A/N: I admittedly don't remember Ludus's orange event at all (well, except for the important part) so I'm making it up~ As soon as Haulani and Tigre showed up and Ludus was free to romance at long last, he was already at max light green FP to start dating so I triggered all of his events basically day after day ahaha...
It was ten minutes after five when Holly made her way to Lulukoko. She passed by Zahau and his family and nodded to Haulani, who was too busy fishing to notice her, before stopping to steel herself in front of Carosello. Fall in Lulukoko was still rather hot, but she was glad it wasn't summer weather, when she would have to stop for a drink before going back home.
She caught her breath and was about to start walking again, but a tug on the back of her collar nearly caused her to fall backwards with a yelp.
"Holly."
It was Iluka, she realized as she turned around. Of course, the sharp yank should have already revealed that fact to her – she didn't know anybody else, especially in Lulukoko, who would think of doing that to get someone's attention.
"What's wrong?" Holly asked. Iluka never really called her out for anything before.
"Nothing's wrong with me," Iluka replied, just a hint of teasing in her voice, "but you looked pale as a ghost just now."
Holly tried her best to laugh it off but just ended up sounding awkward, so she sighed and slumped her shoulders. "It's... I-I have to talk to Ludus about something."
"Hm, if it's got you that worked up, he must have done something pretty weird. Siluka and I came up with a good nickname for him – Lewd-us. You should call him that whenever he acts up."
"Ha ha..." Holly shook her head. "It was actually something I did... I guess. Um, at the Fruit Fiesta - "
"When I told you two to get a room?" Iluka's face suddenly twisted in horror. "Don't tell me. When he walked you home, did he actually - "
"N-No! It wasn't anything like that!" Holly sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. "Um, I'm sorry, Iluka, but I really have to get to Lu - "
"I don't think our relationship is any of your business, Iluka," another voice interrupted her, a much deeper, more threatening voice.
Holly flinched reflexively, feeling her heart jump up into her throat and back, before turning around and facing Ludus. Betraying his voice, his face showed no signs of being upset or annoyed or anything of the sort. She smiled up at him, not really knowing if she was relieved to see him or just putting up a front to hide her nervousness. Regardless, seeing him just always made her smile no matter what.
"Well, well, if it isn't the lewd man himself," Iluka said smugly, seemingly not bothered at all by Ludus's statement.
"And again with that nickname..." Ludus stated with a sigh, shaking his head. "Iluka, you don't need to torment Holly just because you're upset with me, yeah?"
"Who said I'm upset with you? And why would I be?" Iluka's voice raised a few pitches in defense.
Holly awkwardly looked between the two and took a couple steps back. She didn't think she should be a part of this.
Opposite of her, Ludus walked up to Iluka and gave her a pat on the head before ruffling her hair. Holly blinked, not exactly surprised but still rather taken aback. She averted her eyes, taking a few more steps back.
"Just because I'm dating Holly doesn't mean I've forgotten about you and Siluka, you know," Ludus said sympathetically but teasingly.
"S-Stop it, you lewd weirdo-creep!" Iluka protested, slapping his hand away forcefully. "I'm not a child!" She cleared her throat. "Besides, you should be worrying about Holly instead."
"Huh?"
Iluka clicked her tongue. "Seriously, you're such a blockhead sometimes. Go chase after her and make up and everything so I can go back to being disgusted by your lovey-dovey attitude."
"Chase after – where did she go?"
"E kala mai. Can't help you with that one, Big Bro." Iluka just shrugged in defiance.
Ludus looked around but saw no sign of Holly, and the next instant he ran off, leaving Iluka behind.
She sighed. "Really... such a blockhead."
"That was uncharacteristically nice of you, Iluka."
"...Shut it, Siluka."
Siluka walked up to Iluka's side and smiled. "You should be more honest with your feelings."
Iluka scoffed. "When you say it like that, it sounds like I have feelings for him, and that's gross. I just think he should reevaluate what's important to him."
"Ludus can't be our big brother forever. He needs to grow up sometime," Siluka stated. "As do we."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it already. Sheesh."
…
"Holly?"
She didn't turn to face him, instead staring at her reflection in the water. Her feet decided to take her away, but she didn't actually go that far – she was standing just outside the town limits at the crossroads in front of the small spring.
"I'm sorry I ran away."
"It's fine – I mean, it's not fine, but, just... you worried me, yeah?" He settled in by her side, watching her reflection as well. "Did I do something to upset you?"
"..."
"If you don't tell me, I can't help, you know."
Holly bit her lip and shook her head. "You don't always have to help me..."
"Huh?"
She smiled sadly. "When you keep running to my rescue like this, it's like you still think of me as... as a little sister." She closed her eyes, not wanting to see either of their reflections.
Ludus sighed, but it sounded more relieved than anything. "Is that what's been bothering you? I thought you were acting a little strange yesterday."
"...But it's true, isn't it? You can't treat me like a woman, and th-that's why you've been so distant since all that stuff I did at the Fruit Fiesta."
"Fruit Fie – oh."
A silence befell them, more awkward than any other moment between them, until Ludus cleared his throat.
"Holly, will you look at me?"
She slowly opened her eyes and turned to face him, struggling to maintain eye contact. The dark amber color of his eyes made her feel both relaxed but slightly intimidated at the same time. His intense gaze made her want to look away, but she felt she couldn't. She was just... drawn to him.
"I don't think of you as a little sister," he told her earnestly. "And I certainly didn't intend to push you away these past couple days. E kala mai. But sometimes it's hard for me to contain my feelings for you, and especially after that night when you were all over me, telling me you wanted to be closer to me and be with me forever... I thought I was going to go insane, yeah?"
Holly finally managed to break away from his gaze, looking down at the ground while she felt her face grow several shades redder. She would never know how he could say things like that with such a serious face. She gulped.
"S-So... it's not that you think of me as a sister - "
"I could never," Ludus confirmed. "If you still don't believe me... then look up."
Look up? What -
"Mmph!"
Holly's eyes widened and she flinched back in reflex but Ludus wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her into him, never breaking the bond of their interlocked lips. After the shock died down, her eyes fluttered shut and she kissed him back lightly, tenderly, as if she thought she was doing it wrong.
Their kisses were gentle and few and short, and before Holly could fully get used to the feeling of their lips meshing together, Ludus pulled back. She took a few extra moments to bounce back to reality, slowly opening her eyes and staring up at him. Was he blushing? She couldn't be sure.
"Do you understand now?"
She nodded wordlessly, understanding all too well from just those few seconds he was kissing her. "Th-There's no way I'm just a sister to you..."
Suddenly the realization of the moment caught up to her. She felt the color rush back to her face and she looked away bashfully.
Ludus chuckled. "I'll try and do better so you never think that way again, yeah?"
Though she couldn't see him, his voice sounded higher and like it was cracking every now and again. No way – he was embarrassed too and now he was making her even more embarrassed. She hid her face in her hands and shook her head.
"A-And..." he began hesitantly. She peeked through her fingers to see him rubbing the side of his neck, the hue of his face easily rivaling hers. "Try not to act so cute and all when we're in public, yeah? And even if you do it when we're alone, I don't want you to be drunk and out of it so I'd feel terrible for wanting to do anything... yeah?"
"B-But I'm not cute even when I try..."
Ludus sighed exasperatedly, palming his face as Holly shook her head. Then he chuckled and slowly embraced her, bringing her into his chest. Her heart felt like it was about to beat right out of her chest, but as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms fully around her, she noticed... there was another heartbeat that sounded out of control. This was Ludus's heartbeat? It was so fast and erratic, yet somehow it calmed her knowing he wasn't calm.
"You don't have to try," he told her softly, hugging her tighter and resting his chin atop her head. "You're just always cute, my ku'uipo."
"Mm..."
She still disagreed, but she didn't have the strength to argue, her knees going weak. The only thing keeping her steady was Ludus's embrace.
She was blessed with so many wonderful things in life, him of course being at the very top of the list, that she couldn't even count them all. So why was it she still wanted more? Though she felt her body might give out at any moment, she still wanted to push herself closer to Ludus, to breathe in his natural beachy scent, to feel warm and protected within his arms.
Ludus just spoiled her to the point she felt like a pampered princess – a royal farmer who had to work for a living with cows, chicken, and sheep as her subjects – but it wasn't as if she didn't deserve it all, right?
She squeezed him back, just barely managing to get her arms around him, and let the question float away unanswered into the evening air.
~CGA