AN: Behold, my longest chapter yet. At least, for now.

Also, sorry to say guys, but try not to expect daily chapters anymore. However, I will try to get up a chapter everyday until March 17th.

It wasn't long before the two angeloids were in the city, preparing to start off their date. Ikaros had an idea of what to do, having been on one before and making this one a routine, but Achos had absolutely no clue, which made the magazine of significant use to the male angeloid.

"Okay, let's see..." Achos said to himself, flipping open the magazine. "Shopping, huh...? Alright, let's see what we can buy."

The two soon went to a nearby shopping centre... where Ikaros bought a cart-full of watermelons. And more. Achos simply stared in awe at the amount of watermelons she bought.

"Wow... you must really love watermelons..." he muttered as he spotted a DVD store. He decided to take a look around inside, and soon came out with a cart-full (and more) of his own... filled with various movie DVDs. Everyone nearby stared in shock at the two angeloids and their carts. Neither one of them seemed to mind, however. Then Achos thought of something.

"Um... Ikaros?" he asked.

"Huh?" Ikaros responded curiously.

"Um... where are we gonna keep the carts? It's not like we can exactly carry them all around town with us..." Ikaros suddenly looked crestfallen, then nodded at Achos, deciding that they should take them to Tomoki's house. When they came back with the carts, both of them were smacked over the head by Tomoki with a rolled-up newspaper, who didn't explain why he did so.

Not long after, they were back in the city and at the "Doremi Cinemas" movie theatre. At Ikaros' request, they decided to watch a movie that she once suggested to Tomoki called "Watermelonman: The Movie" (which seemed to bear a resemblance to the "Power Rangers"). Ikaros paid absolutely no attention to the action or the plot of the movie. Instead, as expected, her attention was entirely focused on the Power Ranger-like characters with watermelon-like heads. On the other hand, Achos paid attention to what Ikaros wasn't, but diverted most of it towards the action sequences.

After that, they headed to the amusement park, where they took a ride on a roller coaster. Unlike some people onboard, heights weren't a problem for either of the two, considering that they'd been in the air countless times. Achos tried to enjoy it, but Ikaros showed no signs of either enjoyment or boredom. It was usually hard to tell what was on her mind because of her lack of any facial expression.

After a couple more rides, the two took a break and sat on a bench, neither speaking a word to the other. In fact, throughout the entire date, in every place they had been to so far, not many words were exchanged between each other. The whole point of this date was to try and get the two to talk to each other, but so far it didn't seem like it was working. Ikaros simply didn't know what to say. Achos, however, was afraid.

Achos had been afraid the whole time. Afraid of what Ikaros thought of him.

I'm nothing but a weapon, he thought to himself, recalling horrifying memories of what had happened over 2 weeks ago. Bashing Ikaros with the shield and damaging her extensively throughout the battle. Hurting Nymph. Blasting Astraea with Tycho. Every time he thought about it he felt more guilty than anyone could imagine. He never thought that he could be so hostile, so cruel, so unforgiving. And one angeloid, and one human, undid that all. In an instant his personality changed, no longer wishing to hurt those around him. Yet he still lived with the fear that people, especially Ikaros, thought of him as a monster. Today, though, he decided to come out with his feelings.

"I'm afraid, you know?" he said quietly.

Ikaros turned her head towards Achos and asked in a curious manner, "What?" Achos took a deep breath and continued.

"I've become afraid. And confused, as well. I was left with one order from a master whom I don't even know. Now I'm free of that burden. But, now I'm not sure what to do. More specifically, why I exist. I don't know what I'm supposed to accomplish anymore." Ikaros pondered this for a moment, then looked up at him.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked. Achos suddenly looked at her, then looked down at his hand, which now gripped the bench lightly.

"Myself." Ikaros looked at him in confusion. Achos sighed again, and explained.

"I don't know what I was created for, but I know that I'm a weapon. A weapon that can cause a lot of harm to others if I'm not careful. Now that I realize what I'm able to do, I'm scared of my power. I don't want to hurt anyone else anymore." Ikaros continued to stare at him intently, then nodded. Achos continued to stare at the ground. Then, suddenly, he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ikaros still looking at him with her arm outstretched.

"It's okay," she said quietly, softly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore." Achos stared at her in shock. He couldn't believe that she said those words. He couldn't believe that Ikaros was practically forgiving him for what he'd done. Achos suddenly felt as if his reactor was trying to burst out of his chest. Steam puffed out of his ears a few times. Ikaros tilted her head at him curiously, her hand still on his shoulder. Then, his vision became obscured.

"Reactor reaching critical overheat," Achos said aloud. "Unable to identify the cause. Initiating temporary shut-down." With that, his eyes closed and he slumped against the chest of a surprised Ikaros, who then wrapped an arm around his neck and slowly stroked his black hair, turning her gaze from him and simply staring ahead of her at nothing in particular.

He doesn't know that I know he's in love with me, she contemplated, now unconsciously stroking Achos' hair. Should I tell him the truth...? Master told me that lying was a bad thing... She couldn't help herself. Nymph had asked Ikaros to try not to think too much about Tomoki during her and Achos' date, a request she took literally, but it had to happen at some point. She was in love with him, and tried never to turn a blind eye to him. There was no way she couldn't think about him.

"Commencing initialization. Restarting." Achos woke up slowly, dark brown eyes meeting an orange sky. He felt something behind his neck and head. An arm and a hand. He moaned and turned his head to the side, his eyes now meeting Ikaros' green-blue eyes, which turned to him suddenly and glinted in the sunlight.

"What happened...?" Achos asked, sitting up. He looked around and realized they were no longer in the city. Taking a moment to take in his surroundings, he realized they were at the field with the cherry blossom, the massive tree just behind them. Ikaros was now sitting against it, her knees tucked into her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Achos adopted the same position as Ikaros explained what happened.

"Your reactor almost overheated. Your system entered a temporary shut-down, so I decided to take you here." Achos looked at her for a moment, then nodded, looking up at the orange sky that indicated that the sun was going down.

"The sky looks beautiful, doesn't it?" he asked Ikaros. She simply nodded in agreement, contemplating the same thing she did earlier in the day at the theme park. After a long moment of silence, the pink-haired angeloid turned to face Achos.

"Achos, can I... tell you something?" she asked. Achos turned his head towards her.

"Sure. What is it?" he responded. Ikaros looked back down at the grass in front of her, hesitating slightly.

"I..." she began, "already knew that... you were... in love with me." Achos immediately widened his eyes in shock, his face turning a deep shade of crimson.

"W-What?" he stammered in embarrassment. Ikaros closed her eyes.

"I first began to suspect that you were in love with me that day we ate with Master and Hiyori. Then Nymph came to me last night while I was watching over my master. That was when she confirmed my suspicions." Achos' eyes were no longer wide as he simply looked intently at Ikaros.

"I'm sorry," she said, regret in her voice, "but I deeply care for my master, and I wish to be by his side." She had nothing more to add than that, and Achos then looked at the ground so that Ikaros couldn't see the hurt in his eyes. However, that didn't do much as his reactor began to hurt. Now forgetting about Ikaros' presence, he pressed a hand against his chest.

My reactor... it's hurting again, he thought. It's aching... Ikaros had a look of sorrow on her face. She didn't mean to hurt him so much. She only thought that she was simply telling the truth.

"I understand," he responded suddenly. Ikaros looked at him in surprise.

"What?" she said in confusion. Achos then turned his head towards Ikaros, and smiled forcibly.

"I can see that you're very devoted to your master... You already expressed that when we fought. I'm honestly telling you that I respect your choice. You two seem very good together, anyway." Ikaros looked at the ground for a moment, as did Achos, who continued to smile. Suddenly, once again, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Ikaros, his smile replaced by a look of curiosity as he noticed that Ikaros' eyes were closed... and she was leaning forward. Her lips very suddenly met his in a soft kiss that Achos had never saw coming. However, he soon relaxed and kissed back. Unbeknownst to him, Ikaros was kissing him as a means of comforting him as opposed to doing it out of a mutual feeling of love. After a while, the two separated, taking small breaths of air. Achos looked at Ikaros with confusion in his eyes, but she looked away from him, instead looking down at the ground in a sudden embarrassment with a light blush coloring her cheeks. There was a long moment of silence, a good minute or two, before Achos finally broke it.

"Should we head back?" he asked. Ikaros looked up at Achos for a moment, then nodded.

"Sure," she said. With that, the two were off to Tomoki's house.

When the two angeloids returned, already waiting outside were Tomoki, Sohara, Nymph, and Astraea. They waved and greeted the two as they descended onto the ground.

"Hey guys!" Sohara said. "How was your date?" A small smile crept up onto Achos' lips, but the others didn't seem to notice.

"It was good," he replied. Ikaros nodded in agreement, but didn't say a word.

"Good to hear!" Tomoki said cheerfully. "Come on, let's go inside." Everyone followed after Tomoki, except for Ikaros, who stopped after taking two steps. She thought back to the kiss, and was beginning to regret her decision. She felt that she betrayed her master, and wondered if she should tell him about what happened.

"Hey! Ikaros!" Tomoki called out, waiting at the doorway and snapping Ikaros out of her trance. "Aren't you coming inside?"

A blush made its way to Ikaros' cheeks as she replied, "Yes, Master."

Ikaros then headed inside, Tomoki closing the door behind them. It was the end of another day in Sorami City.