It has been two days since the battle with Thor.

After talking it over with him, Odin was able to get Thor's cooperation. Once he recovered enough, he would help them with an eventual attack. Odin was also trying to see about training everyone like Aine and the others were, but that's another matter.

According to Odin, Thor accepted everything quite easily. At least, that's what Odin said, but judging from the screams right before, maybe Odin had to "persuade" Thor first.

Meanwhile, Kizuna was nursing the girls. Even though they didn't technically win, Kizuna decided they deserved a reward nonetheless. So it was agreed that, once they were good to leave the infirmary building, each one could make one request of Kizuna that he'd have to comply.

Somehow, Aine got better in an amazing speed once that was decided. So today, two days after the fight, she said she wanted her reward from Kizuna. The other girls were still recovering back in the infirmary building.

Aine talked with Osiris and she and Kizuna were left at Vatlantis. She said she would pick them up the following day, so, considering the time they arrived, they would have about half a day together.

"But why did you want to come here Aine?"

"W-well, you've been here twice already, haven't you? Once when we were all caught and at the end of the AU war when you, me and Grace… well, you know. I want to show you the good points of my homeland, since you might have missed them during the war."

"Ah, I see."

So Aine wanted to show Kizuna around. He really did appreciate that. Taking that into account, Kizuna decided it would be for the best for him to hide that he had already taken a good look around with Gertude during the AU war.

Aine was wearing shorts with a small sleeveless top jacket that didn't even cover her stomach, but she wasn't wearing a shirt underneath. The reason for that was not something perverted. Aine had bandages covering her chest, which had been hurt in the fight with Thor, since she said it hurt when she put on a shirt, she decided to not wear one under the top jacket. Aine also had one hand bandaged that was also hurt in that fight on the final punch.

Kizuna asked her multiple times if she was really fine, but Aine insisted she was already in perfect condition and wanted to go on this date.

"Come on, let's go."

At least as far as Kizuna could tell, there didn't seem the be any problems, so he figured he might as well enjoy this time with Aine.

At first, they were just walking down the streets. Kizuna had already seen these streets even when he had been caught, but Aine was now guiding him through them and showing the landmarks. She almost looked like a tour guide.

"Ah! Look who it is!"

All the sudden, a child came out of nowhere and threw her body onto Aine, who was able to catch her. Kizuna was startled for a bit, but eased up when he noticed it was just a kid.

Then, a bunch of other children came out of the same place the first one came from. They all hugged Aine.

Not long after, a young woman appeared. Looks like she's the one responsible for the children.

"O-oh, emperor. Please excuse them, they were just playing around."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind it. It's good to see they're all healthy."

Aine patted the kids' heads one by one. The kids seemed happy and, from what Kizuna could tell, this wasn't the first time they met Aine.

"Aine, who are them?"

"Oh, these are kids from an orphanage Grace build while she was the acting emperor. I came here once or twice after regaining my memories."

Kizuna then noticed that the place these kids came from had a board that said this was an orphanage. Moreover, it also said that this place was built to house the kids who lost their families during the AU war.

Because of this, Kizuna was reminded that both worlds suffered in that war. But even though they hurt each other in the past, it looks like both worlds are getting on good terms with each other.

"Hey hey, can't you come play?"

"E-eh? W-well…"

The little girl who threw herself at Aine earlier invited her to come in and play. Aine looked at bit troubled, probably because she didn't want to interrupt the date with Kizuna. That's why he was the one to accept the invitation.

"Isn't it fine? If you want, we can go in with them for a bit."

After hearing that, Aine flashed Kizuna a smile, then she said she'd go in and play with the kids, who voiced out their happiness.

"E-emperor, are you sure it's fine?"

"Yeah, it's alright. Of course, Kizuna is going to accompany me, won't you? After all, what are some kids to the hero of the AU war?"

"Wooah."

The kids looked amazed, probably because Aine had introduced Kizuna as a "hero", which probably sparkled their imagination.

"Alright. I'll show you that this hero fears nothing."

And so, with some help from the young woman from before, Kizuna and Aine took the kids back into the orphanage and played with them for a while.

After about an hour and a half, Kizuna and Aine finally exited the orphanage. The kids and the young woman responsible for taking care of them waved them goodbye as they saw them off.

"I never thought Aine would be good with kids."

"To be honest, the first time I came here, I wasn't. I even got really mad at them, but Grace taught me a few things, so the second time was better and I think I did really well this time… and, well, I've been thinking that kids aren't that bad recently."

Although Kizuna felt like there was some hidden meaning, Aine quickly switched the topic.

"By the way, want help to wash these off?"

"I'll have you know I think this style suits me well."

During their playing section with the kids, Kizuna ended up serving as their dress-up doll. His face had paint-makeup and his hair was filled with hairbands. He left the hairbands at the orphanage of course, but the paint wasn't coming off that easily.

Even as they walked around, people were looking at Kizuna as if they questioned his sanity. Well, it's not like Kizuna didn't understand the reason for it.

"Haha, sure. Anyway, sit down, I'll see what I can do about the paint."

Kizuna sat down on a bench and Aine grabbed some water from a font nearby. She wetted her own handkerchief and tried to wash Kizuna's face.

The paint wasn't completely gone, but it wasn't as visible anymore. Aine told him it would be easy to wash the rest once he took a bath.

"Well, at least now you can walk around without people looking at you. Come on, once we're done here, we're going to the palace."

And so, Aine continued touring Kizuna around.

It didn't take long for them to finish touring the capital. Compared to that, it felt like the palace was way too big, almost like it was a city in itself. The size wasn't much bigger than most palaces in his world, but Kizuna still felt like that due to the sheer amount of time it was taking to look at everything.

Once dinnertime came, instead of having s grandiose dinner like what Kizuna expected an emperor to have, Aine asked for food that they could eat like in a picnic. According to Aine, there was a dining room like what Kizuna imagined, but she just didn't feel like using it today.

After that, Aine told Kizuna to take a bath. She also said that, once he was done, the maids would guide him to the room he'd be sleeping in.

"Still, this bath is way too big. I kinda wish Aine would join in."

Kizuna said that to himself half-jokingly, but knew there was some chance of it actually happening. He had to admit, he wouldn't exactly dislike that.

It couldn't be helped. The bath really was so big Kizuna couldn't help but feel lonely. That's why, once he finished washing his body, paint and all, he was about to leave when…

"Excuse us. Ainess-sama asked us to take care of you."

A group of five maids entered the bath wearing what Kizuna guessed were some kind of swimsuits. Then again, Vatlantis' style of clothes tent to have a high exposure rate, so maybe these weren't swimsuits.

Before Kizuna could even do anything, the maids approached him, sat him down on a stool and started washing him. His hair, back, chest, they were washing his whole body.

"W-wait a second, what's going on?"

"Ainess-sama asked us to wash your body and make sure you're properly clean."

"N-no, I already finished washing myself, so there's no need for this."

"Even so, we have received direct orders. We won't be long, so please excuse us for a little bit."

Kizuna felt like he should get up and ask Aine what this was about. He really was about to do that when he heard Aine's voice.

"Kizuna, be a good boy and don't give them any trouble. I told them to use their bodies if you tried to resist."

What Aine meant was more like a tackle, but it wasn't what Kizuna imagined. Well, Aine worded it that way to make Kizuna imagine something else. In any case, Kizuna decided it was best to stay obedient.

"I myself am getting taken care of by other maids, so don't worry. I'll explain it to you later, so just let them take care of you."

From what Kizuna could tell by her voice, Aine should be in the neighboring room. Was there another bath there?

Although Kizuna didn't understand a single thing, he decided to trust Aine and let the maids do their jobs. Although, as expected, once they got to his more intimate places, an accident almost happened and he was almost the one to shower the maids. Luckily, he was able to resist.

Once the maids were done, they gave Kizuna some sleepwear and showed him to the room he'd be saying at.

It was an enormous room with a big bed right in the middle. There were also a lot of fancy decorations. This couldn't be just a guest room.

Kizuna decided to wait while he sat on the bed. Just as he expected, Aine showed up not much later. Just as he had guessed, this wasn't a guest room, but the emperor's, Aine's room.

Aine still had her hand and chest wrapped in bandages, but that was all she wore on the upper body. On her lower body, she only wore black laced panties that did little to cover her and mostly served to accentuate her sexuality.

She also got on top of the bed and approached Kizuna. She kissed him as she used her weight to press her body on top of Kizuna's and push him down on the bed.

After a few seconds, she broke the kiss and said.

"I-I guess it's about time I start explaining. First of all, remember that you didn't set any limits for the rewards you said you'd give us, so it can be anything. … What I want is, for you to be emperor with me. That's why I brought you here today and showed you around. This night, on this bed, I want us to have our first time."

Aine looked at Kizuna with pleading eyes. It wasn't hard for him to tell how serious she was about that. That's why…

Kizuna pushed Aine down this time. He was now on top of her. Aine was surprised at first, but then opened her legs, making it easy for Kizuna to do whatever he wanted.

Kizuna would be lying if he said he didn't want to do it, but he felt something was wrong. That's why, instead of doing anything else, he touched Aine's bandaged hand and put about as much strength as he would in a handshake.

"Nm,m!"

"… As I thought, you're still not really fine, are you?"

"W-what are you saying? It was just… pleasure, I was moaning in pleasure."

"That so? Then, how pleasant is this?"

Then, with a single finger, Kizuna poked Aine's chest between her breasts. Normally, this wouldn't do anything, but now Aine couldn't even hide the pain in her face.

Kizuna got off from Aine and helped her sit up along with him. Then, as he looked into her eyes, he said.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong. I just wanted us to have sex as my reward. I am the main wife after all."

Since it didn't look like Aine was going to open up, Kizuna tried to pry a bit more.

"You know, I know that you sometimes call yourself as my "main wife" because you're a bit insecure and want to assert yourself. What made you insecure this time?"

"… I… well, it's not really something recent. Ever since I noticed my love for you, I've been wondering "maybe next Heart Hybrid we'll do it" or something, but we never did. Then there was that whole thing with you dying, so, when you said you'd give a reward for us, this was the only thing that came to mind. Before anything happens and you go away, I wanted to be more intimate with Kizuna, to have Kizuna's kids, to be together."

"I see."

Kizuna then touched Aine's face. He made her look at him and then kissed her lips. After a second, he broke the kiss.

"Didn't I already tell you it won't happen again? I know I'm not strong, but I don't plan to just drop dead any second now. The way I see it, we still have our whole lives ahead. I'd be lying if I said I don't want to do it, but there's no need to be in a hurry. We're still students after all. How about we see that once this whole thing with Hypnos is done? Well, for the kids thing, maybe wait a bit more than that."

After hearing Kizuna, it looked like Aine was able to calm down. She hugged Kizuna for a few seconds and spoke after.

"Then I guess I'll change my reward. I'll take…"

"What do you mean? Didn't I say you had to be completely healed first? You broke that rule, so your right to a reward is gone."

"No way!"

Aine's face looked like she had heard some of the worst news possible. After letting out a laugh for a bit, Kizuna said.

"But, I can make a trade. You do me a favor and I'll do one for you."

"W-what do you want?"

"This bed is way too big, so I want Aine to sleep with me tonight. But I want to hug you and cuddle you and kiss you and everything else. If you can do that, I'll do you any favor once we finish dealing with Hypnos."

"H-heh, I guess it can't be helped. Since you want it so badly, I'll do it just for you."

After that, they both laid down. Since she had let him, Kizuna hugged and kissed Aine to his heart's content.

He wanted to give proof that his words weren't just something he was spewing out, but also, he wanted to show Aine that they didn't need anything like the Heart Hybrid or sex for them to be together.

Of course, that didn't mean Kizuna didn't want to do those things, in fact, he did. But he had just said they would have their whole lives for that, so there's no problem with waiting until they regained their peaceful school life back, right? Obviously, that went not just for Aine, but for the other girls as well.

They both fell asleep like that. When she woke up, Aine felt lighter then she had ever felt in a long time.

After that, it was time to go back and continue their fight.