Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Tamura Ryuuhei.
Together
She was kneeling on the ground and adjusting her boot. Oga had made her take them off before they had got on the boat.
It had been her first time riding a rowboat. Sure, there were also some watercourses in her world, which were passed by a boat or other crafts. However, she never was in need of them because she would always fly above waters with her loyal server, the Akbaba.
"Better take them off. They'll be not suited in water if we keel over." were his words when he had briefly sighted her feet earlier.
She had never believed that it would have come as far as that. She assuredly knew that Oga would have the situation under control in some way even if it did not always turn out perfectly all right. And only later had she understood why he had made her get on barefooted – to enjoy the pleasant feeling when her outstretched feet had touched the cool water.
From the corner of her eyes, she involuntarily observed how the dark-haired girl was standing within spitting distance to him. While Hilda was putting on her other boot, Kunieda thanked Oga for the tenth time for taking along her little brother Kouta.
The Blonde wrinkled her nose as she imagined Kunieda's bashful face and gleaming eyes since she was able to talk to her crush. Including Hilda, it was obvious to everyone in school how she felt about Oga – everyone aside from the latter himself.
To spare herself the sight, Hilda slowly stood up and quietly nodded to Kunieda as a sign of farewell. She departed, quickening her pace step by step, and did not look back at the group with the two babies once again.
It was beyond her comprehension why it bothered her to see those two so close to each other. Not only Kunieda – seeing all the other Red Tails around him seemed to disturb her lately.
"That fool!" she simply thought. Hilda felt a new kind of anger arising from the depths of her heart. She didn't know whether she was angry at him or possibly at herself.
The only thing she was sure of was that Oga was the source of her anger.
"Oi!"
Just as she was reflecting where to vent her wrath on, an arm swung unexpectedly around her shoulder. She didn't break her pace but stiffened a little when the newcomer synchronously kept up with her. It took her a bit longer to react and normally, she would have already pinned the approaching person down long ago, pointing her sword at him or her.
Instead, Hilda slowly turned her head to the right and to her surprise, Oga was walking next to her.
What rather astonished her was that he had a content face. He barely showed any sign of contentment and even if he did, he generally revealed it to her young master, who was currently sleeping in his right arm. But now, although he was forward-facing – not looking directly at her – he had a weak but honest smile on his face.
Yes, he was smiling.
That was a rare sight. He, too, did not smile very often like Hilda. Sure, he laughed. He laughed a lot. He laughed sneeringly at his opponents, he laughed joyfully when he fought Toujo, or he laughed excitedly when he tried out a new video game…
But this time, he smiled.
It was somehow awkward for Hilda to see Oga's contented expression. She felt a heavy weight being lifted off somewhere inside her, as if a rock was lying accurately on her heart and aching each time she saw him and Baby Beel near any other girl. Yet, the same rock resided on her lung now, making it difficult for her to breath and causing an actually greater pain.
Anyhow, this kind of pain – it also felt nice.
This sweet kind of pain; she could live with it.
They were walking in the same position next to each other. Oga's arm was still lying on her shoulder; he was not holding her too firmly, leaving her enough room to escape from his grip. Much to his amazement, Hilda unconsciously lifted her right arm and placed it around his back. She could not estimate her own actions at the moment and was as surprised as Oga at least. In spite of that, she decided to trust her guts for now and closed the little distance between them.
Oga's face turned to a smug grin as he tightened his hold around her body. Without any further eye contact, they were walking abreast and going home together.
Yes, together.
She just wanted them to be together like that, no matter what time would tell them.
A/N: A small, cute story suitable for the ending of Beelzebub. Actually, I wanted to add this scene to "A Father, A Lover" but I decided to make a short one-shot out of it. I hope that you liked it. Reviews would always be appreciated… :)