A low jab, then a leg sweep… followed by a shoulder check right past her target.

"Are you really trying, Kaoru?"

"Gah… shut up! Of course I am!"

Today, Kaoru had opted not to transform before sparring with Zero. She was in her regular, non-super, human form, which she knew would put her at a severe disadvantage in terms of strength, fighting skill notwithstanding. Even when she was in Powered Buttercup form versus his non-powered self, Zero usually held his own by sheer virtue of his many years more combat experience.

"You know, you're more than welcome to transform if you'd like to," he reminded her.

"No way! I can take you just the way I am!"

He easily dodged another attack.

"There's no shame in it," he shrugged. "We were doing pretty evenly before… you even beat me a few times. Why this all of a sudden?"

Kaoru was panting, catching her breath. Not only had she opted out of fighting in her transformed state, but she was still fighting him in her birthday suit—which she'd only done originally because her superhero costume gave her a combat advantage. She had no reason to fight like this in her human state, aside from habit.

"Has something happened?"

Kaoru didn't respond. She finished catching her breath, then pouted and turned away from Zero, wordlessly acknowledging her loss this time. She started walking off.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean any insult… I'm sorry if I made you upset," he apologized. Kaoru scoffed.

"Whatever."

"Do you wanna… sit down and talk?" he asked. "We've been doing a lot of sparring, but not much else lately."

"I… gotta go take a bath," she told him. An excuse.

"Mind if I join you?"

And then the air fell silent. Awkwardly so. Zero had blurted out something that would have been more commonly uttered in a more antiquated time, not especially thinking about where or when he was; he was sure as soon as he said it that she would, of course, say no. He was certain of it.

Then again, sometimes, even the gods are surprised.

The sound of steam and trickling water filled the room. It was surprisingly old-fashioned for the science lab. Zero wondered how often Kaoru and the others actually bathed here… perhaps it was just her, and only because of all the sparring the two of them had been doing.

"I'm surprised you let me join you," he said.

"Meh… I've got brothers," she told him. "I'm sort of used to it."

"You all still bathe together?"

"Nah, not anymore, but they walk around the house enough."

Zero paused to consider the conversation, realizing how little he actually knew about Kaoru or her home life. He knew some basics from conversations with Momoko and Miyako, as well as passing chats with Kaoru herself, but… the only time he'd even been to her home was to visit her family's dreams and convince them of his existence. As far as faith-winning techniques went, it was an oldie but goodie.

"You have two brothers, right?"

"Yup."

"Any sisters?"

"Nah… just my brothers, my mom and my dad."

"The wrestler?"

"That's right. You remind me of him a little bit."

"Because of the muscles?"

"It's your laugh."

Zero stopped to ponder that. He wasn't immediately sure if she was trying to compliment him or not, but it was sweet if she was. From what he had heard, she did seem to have a lot of respect for her father.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Do you have any family?"

"That, er…"

Zero paused to consider his words carefully. Just how much could he tell her…?

"In terms of blood relatives… well… I don't know. I don't actually remember the time before I was a god."

"Eh? There was a time before?"

"Sure. Gods don't just come into being from nothing—they ascend. I was human, once."

"But you don't remember anything from that time?"

"No… just that it happened."

Kaoru thought about it.

"That's like a lot of people, I think. Most folks don't remember when they were really little."

Zero grinned. "That's one way of looking at it, isn't it?"

"What about after you turned?"

"What about it?"

"Did you have any kind of family after that? You know, like… like how the professor's kind of like a second dad, and how the girls are kind of like sisters to me."

Again, Zero contemplated long and hard.

"I did… but…"

Kaoru waited for him to continue, and he sighed.

"I suppose you could say I ran from them, and… now I can't go back. It's not something I'm proud of."

"So that's why you're a world-trotter, huh?"

"Well… sort of. I could always settle down somewhere, if I really wanted to," he explained. "I travel because I want to. Because I get to see so many interesting worlds, meet so many people… if I didn't travel, I wouldn't have met you."

This time, the silence between them wasn't truly silent at all. It spoke volumes without either of them uttering a word.

"Miyako and Momoko told me what you said about me," Kaoru finally revealed.

"What's that?"

"The things… you said you liked about me. You meant them, right?"

"Of course I did. Every word."

"Yeah… well…" Kaoru blushed and looked down, not quite able to bring herself to look him in the eye. "I have… some things I like about Zero. Like…"

Kaoru was struggling to get this out. It was an embarrassing thing to say, but she wanted to say it anyway.

"I like… how you stand for your beliefs…" she said. "Even if it got us into a fight when we met… it's… cool, y'know? Oh, and… and… the way you don't hold back when we spar, even though I'm a girl… thanks for that."

Zero smiled a dopey, flattered smile. It was uncharacteristic of him, but then, it was uncharacteristic of Kaoru to be talking like this. It was definitely strange for her… but also very sweet.

"Kaoru… I-"

"H… hey!" she interrupted. She was still having trouble looking at him directly. "How… do you feel about Momoko? And Miyako?" she finally asked.

"I would say…" He hesitated a moment, reflecting on his role as the god of truth. Now, Kaoru was watching his every tell and expression like a hawk. Zero sighed. "They're both very pretty," he admitted, "but I don't feel the connection with them that I do with you."

Kaoru leaned in very near, studying him intently. Her face was centimeters from his, eyes narrowed.

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

That moment lasted a long time. Kaoru was thinking, deciding, and then finally, at long last, she came to an ultimatum.

"I believe you."

In a moment, her lips found her way to his in a movement that felt much too practiced to be coming from Kaoru. The damp skin of her cheek slid gently against Zero's face; her unexpected boldness had caught him completely by surprise. Even Kaoru thought it was uncharacteristic of her—maybe it was because she already knew about Zero's feelings for her. Maybe all the naked sparring had just made her that comfortable around him. It hadn't helped that she'd spent the past week plus getting all pent up ogling those muscles of his, either.

For that one brief instant, all was bliss between them. Then… Kaoru's nerves got the best of her, and she pulled away. Zero was a bit disappointed at how quickly it had ended; he could tell she was, too.

"That was… I, er…" she stammered. "I don't know what I was doing there."

Without a word of response, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in and grasping her tightly. Her wet skin pressed against his, and she flushed bright red as she became visibly flustered.

"Wah, wah, h-hey, d-don't… don't get any ideas…!"

Her body betrayed her words. Without her even realizing it, her arms had embraced him as well. He spoke gently into her ear.

"It's all right; just relax a minute."

As he said this, one of his hands wandered around to her small breast—still developing, but very much there. As his fingers began to trace her nipple, Kaoru winced ever so slightly. She had explored herself downstairs a little bit, but she'd never played with her chest before—this was a new sensation, one that was being thrust upon her very suddenly.

"H-hey, cut it out…" she mumbled, not very convincingly. She didn't actively stop him from continuing, however, and before long, his head had craned down to the point that he could start to work on her chest with his mouth. Just as he started to do so…

NAB!

Kaoru had him in a headlock.

"C-cut it out, I said!"

"Sorry… I do have the habit of pushing people a little past their comfort zone," Zero bowed in apology. "But… I wasn't going to go any further than that, honest."

"Yeah, sure," Kaoru scoffed, "I'll bet every guy says that."

The two now sat opposite one another, still naked and in the bathroom, but not nearly so close as they had been a moment ago. Zero was in a repentant position; Kaoru's arms were crossed.

"So, um… are we done, then?" Zero asked, raising his eyes to meet her gaze. "I can get out if you want me to."

"Now hold on," Kaoru scolded. "I ain't done with you yet."

Both of them were sitting cross-legged, meaning Kaoru's legs were wide open; the reaction this caused between Zero's open legs was not wasted on her. She leaned in close to get a better view, now taking the dominant role between them. She may have been tomboyish, but she was still a teenaged girl.

"It's shiny," she noted. "Is that 'cuz of the soap?"

"It just looks like that when it gets big enough," he explained.

She prodded it with her foot, not bothering to ask permission, then with a finger. Finally, curious about the texture, she grabbed it with her hand, being exceptionally delicate as she did so. From the way she handled it, it seemed like she thought it was made of rice paper.

"You don't need to be that gentle," he told her. "It's hardier than it looks."

"…eh?" Kaoru was suddenly very aware of the situation she was in, handling his member like this. "It's not… like I'm interested in it or anything."

"I'm interested in yours."

She blushed again, and hushed up. She knew full well she was lying. Silently, she resumed her prodding, curiously.

"It's okay if I squeeze it?" she asked.

"It works better when it's slippery."

"What the hell do you do about that?"

"Well, you could use saliva, or-"

"No way, that's gross!" she barked. "Here, there's some soap…"

As her experimenting continued, she noticed it starting to grow and wiggle, but it never seemed to go anywhere from there, at least not the way she was handling it.

"Is something supposed to happen, or…?"

"It's the same as it is for girls," he told her. "Eventually you reach climax."

"Er… what?"

"You mean you've never…?"

"I've never what?!"

Zero stared at her a moment, obviously surprised. He tried not to show it too much; he didn't want to single her out.

"That's surprising, at your age," he did admit. "That's the part that feels the best, after all." He paused a moment, then leaned in. "Hey, would you mind if I do it for you?"

"D… Do it?"

"What you've been doing for me. I want to show you how it feels."

Kaoru was a beet now. This was moving awfully quickly for her… but she had to admit she was curious, after all he'd been saying. What's more, he was acting so… giddy about it. She wasn't sure why, but the idea of servicing her had Zero sounding as eager as a puppy dog. Could she really say no?

"You're not gonna… y'know… use your thing, are you?"

"Nope."

"Well then why do you care so much?"

"It'll be special. I want to see Kaoru's first time feeling it."

What a weirdo, she thought. But he was a sweet weirdo, and honest. She trusted his intentions enough.

"All right… but… is it gonna feel weird?"

"It'll feel normal at first," he told her. "But listen… no matter where that feeling goes, I want you to let it keep happening, okay?"

"Er… okay…"

That wasn't much to go on, but Kaoru decided to have faith. Zero's face fell into the little tuft between her legs, and all at once, her head was swimming. Having someone else do it for her was way different from doing it herself—and a mouth was way different from fingers. It felt good… really good. It wasn't just the physical sensation, either, but the fact that Zero was the one doing it for her—that he wanted to do it for her. His muscular arms craned around her back, supporting her, as she found her legs wrapping around his torso instinctively.

After a few moments, she felt something rising. It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling, and a little bit scary. All at once, Kaoru felt like she was no longer in control; her body was a runaway vehicle, and she didn't know where it was going or if it would stop. But… this was what Zero had told her about. As much as she wanted to get off the ride, she had promised to ride it out. And so, she trusted him, and the feeling kept getting bigger, and bigger, and stronger, and stronger, until…

"Ahh…!"

She let out a noise she hadn't heard from herself before, and her legs tightened around her partner, gripping him fiercely and not letting go for several seconds. At the end of those several seconds, she knew exactly what climax was. It was no wonder he hadn't been able to explain it with words.

Zero waited until her panting had stopped and her grip had loosened. With satisfied eyes, she glanced down at him. He had his big, stupid, triumphant grin on… in the end, he'd gotten exactly what he had wanted.

She supposed she'd have to chalk this up as another loss, then.