Too bad." What Angie wasn't ready to admit is that she didn't truly knew her people. She was seen as a Messiah, A divine Messenger. So whenever she spoke to her people, it was to relay the word of Atua. And most often she was only spoken to when her people needed Atua's guidance.
Korekiyo stared into the girls ocean blue eyes and could tell she was hiding something, but he knew that she had her own reasons not to speak of it, and might tell him when she trust him more. "I see, That's unfortunate". Was the anthropologists reply. "You know. If you want to hear the voice of Atua.. You must pray! Atua brings salvation but only to those who believe. those who don't will face his judgement, you know" Angie said, holding her hands up and together in her siganture praying pose.
"kukuku... How scary, I shall have to rein in my academic interest to avoid your Gods wrath". Korekiyo still looked at the smaller girl next to him, who was clearly satisfied with his answer. He really liked the pleased expression on the girls.. Face.. He caught himself thinking such forbidden thoughts again. Korekiyo knew for sure Sister wasn't going to be happy with this.
They continued to read from the book. They felt more comfortable with each other the longer they sat together. Suddenly Korekiyo heard a soft snoring, which came from Angie, who had fallen asleep. He wanted to wake her up, softly shaking her. She did wake up briefly but rested her head on Korekiyo's lap instead of his shoulder. This made Korekiyo very flustered and... less uncomfortable than he expected to be. He started worrying about his sister again, what she would think of it, but something else inside of him didn't want to think about that, and only think of what was happening right now, what he was feeling right now.
Normally he could place his emotions in an instance but right now he had no idea what he was feeling. It felt similar to what he felt for Sister, yet different. Was it love? Or was it just a platonic feeling that he felt? He really didn't know.. Until he took a real look at Angie. At her nice dark complexion that made his skin seem sickly pale. Or at her platinum blonde hair that also contrasted beautifully with his own ocean green hair. Her scent was also something that Korekiyo liked about her. Angie's natural scent reminded him of the many times he had visited exotic and remote islands. It was something he couldn't quite describe, but what he could say about it is that it made him feel quite comfortable. And it wasn't about looks only. He was intrigued by her behavior as well, the fact she was always happy and seemingly has nothing to worry about. Although Angie would say this is Atua protecting her, Korekiyo knew that this is just who Angie is, and no God can influence that.
Meanwhile Angie wasn't actually asleep, she simply wanted to lay down and relax on his lap. she had hoped Kiyo would have continued reading but he didn't. Kiyo was surprisingly quiet and Angie wondered why. 'Was it because he felt too uncomfortable with me laying on his lap?' Angie asked Atua, and a simple 'No' was yet again His only reply. 'What is it then?' Angie asked Him, and for a moment there was only silence. 'He likes you very much, and you like him too, I will approve of your future marriage, he will become an devoted follower in the future..' This answer confused Angie very much but she didn't question it. She did really like Kiyo, and if Auta sees a future for them she should do just that, right?
"hey Kiyo, Can I ask ya something?" Angie asked, Turning around to face him. Korekiyo looked at angie with his usual neutral expression. "Well of course.." Angie sat up a bit, now face to face with Korekiyo. "Would you marry me? Atua already approved since He thinks you will be a true devotee in the future, and Atua is always right ya'know?" Korekiyo was surprised at this question, and yet again intrigued by Angie. He would only say yes if it meant he could study both Angie and the new generation of her island effected by her cult, But that made him feel bad. Normally he wouldn't have any issue with just using someone for information. But he actually.. Liked Angie, as weird as it may sound. Korekiyo just hoped his sister would be okay with this.
''If you will excuse me I will be leaving for a moment and I will think about this proposition."Korekiyo said as he gently pushed Angie off of him and walked out of his lab. "Okay! see ya later, Kiyo!" Angie said as she re-positioned herself to pray to Atua in the meantime.
Once Korekiyo was sure he was truly alone and knew for sure no one would be able to hear him his mask went off. 'My sweet Korekiyo, Are you telling me you want to be with the pale haired girl?' Sister asked. "Y-yes, Sister. I still love you, but I have also developed romantic feelings for Angie, Should I send her to you so you can have another friend?" He asked in return. Sister shook her head. 'You both will eventually join me in the afterlife. I want you to be happy too my sweet little brother, And if she can truly give you that then I will allow you to have a relationship with her as well..' korekiyo wasn't sure if he heard it right, but his Sister actually approved? Even when he promised to love her and only her? This made him very happy, knowing that his Sister loved him so much she would let him do this. "Thank you, Sister.." He said before he made sure his mask was secure an left to go back to his lab.
Angie still sat in her praying position, not hearing that korekiyo came back and sat next to her again. Only when Angie opened her eyes after her praying session was over did she notice him. "Oh, hey kiyo! How long were ya sitting here?" "A few minutes now but I didn't want to interrupt your prayers." korekiyo spoke in a soft tone.
korekiyo looked different, more at peace to Angie. This made her really happy, because this could only mean one thing. "Listen Angie, I have thought about your proposition, and I will accept.. However, I would appreciate it if we could start with a regular relationship first. If that works then I will ask your hand in marriage." He explained. Angie had a permanent smile stuck on her face. He actually said yes.. Korekiyo. Said. Yes.
Without any hesitations Angie flung her arms around her lover and planted a loving kiss on his forehead. She would have kissed him on the lips, but respected Kiyo enough to not do that right now. But this was something she didn't have to worry about, as Korekiyo slowly lowered his mask, revealing his lips with Sister's signature red lipstick. He removed it with a napkin he stored in his back pocket. Sister was not here anyways, so she surely didn't mind him removing it temporarily.
Angie looked,, unbothered, like she knew all this time what was underneath her lovers mask. She didn't and it was a surprise. But she just didn't have the time to be surprised about it. All Angie could think about was Kiyo closing the gap between their lips. The kiss felt more than just a kiss. It was a promise, a genuine promise of love. Angie melted into the kiss, holding Kiyo a bit closer to her.
It felt like an eternity before they both pulled away. But it was a good eternity. "I love you, kiyo!" Angie blurted out, as impulsive as she is. "I will soon be able to say that to you, but now is not the time yet. "Korekiyo stated. But as always Angie didn't care, as long as he eventually would, and he said he would. That is all that matters to her...