Dislcaimer: I DON'T OWN BRAVELY DEFAULT/SECOND.

I don't know how I managed to come up with this ship, but here it is and I hope you all enjoy reading it! XD

Warning: Takes place post-Bravely Second so there will be spoilers, KamiizumixHeinkel, and some canon-typical violence as well as a fade-to-black scene.

Mutual Feelings

Summary: Heinkel comes to visit. Kamiizumi ends up in a sparring session with him while he's around, for old times' sake. Neither of them expected mutual feelings to spring up in the process during then, and over the next few days. Also known as: Heinkel and Kamiizumi fall in love, but that doesn't stop them from having their awkward moments every step of the way.

"Heinkel, I must be honest—I still find it odd that you and Kikyo were related all along."

The Swordmaster blocked the Knight's sword, before countering. However, Heinkel sidestepped the attack with ease, looking Kamiizumi in the eye with the faintest chuckle.

"I find it just as confusing, even now." The Knight lunged forwards, slashing, and Kamiizumi countered with a slash of his own. Swords clashed together, clanging throughout the empty training hall.

Argent Heinkel took it upon himself to have a bit of a vacation and head to Eternia to visit. Being the "Iron Wall of Yunohana" rarely gave him a break in general, so the fact that he had enough time to visit and stay in Eternia for a week, visit old friends and so on was helpful.

And why wouldn't he go back and visit his old rival, Nobutsuna Kamiizumi, after not seeing him in so long? He'd heard that the man adopted Minette Napkatti. The two exchanged correspondence before Heinkel arrived, making arrangements so that Heinkel would stay at his place (after checking that the Knight wasn't allergic to cats of course) for the week.

Heinkel didn't have much choice of where to stay otherwise, because airship travel was expensive.

"Are you sure you'll be fine with having me stay at your place?" Heinkel asked, putting his sword down. Kamiizumi sheathed his own katana, temporarily, as the other man kept speaking. "I mean, you're already housing Bismarck, Tsubaki, and Minette…."

"Minette's been gone for the past few days in Al-Khampis, and she'll only be back in about three days from now. Even then, I'm sure it'll be fine to have you around."

"She's out on her own?"

Kamiizumi smiled. "Professor Norzen was thinking she could try out going to Al-Khampis for schooling, so he asked me and her last week if he could show her around more thoroughly and see if she'd like that. He's even willing to pay for her first year of tuition—I do hope she accepts it."

"Really?" Heinkel's eyes widened. "That's wonderful."

"My only concern is how she'd fare with the other students, given what she's gone through before I adopted her." He swallowed, smile vanishing. "But at the same time, it's not like she ever had a proper education before Kaiser Oblivion picked her up. Yew offered to personally show her around as well, given how he's Al-Khampis Alumni, so she should be okay, but…"

He trailed into silence, and Heinkel could only nod in understanding. Minette would be starting school incredibly late, and she'd stick out from all the other first-years in that respect. On top of that, she was also half-cat, and Minette endured more than enough bullying for that in the past already. No wonder Kamiizumi was concerned as of how this could affect her.

"As far as I've heard of Minette, she seems like a strong, young lady." Heinkel managed. "I think she'll accept it."

"I hope so." Kamiizumi smiled, taking out his katana. Heinkel raised his own sword, both men beginning to spar again.

It was a little while until Kamiizumi spoke up again, the two of them still sparring.

"How's Sholmes doing? I heard he joined your police force."

"He's been doing pretty well, actually." Heinkel blocked one of Kamiizumi's attacks, only to counter. "He was a bit slow to learn, at first, but he's picking things up a bit faster. He's still making his wild theories without enough evidence to support it at times, though."

"Well," The Swordmaster sidestepped Heinkel's attack, "I imagine Sholmes will fare well under your tutelage, if he's already picking up things faster than he did before with your guidance."

"I hope so." Heinkel chuckled, slashing at him a couple more times, holding up his shield to block against the Swordmaster's counterattack. "I don't think I've seen a better tutor than you."

"Nonsense, Heinkel." Kamiizumi feigned striking left, then struck at the right, knocking Heinkel's shield out of his hands. The Knight grunted, moving his sword to block the Swordmaster's next slash attack, but Kamiizumi dodged him, using the opportunity to knock Heinkel's sword out of his hands, pointing his katana at the other's chest. The Knight raised his hands in surrender, seeing a small smile on the Swordmaster's face.

"Everyone has something they can teach someone else, in some way. It's often not until later when we realize what those lessons are. You are just as capable of teaching someone something as I am, even if they're not the same things." The Swordmaster lowered his katana, sheathing it, and Heinkel took the opportunity to retrieve his own sword and shield.

"Maybe you're right about that." Heinkel admitted.

Kamiizumi raised an eyebrow. "Maybe?"

The Knight chuckled. "Okay, more than maybe."

"More than maybe?"

"Maybe."

Both men laughed at that.

It seemed relatively normal to just spar with the Swordmaster. Sure, Heinkel was on vacation, but he still liked to have some training going on, make sure he was fit enough to chase down any criminals in Yunohana and so on. The two just ended up having the occasional spar during the next few days. Of course, that wasn't all that Heinkel did. He caught up with several others—Holly, Barras, Ominas, and even Barbarossa.

…Okay, hanging out with Barbarossa was more of a chance meeting, but still. Heinkel was with the Swordmaster when they ran into Barbarossa, who was both clearly drunk and probably pissed from being booted from the bar.

"He started it first, I'm tellin' ya!" The Pirate roared, waving his hooked hand. "Curse ye blasted fire mage landlubber!"

"Barbarossa!" The Swordmaster rushed to the other's side, trying to drag him away. "That's enough! It's not worth it."

Heinkel ran over, grabbing one of Barbarossa's arms and grunting. "The Swordmaster's right. It's not worth getting arrested for drunken brawling, trust me."

Kamiizumi looked to him. "Do you have experience getting arrested for drunk brawling?"

Heinkel groaned, shaking his head. "No, but I've arrested too many cases of that. It's not really worth it, trust me."

"I do." Kamiizumi paused, then clarified, "Trust you, that is. I trust you."

The Swordmaster missed Heinkel's smile at that statement.

Heinkel and Kamiizumi proceeded to heave Barbarossa away from the bar and back to Kamiizumi's house, where Barbarossa ended up falling asleep. After lugging him onto the couch of the living room, both men did their best to ignore Barbarossa's snores as they talked.

"My room is the most soundproofed and the farthest away from the living room." The Swordmaster managed, looking to Heinkel. "You can use mine tonight and I'll take the guest room."

"Are you sure?" Heinkel frowned. "I don't want you suffering because of me."

"I've suffered for a lot of people before. I think I can handle one more."

Before Heinkel really thought about it, he just blurted out the next words. "What if we shared?"

The Swordmaster gave him the weirdest stare ever. "Shared?"

"The room." Heinkel clarified. "Just…the room. I could sleep on the floor and you get the bed."

"If we're doing that, I insist you get the bed!"

"This is your house," Heinkel stated, raising an eyebrow. "You should have the bed!"

The Swordmaster, stubborn as ever, shook his head. "You're my guest, Heinkel, I can't just let you sleep on the floor!"

"Reallyl?" Heinkel raised an eyebrow. "Watch me."

"How—?"

Heinkel didn't give him a chance, running over to the Swordmaster's bedroom and grabbing the spare sleeping bag from the closet (Kamiizumi had once explained that he had one or two of those from travelling still). "Now you know!"

"Hey!" The Swordmaster rushed in, one of his hands gripping one end of the bag. "Heinkel, you really don't have to…" He sighed, shaking his head. "This is getting ridiculous."

The Knight looked down at the sleeping bag they held, then up at the Swordmaster. "How do you suppose we resolve this? Share the bed?"

He wanted to immediately facepalm himself after saying that. It just sounded so…intimate. And they were very much platonic, not romantic.

Right?

Despite all expectations, Kamiizumi actually blushed. And not just a light flush of cheeks, but a deeper, redder one.

"I…uh…" The Swordmaster swallowed, averting his gaze from the other man before finally speaking. "I think I'll just take the guest room. You can borrow mine tonight."

Before Heinkel could say anything, the Swordmaster was gone, leaving the Knight behind with a sleeping bag and an empty bed.

Heinkel fell asleep in Kamiizumi's bed, cursing himself for not saying something sooner.

Both men could do nothing but exchange awkward small talk and unsure looks in the morning.

Kamiizumi hated it.

Kamiizumi also cursed himself for just up and fleeing, instead of directly answering the question, but he honestly didn't know at the time how to address it. Never before had it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, he might have others pining for him.

Including Heinkel. That part was a shocker.

But surely that couldn't be it, because it was probably just a slip of the mind. They were tired from lugging Barbarossa home, Kamiizumi figured, and it just came out because they were tired and weren't really talking sense. Why else would they act so childlike towards each other last night?

After waking Barbarossa and sending him on his way after helping him treat his hangover, Kamiizumi went to go train pupils and Heinkel went…well, somewhere. Kamiizumi guessed to go visit someone, or take a walk.

So he certainly wasn't expecting Heinkel to barge in, during a lesson, and challenge him to a duel.

Of course, all the pupils were excited about this, but Kamiizumi was livid at this interruption. Using every bit of his will to restrain himself from just kicking Heinkel out, and also to please the pupils's wishes, the Swordmaster accepted Heinkel's challenge.

Cue both men giving it everything they got. Their duel ended up going beyond the lesson time, Kamiizumi prompting all the students to leave the training hall before continuing on, leaving both men alone.

"Did you really have to challenge me now, of all times!?"

"I'm more surprised you didn't run away from the challenge, given how you ran away last night."

"You sprung that question on me—a completely inappropriate one!" The Swordmaster clashed with Heinkel's sword, clanging sounds resounding through the training hall. Sweat trickled from Heinkel's brow, and the Knight did his best to wipe some off with the back of his hand before continuing to fight, slashing at Kamiizumi a few more times.

"You could have just given me a straight-up yes or no instead of running!"

"Do you know why I avoided the question!?" The Swordmaster yelled back, his katana connecting with Heinkel's own sword. Both men strained against the other's full force, before Kamiizumi leapt back and swung at him several times. "I avoided it because I didn't know if you seriously meant it!"

"It just came out, I wasn't thinking!" Heinkel sidestepped the Swordmaster's swings, before stabbing forwards. The sword caught the sleeve of Kamiizumi's kimono, and as the Swordmaster pulled his arm away, Heinkel noticed the tear in it. "What did you think I meant? That I assumed that you're at least bisexual?"

"I don't even know how I orient, but I know I'm not completely straight!"

Heinkel froze, right then and there. "What?"

Kamiizumi panted a bit, several harsh breaths, before he pointed his katana at him again.

"You heard me." The Swordmaster managed, looking him in the eyes. "I'm not completely straight. I'm something other than that. Not sure what, but it's something."

Heinkel tried to think through the several rumors he'd heard about the Swordmaster, former Grand Marshal, and Mahzer Lee. "You're gay? I thought, from the rumors about you, the former Grand Marshal and…?"

"I'm not gay. I…don't know if I'm really that straight, either. To be honest, I've questioned that for some time." Kamiizumi frowned, looking down at his katana before sheathing it. "When you asked me about sharing the bed last night, I…thought it was a step towards propositioning me and I wasn't sure how to respond. I thought we were just friends."

"Oh, shit." The Knight couldn't stop from swearing, sheathing his own sword as he shook his head. "I had no idea it might come off like that. Tsuna, I'm…" He swallowed. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You didn't know." Kamiizumi looked him in the eyes this time, taking a step closer to him, then another. "And…this whole mess could have been avoided if I just straight-up told you all of this, or at least the whole propositioning assumption and we could have clarified things."

"Look," Heinkel dared to look back into the other's grey eyes, "We both screwed up equally. Don't take it too hard on yourself, okay?"

"Okay."

Silence passed between them, then Kamiizumi spoke up.

"Heinkel?"

"Yes?"

"In what way do you…orient?"

Oh crap. Heinkel paused, his own lips not quite frowning but he felt them moving strangely, and he saw Kamiizumi blush.

"I mean, I don't mean to put you on the spot, I was just curious. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"I never really thought about it, honestly."

The Swordmaster ran a hand through his own hair, face twisting a bit. "I suppose that's something not many would think of."

"True…" Both of them paused, before Kamiizumi spoke again.

"I…should admit something, though. I do like you in the romantic sense."

Heinkel's jaw dropped. "What!? I—you can't just drop that on me so casually!"

"Was it really that casual?" The Swordmaster quipped, raising an eyebrow. "We were having a heated duel that turned into a discussion of sexuality and romance."

"And of course, you have to use that time to expose your true feelings."

"There could be worse timing than that, Heinkel." Kamiizumi's expression changed to one of a bit lower lip and an averting gaze, if only for a moment. "The question is…whether those feelings are mutual."

Heinkel had to take a moment to think that over, just gazing at the other man. Kamiizumi, a man who he saw for so long as ally, rival, and friend, as someone who wanted to romance him? That was somewhat new to discover.

Also, how did he himself feel about the (slightly) older man? Maybe…

"I think the feeling is mutual, Kamiizumi."

Before the Swordmaster could respond, Argent Heinkel pulled him in for a kiss, praying no one else was watching.

Heinkel hadn't really thought much when kissing Kamiizumi, but the feelings still remained afterward. It wasn't just a heat-of-the-moment thing, and thank Crystals for that, because that would be even more awkward to get past.

Heinkel decided to keep up visiting Kamiizumi in particular even after the vacation in Eternia was over, under the pretense of friendly rivalry in sparring and all. Did anyone believe it? He had no idea.

Kamiizumi himself wasn't against the idea of keeping it secret for now. In a way, they were still testing waters, and he guessed it was best that their experimentation stay secret.

Question was: Could they do it? Keep it secret, that is?

His mind wandered into how he would explain it to Minette. Just straight-up obvious, or…?

"Are mew in love with Meowster Heinkel, Dad?"

Kamiizumi froze, looking to her. "Um…" He paused, before remember her information superhighway system of cats. No wonder she figured it out. "Well…yes. I am."

"That's mewl!"

He couldn't figure out what 'mewl' meant, but after realizing that she had a happy expression on her face, he figured that was a good thing. He smiled back at her softly. "I'm glad you're okay with it." He paused, then, "You are okay with it, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Good." There was a knock at the front door, and he quickly went to go open it—

Just in time to see Argent Heinkel standing at the door with a whole bouquet of flowers.

"Heinkel?" Kamiizumi stared at the bouquet, then at the other man. "This is sudden."

"I know." The Knight's face was clearly red as he handed it to him. "I thought of you and I bought it for you. Apparently I can't grow my own flowers."

"You were trying to grow a bouquet's worth of flowers for me? You didn't have to—!"

"I thought gifts were better when made with love." The Knight looked more embarrassed at how mushy he himself sounded, rather than the fact that he just didn't have a green thumb. The Swordmaster smiled, before leaning forwards to give him a peck on the cheek.

"I appreciate the effort. That's more than enough. Also," He chuckled, "Minette knows about the two of us now, by the way."

"What?" The man's jaw nearly dropped. "How…?"

"Because of Minette's infomeowtion superhighway!" Minette poked her head through the doorway, giggling as she looked up at both men. "Isn't it mewtastic!?"

Argent Heinkel blanched, looking to her. "Infomeowtion what?"

"An information gathering." Kamiizumi supplied. "With cats. All the cats are her intel."

"Oh my Crystals."

"I know, it's a bit weird."

Heinkel gave Minette a small look. "Please don't have a clowder of cats stalking me and your father on our dates, okay?"

"Mew got it!" Minette beamed, paused, then asked, "What if I had meowly one cat?"

The Swordmaster laughed at that part, much to the brief ire of Argent Heinkel, but they figured one cat was better than many. Right?

It eventually spread like wildfire, word of their relationship despite their best to keep it covered.

However, it apparently did nothing to stop either of them from getting passionate with each other. It just started with the two of them kissing, but then they started making out more often…

And, like how suddenly they ended up getting together, they just started really making out. And during a spar, nonetheless.

"A-argent," Heinkel heard the Swordmaster hiss underneath him, voice straining, "Not in the training hall. Also, you're kneeing my crotch."

The former Sky Knight swore under his breath, half-rolling off the older man to relieve him of the otherwise-painful pressure from earlier. Kamiizumi heaved a relieved breath, before rolling onto his side to face Heinkel, kissing him again.

"You called me by my first name." Heinkel muttered as the Swordmaster kissed his neck, then his cheek, before kissing him on the lips again. "We're getting close pretty quick…"

Kamiizumi groaned, looking up at his face. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Mm…I don't mind. Just the fact that we probably shouldn't be doing this in public." Heinkel laughed at that, before pulling him in for another kiss, then a second, then more.

"What do we do?" Heinkel mumbled, several kisses later. "Do you want to…take me home, Tsuna?"

Kamiizumi paused mid-kiss, gently resting a hand over the other man's chest, feeling for the other's heartbeat. He then chuckled, kissing him again, before murmuring four words.

"Let's go home. Together."

By the time they got back to Kamiizumi's house, briefly greeting Tsubaki and Bismarck, both men stumbled into Kamiizumi's room, kissing each other and teeth gnashing together. It was rough, this time, and Heinkel nearly tripped as the Swordmaster ended up pinning him against the wall, their fronts pressed up against each other.

A rough gasp escaped the Knight's lungs, followed by a laugh as Kamiizumi pulled back to breathe. "Didn't take you to be so aggressive, Swordmaster."

Kamiizumi chuckled, looking him in the eye. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"Like what?" Heinkel moved to undo his own armor, watching the other undo the sash of his kimono.

The Swordmaster faltered, fidgeting with the cloth of his kimono, face twisting in some awkward expresion. "Like…the fact that I've never done this with anyone before."

Oh.

Heinkel offered him a sheepish look. "Um…well, I'm in the same boat." He managed. "It's not like I've ever done that either."

He could already see the embarrassment reflected in the Swordmaster's eyes, worry over the expectation of being the experienced one. The Knight knew it wasn't like he himself had any experience, either. Before he could say anything else, let alone do anything else to try to reassure him, Kamiizumi stepped closer to him, kissing him before speaking.

"Do you still want to go forwards with," He gestured between the two of them after disrobing, "This?"

Heinkel looked into the other man's grey eyes, slowly inhaling as he discarded the last of his armor to the floor with a clatter.

"Yeah. I do."

With that, he grabbed Kamiizumi by the shoulders and pulled him close, kissing him. He felt the Swordmaster jolt, going rigid at first, but then he kissed him back, relaxing his shoulders and letting Heinkel push him onto the bed. The Knight straddled the other's hips, leaning down to kiss him, and he grinned as Kamiizumi kissed him back.

Kamiizumi woke up to see a sleeping Heinkel beside him, clothes on the floor, and the blanket being just low enough to show that the Knight and Swordmaster themselves were more than shirtless.

Upon sitting up in the bed, pushing the blanket off himself (and trying to keep Heinkel covered in the process, lest the man end up waking up freezing), he wasted no time going to the small bathroom attached to his room and separated by a single door, examining himself in the mirror. Hickeys and little bites littered his neck and collarbone, with a particularly purpled one on the upper left side of his neck. Running fingertips over the marks, he shivered as he recalled what happened the other night.

Crystals, I had sex with Argent Heinkel—!

The Swordmaster pushed messy black hair out of his face, looking into the mirror to see himself smiling a bit, face flushed. Sure, it was awkward at first, but he was also sure that it wasn't, well, bad.

If anything, it was good.

He did have to internally admit, as he washed his face and shaved, that he thoroughly enjoyed it…even if it did have to lead to the massive amount of marks on his neck.

"Nobutsuna?" Kamiizumi looked into the mirror, then turned towards the bathroom doorway—just in time to see Heinkel standing there, basically naked save for covering himself waist-down with the blanket. "You're awake?"

The Swordmaster swallowed and did his best not to look down. "Heinkel…good morning."

"Morning." The Knight's face was a little red. Kamiizumi felt himself blush, and before he could say anything else, it was Heinkel that spoke up.

"So. Um." Heinkel coughed, looking to the (understandably handsome) Swordmaster as he spoke. The man hadn't really covered up, and it was very tempting to look down (but he didn't, because that wouldn't help his own blushing cheeks). "We had sex last night."

"Yes."

"And it was both our first times."

"I can confirm that."

"Crystals, we fucked each other."

"Okay, no—" The Swordmaster's face reddened, "We did not do that, in the technical sense!"

"Okay, technically not." Heinkel chuckled, pushing some of his own messy hair out of his face, offering him a grin. "Just teasing…"

"And a lot of touching." The Swordmaster ended. He buried his still-red face in one hand. "What do we do now? I mean…look, last night was amazing, even if we didn't know what the hell we were doing half the time. And I would love to try this again."

The Knight felt his jaw nearly drop. "Are you suggesting we literally research this?"

"I don't know! I mean, how would we even…" He trailed off, shaking his head, and Heinkel grimaced. "Well, we'll figure it out somehow. Right?"

The Knight just nodded, deciding it was best to leave this subject for another time. "Right."

Both men got washed up and dressed, and it wasn't until after nearly finishing up that Kamiizumi spoke up again. "Heinkel?"

Argent groaned, looking to him as he pulled on his pants. "Yes?"

"Was I," The Swordmaster's face retained a light pink in his cheeks as he asked, "Was I good?"

"Um," The Sky Knight tried to think back to last night, before offering him a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I think you were."

"Good. I wouldn't want to disappoint." The Swordmaster finished getting dressed, moving to leave the room. "Should we not run into each other later today before we reach home, I'll be home a bit late today, because I'll need to pick up Minette from the airship port."

Heinkel blanched. "Don't tell Minette what happened!"

"I'll try not to! She has a way of finding out things! Don't let anyone else know!"

"I swear I'll do my best not to let anyone know!"

Both men departed in a hurry—for Heinkel to go visit Alternis, who he'd promised to meet, and for Kamiizumi to go train pupils at Central Command.

Both prayed briefly, despite not being Crystalist, that no one would find out about what transpired between them.

Their prayers would be horrendously unanswered.

"Swordmaster? Areyoualright?"

"Yes."

Kikyo blinked. "Thatwasaveryquickanswer. Andyou'reblushing."

Kamiizumi happened to run into Kikyo, after a training session with some of the young pupils. Both of them went to get lunch with each other, figuring that they had time and why not chat with each other while they were at it?

But there was also this pressing issue: How does one explain to your former subordinate that you bedded her brother-in-law?

Maybe that was something he shouldn't mention.

Maybe that was something he should mention.

Swordmaster Nobutsuna Kamiizumi was no expert at explaining romantic relationships, nor was he an expert in romancing people, period.

"You know how I've been dating your brother-in-law for a while now, right?"

"Yes. Whataboutit?"

"I might've.."

Kamiizumi didn't need to finish his sentence, with Kikyo's jaw dropping.

"Y-youdidthat!? OHMYCRYSTALSwhyareyoutellingme!?"

"I don't know who else to tell!"

"That'snotsomethingyougenerallytellanyone!"

"I'm sorry! Crystals, Kikyo, I'm so sorry!"

"Justdon'ttellmeagain!"

"Please don't tell anyone! Don't tell your brother-in-law that I told you!"

"YOUdon'ttellanyoneaboutthis!"

"Tell no one about what?" Both Kikyo and Kamiizumi froze, before seeing Praline approach them, eyes wide with pure curiosity. "What is it?"

"Uh…" The Swordmaster swallowed. "You don't want to know."

"Do I not want to know? I want to know."

"You really don't want to know."

"Agreed." Kikyo muttered, face still twisted in half-disgust, half-embarrassment.

Praline eventually dropped it. But not before telling the Swordmaster that she already had an idea of what he wanted to keep secret from her (something that Kamiizumi vehemently denied).

"Hi, Heinkel."

"Kamiizumi."

Both men managed to meet after they'd finished meeting with others (or training pupils, in Kamiizumi's case). Heinkel hesitated, looking to the older man as he asked.

"Did you tell anyone?"

The Knight grimaced. "No. But Alternis found out, despite me not telling him in the first place."

The Swordmaster balked, and Heinkel would have laughed if he wasn't stuck in this embarrassing predicament. "How?"

"He just did!" And it was true, Alternis just figured it out the moment he saw the hickeys on the Knight's neck (Heinkel cursed himself for not covering them up better). "What about you? Did you end up telling anoyone?"

The Swordmaster hesitated, running a hand through his own dark hair, before nodding. "I did."

"Who? Please don't tell me it was Holly or Barrass, or Ominas!"

"…Kikyo. I told Kikyo."

"You told my sister-in-law!?"

"I know, it was a bad idea, I don't know what I was really thinking and I apologize. I should have let you tell her, given your technically-closer-relations with her. And even then that probably isn't a good idea. I just…shouldn't have mentioned it at all." The Swordmaster looked incredibly embarrassed at this point, burying his face in his hands briefly. "Even worse, Praline nearly found out. Or at least, she has some hint of it despite me not telling her anything! I blatantly denied it!"

"…You know blatantly denying it isn't going to help, right?"

"Well," The other tried not to laugh at the hilarity of the situation, "It's not like telling the truth will make it less embarrassing."

"True, I suppose. Just be a bit more careful next time?"

Kamiizumi smiled. "Definitely will be."

Heinkel looked around, realizing the absence of one someone. "…Did you pick up Minette yet?"

The Swordmaster blushed again, but he didn't bury his face in his hands this time. Heinkel found it adorable, how the man was trying to stay calm. "I was…thinking you could come with me. If you'd like. Her airship got delayed by an hour, so she won't be here for another thirty to forty minutes. We can grab some tea together while we wait."

Wait. What?

"Really?" Heinkel blurted out, after a moment. "You'd like that?"

"Why not? Isn't that a romantic couple thing, to go on impromptu small dates?"

"For some."

Kamiizumi stared. "Only for some?"

The Knight chuckled at the other's expression. "…For us, too. If you want."

The Swordmaster smiled back. "I'd love that. And…Argent?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Heinkel could only smile back. "The feeling's mutual, Nobutsuna."

Without another second wasted, he pulled the Swordmaster towards him to kiss him, and this time he didn't care if anyone was watching.