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Natsuko slowly opened her eyes, facing the brightness of the morning. Or was it already afternoon? Judging by the strong light coming through the window, it must have been around noon. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, still unused to the light after such a heavy sleep. Finally, she stretched and got up.
As she walked toward the door, Natsuko passed by a mirror and noticed the strange hairstyle she woke up with. It was already common, after a fierce battle that left her in deep sleep for several days, to wake up like this. Luke was the author of this peculiar hairstyle; at first, he did it to get a view of her face, which was usually covered by her long black hair. But over time, he developed a liking for doing her hair, and Natsuko didn’t mind, as it made it easier for her to feed herself after waking up.
That’s when Natsuko widened her eyes, remembering what happened before she fell asleep a few days ago. Luke had confessed his feelings to her! Several times in one single day actually.
Luke loved her? How was that possible? He was supposed to be in love with Destiny, as it happens in the original story. But this was no longer the story Natsuko knew so well. Ever since she arrived here, a lot had changed, and it seemed that Luke’s crush was one of those things…
This idea was now making Natsuko’s head spin. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened the other day, especially the incident at the hot springs. After Luke’s words, she felt something inside her that she had never felt before. Could this be the feeling she had been looking for all this time? Could this be the feeling of being in love? Natsuko felt the blood rise to her cheeks and shook her head, trying to push those thoughts away. That was impossible—she couldn’t be in love with a 2D character…
The truth, however, is that in this strange world, Luke didn’t look like a character drawn with a 3B pencil at all…
After a few minutes, she heard her stomach growling and looked towards the door. It was almost certain that Luke would be waiting for her on the other side. So, she approached silently and pressed her ear to the door. Strangely, she didn’t hear any noise. At this hour, it was normal to hear the members of the 9 Soldiers chatting, so the silence was unsettling. Either way, she needed to satisfy her hunger, so she slowly opened the door and peeked into the kitchen.
As expected, Luke was sitting at the table waiting for her. When he saw her peeking through the door, he got up and walked towards her. Natsuko turned red up to the tips of her ears, but before he could say anything, her stomach growled embarrassingly. Her day couldn’t get any worse; if she could, she’d crawl into a hole right now. However, Luke just smiled and said:
“Sit down, I made that dish from the Kingdom of Reality you talked about. It’s called ‘Soba,’ right?”
Suddenly, Natsuko seemed to forget all the embarrassment, and her eyes lit up.
“You made Soba??! I don’t even remember the last time I ate it!”
In the end, she ended up sitting at the table, happily eating while Luke admired her. After eating until she couldn’t anymore, Natsuko sighed, satisfied.
“It was great, one of the best I’ve ever had… By the way, it’s so quiet, where did the others go?”
He blushed at the compliments to his cooking but quickly pulled himself together.
“Hum… Memmeln needed to do some shopping, and Unio and QJ decided to go with her.”
This statement, however, was partially a lie. In truth, Luke had asked Memmeln to convince Unio to go out with her and asked QJ to go too, so he could be alone with Natsuko.
“I was thinking…” Luke blushed slightly again. “We could go somewhere again today… Just the two of us…” He looked up and gazed at Natsuko.
She turned completely red again and tried to think of an excuse. “Hum… I don’t know, what if there’s an attack or something and we’re not here?”
“No problem, QJ said the probability of an attack today is very low!”
She was about to try and refuse again, but Luke’s hopeful look made her give in.
“Well, in that case, I guess it’s fine…”
At that moment, Natsuko could swear Luke’s eyes sparkled with happiness.
“Okay, just let me get everything ready, and we can go.”
Happily, he went out to get his things, so they could go together on their second date.
It’s a sunny day, and the hustle and bustle of the city is visible. Many of the inhabitants take advantage of the pleasant day to deal with their tasks, much to the joy of the vendors, who have already realized that today will bring good business.
Natsuko walks beside Luke through the crowded streets. As they pass, many people greet the hero, and children run to try and see him. It’s interesting to see how everyone in the city loves him.
“Hey, where are we going?” The silence between the two is broken by Natsuko’s question.
“Every year, on this day, the city organizes a special fair and I thought we could go there…” He replies, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. “You haven’t seen everything around here yet, and I thought it’d be a good idea for you to get to know the town better…”
She is surprised by the idea, as she was unaware of this tradition. In the movie “A Tale of Perishing”, obviously, it wasn’t possible to show all the traditions of the city where the Nine Soldiers live. So, Natsuko is still learning a lot about this peculiar world.
What she also doesn’t know is the thousand thoughts running through Luke’s mind. The truth is that, a few nights ago, while she was still asleep in her long slumber, he met with Justice. The dragon was the one who gave him ideas for this new date. The problem was that Luke had never put any of them into practice, so he felt nervous.
After walking through a few more streets, they finally reached the place where the local fair was taking place. Many people, however, had the same idea, so the fair was packed with people. He instinctively took Natsuko’s hand to guide her through the crowd. As they walked, she kept letting out sounds of amazement.
Various colorful stalls decorated the surroundings, selling all kinds of products. Besides that, cheerful songs could be heard, and in the air was the smell of several delicious meals being prepared. A crowd was entertained by young people doing fire acrobatics, and Natsuko joined in to watch.
“Wow, you were right, Luke, this fair is really amazing!”
“Don’t they have fairs like this in the Kingdom of Reality?” He, finally realizing they had been holding hands for a while, let go of her hand, embarrassed.
“I think so, but I didn’t usually go to any, so I didn’t know they were this cool…”
As she looked around, she noticed a man advertising a game that was going on. She grabbed Luke again and dragged him excitedly to the place.
The game played there was simple. There was a small metal post stuck into the ground, and participants threw horseshoes at it. Whoever managed to hook the horseshoe onto the post won a prize. Luke, seeing Natsuko’s excitement, then suggested they play and paid a few coins to the event organizer.
He focused on the target and threw the horseshoe. He only missed by a few inches, which was quite impressive. He remembered again the advice from Justice, who told him to try to find a way to impress her.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by sounds of surprise. Natsuko had hit the post dead-on with the horseshoe! Luke was left speechless.
“How… how did you hit it on the first try?!”
Natsuko shrugged.
“I don’t know, I just aimed and hit it. Come on, Luke, let’s go get the prize!”
Once again, he was dragged, this time to the stall where they were supposed to collect the prize.
Her disappointment was evident when they found out that the prize was actually just a new horseshoe.
“Don’t be disappointed, horseshoes are signs of good luck,” – Luke says, as they continue walking through the fair – “Besides, there are more attractions and games scattered around.”
She looks at the horseshoe in her hand for a moment and then regains her excitement.
After watching a magic show, the two took part in another event. This game consisted of trying to guess which cup had the small object hidden under it after the organizer shuffled them. Natsuko watched closely as the man shuffled the cups. When he finished, she thought for a moment, then, very confidently, pointed to the middle cup. Slowly, the man lifted the cup, and there was nothing there.
She tried three more times and failed miserably each time. After that, Luke decided to give it a try. The man looked intimidated to now have the town hero in front of him. With that, he finished shuffling and Luke pointed directly at him.
“The object isn’t under any cup, it’s in your sleeve.”
The crowd, which had meanwhile gathered around, gasped in surprise at the hero’s cleverness. Luke looked at Natsuko to see if he had really impressed her this time.
She looked just as surprised as the crowd and praised him for figuring out the trick. This made his cheeks turn red, but it was worth it—one of the goals of the date was achieved!
Unfortunately, they didn’t win any prize, because the man, after the embarrassing discovery of his trickery, ran off through the crowd and was never seen again. However, for Luke, Natsuko’s compliment was already a reward of immeasurable value.
And so, the day went on. They played several other games, including one where they spun a wheel that gave out random rewards and ended up winning a total of zero prizes. They participated in a three-legged race competition. There, they ended in last place, because, although she was focused, Luke could only think about how close their bodies were and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t concentrate. However, in many other events, they won several prizes.
Now, Natsuko finds herself sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the blonde-haired hero who had joined a line to get a snack. She’s all decorated with ribbons and trinkets they won as prizes from the various games.
The sun is just about to set, casting an orange hue across the sky. Still, the bustle of the fair doesn’t seem to slow down.
She waits for a few minutes and, in the meantime, thinks about how much fun she had. She never would’ve imagined that the festivities of a city doomed to ruin could be so captivating. Plus, the local food—which she spent the whole day tasting—was simply magnificent, even if it still didn’t quite reach the level of Luke’s cooking. Speaking of Luke , she thought, where is he?
There was no trace of the boy among the crowd, which, for a second, made Natsuko worry. But he soon reappeared, almost as if sensing her thoughts. He carried two snacks served on skewers and kept one hand hidden behind his back.
He slowly sat down beside her, also adorned with the same trinkets they had won. He handed one of the skewers to Natsuko while still keeping the other hand behind his back, so that she wouldn’t see what he was so carefully hiding.
She found it weird, but those thoughts quickly vanished as she took a bite of her snack.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” – Luke asked, and she responded with a nod. – “It’s something traditional from here, and I wanted you to try it. Sorry it took me so long—there was a huge line.”
She simply continued to devour the food with enthusiasm. He, on the other hand, started to look hesitant, his face turning red.
“Hum… Natsuko…” – he spoke again, gaining her attention. – “This is for you.”
He finally revealed what he’d been hiding behind his back. It was a beautiful bouquet of roses—not overly extravagant (only because Luke couldn’t find any huge ones), but still very pretty.
She swallows the piece of food in her mouth dryly, her cheeks flushing just as red. The day’s distractions had made her forget that this was, technically, a date. Memories of what had happened at the hot springs and Luke’s many declarations quickly came rushing back into her mind, leaving her speechless. Still, she took the bouquet, thought for a moment, and when she opened her mouth to speak, a man right next to them shouted to announce an upcoming event—an archery competition.
Flustered and unsure of what to do, Natsuko saw it as an opportunity to escape the awkward situation. She quickly thanked Luke, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him toward the event.
They ended up right in the middle of the tournament. She thanked the heavens that she ended up in a position away from him, so that, at least for now, she wouldn’t have to face the romantic tension.
The tournament had several participants, each with a bow and a target in front of them. Whoever gets the highest score wins, simple.
The organizer gave the signal, and the participants shot the 3 arrows they had. Many were quite skilled, and the scores were high. Except for Natsuko, who, when attempting to shoot, had her arrows drop straight to the ground in front of her—thanks to her terrible aim, her long hair blocking her vision, and her lack of strength. Luke, on the other hand, managed to shoot all his arrows very close to the bullseye. He didn’t have Memmeln’s perfect technique, but he did quite well.
After counting the points, the city’s great hero was declared the winner, and off he went with Natsuko to claim another prize.
This time, however, the prize was... a live chicken!
“Wow, you won a chicken??” — Natsuko said, holding the animal in her arms, still grabbing the bouquet of roses offered earlier with one hand.
“Hmm… she’s pretty fat… might make an excellent meal.”
She gasped in shock.
“What?? You’re going to cook the poor animal? Poor thing! How can you say that?!” — She pulled the chicken closer and started petting it.
Luke, flustered and confused, began to stammer.
“I-I didn’t… hum… Natsuko, actually, there’s another place I want to show you…”
She then followed behind him, as he led them through the fair, unhappy, however, because now, he couldn’t hold her hand.
Lost in his thoughts, he walked slowly, mentally preparing himself for the next stage of their date. But then his eyes suddenly locked onto three figures ahead. It was Unio, Memmeln, and QJ!
Crap, what are they doing here?? — he thought.
The three were now heading in his direction, and if Unio, more specifically, saw that Luke was on a date with Natsuko, he could ruin everything. So the hero grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her into a nearby tent before his companions could spot them.
“Luke, what are you—?”
This, however, caught Natsuko off guard, and she tripped over a box and the two fell inside the tent.
“Ouch… Sorry, Natsuko, are you okay—?”
Luke opened his eyes and saw that he had landed directly on top of her. Both of them quickly turned beet red. His heart started pounding wildly, almost as if it wanted to force its way out of his chest and meet the other heart lying just beneath his. Neither of them made any movement. They just stayed there, feeling the other’s agitated breath on their faces. For a second, Luke thought he could just lean down and kiss her.
However, the chicken—who had somehow jumped and landed gently on the floor during the fall—pecked his hand aggressively. He let out a grunt of pain and quickly rolled off of her.
Could this chicken be a reincarnation of Unio? He wondered, unhappy that the moment had been ruined, as he rubbed the spot on his hand where he got pecked.
But they didn’t have much time to reflect on it, because the owner of the stall, upon finding them there and not recognizing Luke, chased them away with a broom, thinking they were up to some other obscene acts.
They ran out of the fair and stopped a few meters away, panting.
“I’m sorry, Natsuko, this wasn’t quite what I planned.” — he sighs.
She catches her breath and bursts out laughing.
“I can’t believe you , the city’s great hero, got chased away with a broom.”
“Hey, that’s not funny…”
He looked away, red and sulky—but when he saw her laughing so much, he couldn’t help it and started laughing too.
When they both finally recovered from the funny moment, they began walking again.
“Ah! Sorry, in all that chaos, I lost the bouquet…” Natsuko said, suddenly feeling bad for having forgotten the roses during the escape. She did still have the chicken, though.
“It’s alright… I was the one who pushed you into the tent, and anyway… I can always give you another one…” — Luke said the last words more quietly, making both of their cheeks turn pink. In his mind, though, he wished the chicken had stayed behind, too. Every time he looked at it, it seemed to glare at him with murderous intent, which gave him the chills—and was also hilariously ironic.
The sky was nearly fully dark as they walked through the woods. They reached the top of a hill, and Luke stepped to the edge and called Natsuko over. From there, she could see the whole fair, now glowing with colorful lights.
They both sat down on the grass, and she set the poor chicken down for a moment.
“Wow… this looks even more amazing at night…”
She stared at the glowing scene before her, eyes equally sparkling.
“Just wait a few minutes… there’s more…”
After a few moments, a loud bang rang out, followed by the excited cheers of the crowd. Within seconds, the entire sky was colored with various shapes. This was the effect caused by a kind of magical fireworks.
Natsuko’s eyes were fixed on the sky, while Luke’s eyes were fixed on her. He suddenly felt nervous and looked at their hands in the grass—so close, nearly touching.
He looked back up and blushed, remembering the conversation he had had with Justice just days before.
———————————————————
“Ok, got it: invite on a date, have fun, give flowers, hold hands, and then what?” Luke asked Justice.
It’s a pleasant evening and the two of them are sitting at the memorial for the deceased members of the Nine Soldiers.
“Well… If everything goes well and she likes you too, you might have a chance to kiss her while watching the light show.” The dragon said, sipping from his bottle.
Luke turned extremely red.
“Wait, wait, wait. Kiss??”
Justice nodded.
“But… but I’ve never kissed anyone and…”
“It’s not that hard…” The dragon sighed, then turned to look at the hero. “Pretend she’s your hand and try kissing it, and I’ll tell you if you’re doing it wrong.”
“Wait—my hand? But that’s super embarrassing.” Luke stuttered, but eventually gave in. Slowly, he brought his lips closer to his hand.
“Hum… why are you licking your hand like that?” Justice asked, with a confused look, making Luke stop the action and turn even redder.
“I… hum… I heard that people usually use their tongue when kissing…” Luke said, his voice getting lower and lower with each word.
Justice simply sighed and took another sip from his bottle.
“Look, just forget that. Just press your lips against hers and enjoy the moment. Now try again.”
Luke listened carefully to Justice’s advice and once again tried to put it into practice, but was, once more, interrupted.
“If you move in like that, you’ll bump your head against hers. Try tilting your head a little to the side.”
Following the tip, he kissed his hand again, still embarrassed by the situation. Justice seemed satisfied and nodded.
“Okay, I think you’re ready for your date.”
Luke felt confident with the dragon’s words and stood up, pointing his sword towards the sky.
“I, Luke Braveheart, am ready! I will kiss Natsuko Hirose and make her my wife!”
Justice facepalmed himself and sighed.
“Maybe you should take it a bit slower…”
———————————————————
Now that the possible moment has arrived, however, Luke no longer feels so confident.
The fireworks are still coloring the sky, but his eyes don’t stray from Natsuko. His throat feels dry, and he swallows, trying to push away the nervousness.
Finally noticing Luke, she looks away from the show in front of her, and the two face each other.
They remain like that, eyes locked for a few seconds. Looking away would break the spell that now hovers over them, and Luke doesn’t want that to happen. He feels like he could lose himself forever in that gaze, that nothing else matters in the world except for the calm sea overflowing from her eyes.
He sighs lightly, trying to focus on the task at hand. Determined, Luke grips the fabric of his pants tightly and, with flushed cheeks, says the words that, every time he speaks them, burn his throat.
“Natsuko, I love you.”
Her cheeks instantly match the redness of Luke’s. She remains silent for a few seconds, but this time there is no way to escape the confession. In the end, is she also in love with Luke?
Natsuko tried to push those thoughts away. However, the truth is that, on that day, she felt the squee … the feeling she had been searching for so long.
So, is this what it feels like to be in love? It doesn’t seem so bad after all…
But what could that mean? That she’s in love with a 2D character from her favorite movie? Luke had always been her favorite character, but it was just that. She could have an extravagant amount of figures, plushies, and posters of him in her room, but that didn’t mean anything. Especially since he’s a fictional character.
He is… a fictional character?
Yet, the hopeful and nervous beautiful face in front of her seemed anything but fake.
Her mind kept trying to fight the surreal idea that, in truth, she might also be in love with him. But, feeling just as hypnotized by the moment as he was, she wondered if any of that really mattered. She had fought so hard to understand the feeling of being in love, so why was she running away now?
Almost as if moving on its own, the following words came out of her mouth:
“Luke… I– I think I love you too.”
She spoke so quietly that Luke had to think twice if he had heard it right. But after processing it, he smiled happily, as if all his dreams had just come true.
In the background, the fireworks show was about to end, but neither of them was paying attention anymore. Like magnets, they seemed to slowly be drawn to each other. Luke looked at her lips as if nothing else mattered at this moment. Then, he leaned in. But he did it too quickly, and they lightly bumped into each other.
He cursed himself internally for having forgotten, right at the most important moment, Justice’s lessons. But upon seeing Natsuko laughing, he smiled too and tried once more.
Finally, their lips met. It was a new sensation, and they were both clearly lost and clumsy, but it wasn’t unpleasant at all.
Luke brought a hand to her cheek, while hers awkwardly wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.
The last firework had already faded a few moments ago, and the passionate movement of lips against lips continued. This was truly an intoxicating feeling. Neither of them had ever thought that a simple kiss could be so special.
Luke wished the moment would last forever, but in the end, it was Natsuko who broke the spell. They stayed like that for a few seconds, trying to catch their breath, panting, but didn’t move an inch, remaining practically glued to each other.
Once again, Luke gathered all his confidence and said:
“Natsuko, marry me.”
This, yes, made her brain short-circuit, and she pulled back with a confused “ Ah?! ”
However, before they could say anything else, a shrill scream was heard.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! LUKE! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAIRY WITCH BEWITCH YOU?!”
It was Unio, who came accompanied by Memmeln and QJ. They had just arrived and were able to witness part of the romantic moment.
Luke and Natsuko instantly turned red to the tips of their ears, while Unio kept yelling and complaining. He looked ready to jump on Natsuko and attack her, but his screaming disturbed the chicken that had been resting near the couple, and it began to chase Unio, who began to run away.
With the others distracted, Luke hesitantly took Natsuko’s hand, which made her look at him.
“I love you.”
He muttered once more.
“I… love you too.”
She replied, still embarrassed.
They stood up, still holding hands, and continued watching the poor unicorn try to escape the chicken’s pecks.
As everyone laughed at the comical situation, once again, their eyes met, and they smiled passionately at each other.