Chapter 1: Explosion Series- The First
Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark,
I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson.
The time of awakening cometh.
Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,
appear now as an intangible distortion!
I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force:
a destructive force without equal!
Return all creation to cinders,
and come from the abyss!
Explosion!
When he came to, he was lying down on something incredibly soft but also strangely...small? Kazuma looked to his sides. On the left, curled up near the fireplace, was a black furball...Hmmm that should be Chomusuke...and to his right-?!
It was the slender body of a girl wearing frilly pink PJs. Wait a minute...such a thin body...such soft and small thighs...could it be…?
Kazuma looked up slowly and saw the face of a blushing Crimson Demon. Namely, the Explosion Maniac who had a few screws loose- Megumin.
"Kazuma… I wanna apologize for losing my cool so easily back then… I promise it won't happen again.", said Megumin with the sweetest smile Kazuma had ever seen. That smile could even rival Eris's wink!
"U-uh...yeah...that's cool but...why am I lying down in your lap? Usually you'd kill me if I even suggested I wanted to do this." Kazuma was confused, and rightfully so. After all, which sane person would trust someone who had judo flipped them and nearly turned them to dust with a single spell just a few hours ago?!
"Well, I realize that I may have been far too short-tempered recently, and this is my way of making up to you! Yeah, that's it! Which is why you are currently resting on the lap of the greatest Archwizard in the world, Megumin, daughter of Hyoizaburoo and Yuiyui!
Kazuma wanted to put her in her place for daring to call herself the greatest Archwizard in the world, when she was but a one-trick pony. And how dare she put him, the Billionaire Adventurer Kazuma, in her lap?! What even was sexy about a flat-chested loli who could do nothing but boast?! He might as well be attracted to a piece of paper!
Yet, what came out of his mouth was," Ah..um…"
He was flustered! What else was he to do in the lap of a beautiful loli...no...a woman. Yes, because that is what Megumin was to him. How could one call someone with a lap pillow this soft a mere loli?!
"T-thank you...but why?", he finally managed to squeeze out.
Megumin giggled and ran her hand through his hair, leading to Kazuma's face becoming beet red. "I-idiot, you're my boyfriend now, remember?" She was blushing too, as she was slightly embarrassed by having to say that out loud.
"B-BOYFRIEND?!" Kazuma got up at the speed of light and in his rush, banged [( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)] into her nose with his head. "Ow! Be careful, you idiot! Do you wanna...I mean, um. It's o-okay, just take care next time.", said Megumin while forcing a smile and rubbing her nose.
"S-sorry I just got really excite- shocked by that word!", he said as he hurriedly tried to cover up his mistake.
"Hehe… in a way, I like this flustered tsundere part of you that can't say the truth no matter what. Still, you should try and be more honest..boyfriend." She smiled again.
Except this time her smile was genuine, and made Kazuma's heart go BA-DUMP.
It felt like Megumin had just cast an explosion on his heart.
...
After the lap pillow fiasco, they both went to their rooms, and changed into their normal adventuring clothes. Megumin had said that "a true Explosion Connoisseur must never give up on her practice, even if it means not spending time with her boyfriend!
"That girl really is something, huh.", thought Kazuma while brushing his teeth. She was able to throw around words like 'boyfriend' and 'dating' and 'love' so easily. Did she really love him? Was this just another prank? Or was she just waiting to see how long it took him to realize she was pitying him and so pretending to date him?
As these thoughts ran through his head, he was suddenly shocked out of his reverie by two thin, white arms wrapping around his waist, accompanied by a sweet, melodious voice saying his name.
"Ka~zu~ma~. Why are you taking so long to get ready~?"
Kazuma jumped a bit involuntarily, but having learnt his lesson from last time, stopped before he ended up falling with Megumin, or worse.
"Oh,um I was just uh…", stammered Kazuma.
"I was just admiring how handsome I look this afternoon, that's all.", he lied. He wasn't thinking about Megumin. Nope. Not a chance in hell.
"Really? Your ahem Excalibur seems to be saying something else, you know.", she said teasingly.
Kazuma looked down, only to find that she was right. His own flesh and blood had betrayed him and had fallen for Megumin's trap.
He was about to invent yet another lie, before Megumin's words suddenly popped up in his mind.
"Still, you should try and be more honest...boyfriend."
With a sigh, he flipped around and hugged Megumin, pushing her head towards his chest. He leaned into her hair, breathing in her scent. Running his hands through her black hair that was quite literally 'darkness darker than dark'. Enjoying the feeling of Megumin.
Megumin was, of course, caught completely off-guard by this. She had been joking around when she told Kazuma to be more honest! How was she supposed to know he'd take her words to heart and actually improve so quickly?! Moreover, she had planned for Kazuma to take the initiative and hug her exactly 32 days from the day she won the bet. She had painstakingly planned for her bet months in advance, and had already decided to date Kazuma for far longer than just 2 days.
But...for some reason, she didn't really mind this. It felt nice to be held. And how did it matter if her plans had been destroyed? Was it reeeeeally so bad if they sped things up and became closer in no time at all?
From time to time, she had entertained the thought of Kazuma hugging her but ultimately discarded it as a wild fantasy which had no chance of coming true.
And yet, right now, at this very moment, he was hugging her. Megumin wondered just what must be going through his head right now. She was sure he wasn't panicking at all this time, unlike her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I hope she doesn't feel my staff poking there oh god am I hugging right is she gonna push me away does she hate me do I smell fine why am I doing this oh god ERIS HELP ME GIVE ME LUCK PLEASEEEEEEEEEE-"
He was panicking.
...
Once out of the house, they both were walking side-by-side, awkwardly. Despite their Explosion Expeditions being a daily routine, they weren't talking at all and there was a distance between the two, both emotional and physical.
Megumin was getting more and more frustrated with this. They had shared such an intimate moment a few minutes ago and now they were as good as mere acquaintances. She was losing her cool. What was with this sudden mood switch?!
She sighed in anger and turned towards Kazuma. "Look-"
Only to be cut off by a blushing Kazuma who said words she had never expected to hear-
"Can we...hold hands while walking?"
Though he had already hugged her, that single question meant a lot more to her than any hug ever could.
Kazuma had asked her before doing something.
He had asked her before touching her.
The same Kazuma who didn't hesitate before crawling into her bed. The same Kazuma who would steal her panties and express no guilt or shame.
That same Kazuma had been considerate of her feelings.
BA-DUMP.
And then, Kazuma too cast an Explosion- onto the heart of a young girl in love.