Kazuma's POV
"Do you admit defeat?"
Honestly, it was kind of painful to watch Megumin attempt to plow her way through that dish.
*bleargh* "N-no! I, Megumin, t-the greatest cook of the household-"
"Greatest cook in the landfill-"
"...Admit defeat. You win."
"Finally. I was worried you'd throw up all over the table!"
"Do you not care about her well-being at all?"
"Hey, she's the one who got herself into this situation! Dammit, why do you always have to be so prideful?"
"Tis in a crimson demon's nature."
"Whatever. Remember our conditions for you eating my pizza?"
Her face is pale. Now it's red. God, this girl put no points into deception.
"U-uh yeah. Very well then. I shall compliment you 5 times."
Her blush subsided a little while my grin remained.
"Your hand is nice and warm. It's not so muscly that it's hard!"
"That sounds like-"
"Your fashion sense is really interesting! That tracksuit looks like it's perfect for staying indoors!"
"Now hold on a moment-"
"I loved hearing about your reaction to the holy sword excalibur! It was super funny!"
This girl! I'm going to murder her when- Hang on, she stopped laughing and she's… fidgeting? And she's red again? What am I going to do with her?
"You little-"
"Also… Thanks for carrying me home for my daily explosions."
"O-oh. No problem."
Well this is new. I don't think I'm used to actual compliments from anyone other than Iris. Dammit, am I blushing?"
"Are you blushing, Kazuma? You're so easy-"
"Shut up! It's just that none of you idiots ever take the time to compliment me! Do you know what I had to deal with when I took you guys? I got slimed, arrested, almost raped, and killed! And that last one happened way too many times! Heck, I'd bet I'm in the double digits by now! So yeah, I'm easy, because none of you ever take the time out of your days to realize that you'd all be stuck or dead without me!"
Finally, they shut up.
"S-sorry Kazuma. You're right, I should thank you more. There's… one more thing I wanted to tell you."
Why the hell is she apologetic and fidgeting around now? Didn't I just berate her?"
"T-thank you. Thank you for accepting me into your party. In truth, when I said that I hadn't eaten in 3 days, that… wasn't exactly true. It had been a whole week since my last meal. Heck, I was even considering selling everything I have to get by."
Huh?
"You're right. By accepting me into your party, you gave me friends, a home, and the stupid, trashy, easy man I love."
Even when she's trying to compliment me…
"Heck, even by carrying me home after that first explosion, you were already kinder than most. But then, you let me join. Even though I kind of… took your options away from you, You still probably could've dropped me off whenever and I couldn't have done anything about it.
...It's starting to get hard for me to stay mad at her.
"And even if you got on my case about learning better, more useful magic, you always respected my wishes. Even when I wanted to learn advanced magic, you refused. You kept my passion alive, even to your own detriment. And in the end, you finally understood me completely, no? The spell you used to slay the devil king was explosion, right?"
"I-I guess so."
"So… for helping me get to where I am, and being my perverted, creepy, clever, caring, lover… Thank you."
Me and Darkness sat there, speechless.
"Well, I already expressed my gratitude to you, so there's no need for me to do it now."
It's always the damned useless goddess, huh.
"Hey, aren't you guys gonna say anything else? It's getting a little embarrassing… Kazu-mmph!"
Megumin's POV
He's actually taking initiative in front of other people? And he's not being a pervert? What world do I live in? Oh, he's blushing now and… so am I.
…
…
"Thank you, Megumin."
…
We broke apart after a few seconds.
"Now what about you 2?"
"Dammit! I already thanked you! Remember?"
"What about you, Darkness?"
"Megumin… Why?"
"I wanted to tell him the truth."
"But now…"
"Well, Darkness?"
"F-fine! Thank you for giving me a party to adventure with!"
"There we go. Eat up, guys!"
This pizza is amazing! Damn, I guess I should listen to Kazuma, at least for cooking.
"So? What do you think?"
"It's really good, Kazuma!"
"Yep! My cooking skill is pretty high, so naturally, it would be good!"
Kazuma and I looked over at Darkness who seemed to be enjoying it.
"What about you, Darkness? What do you think of my cooking?"
"I-it's not terrible…"
"Oh come on, Darkness! Admit that you like his cooking!"
"As a noble, I-I can't have this fried food too often, therefore, I should limit its consumption."
"For whose sake? You do realize that you've been turning down proposals left and right? You're probably the most sought-after woman in Belzerg!"
"Y-you know why I'm turning them down, right Megumin?"
"Hey, I know as well! And I've told you to get over me like a million times! Listen, I saw that look you had when I joked that I was starting a harem! What, you think I'm one of those dense MCs who won't realize how you feel? Because I'm not! And I'm telling you again, it was fine before we got into a real relationship, but now? I'm committed to Megumin! And you can stop hoping!"
"But-"
"No buts! Even if she dies and her body is destroyed, then I will personally go up to heaven with Aqua and demand that Megumin be revived for her services against the devil king! You hear me? You. Have. No. Chance."
"If she dies again-"
"She won't."
"Guys? You realize I'm still here?"
I can't believe that Kazuma said that. I would've thought that he'd keep on stringing Darkness along, if for nothing else, then having his "ideal body". Still, he was a little harsh, but I feel like… I don't know, that was necessary?
"Megumin! What do you think?"
"He has a point."
"Wha-"
"You should stop running after a man who's already in a relationship. Do you think that his girlfriend is gonna give you her blessing? Because I won't."
Annnd, she ran off.
"Did you really need to be that harsh with her? She was really focused on trying to pick out a birthday present for you earlier."
"And you just now told me?! You really are a useless goddess!"
"Ow! Stop pulling on my cheeks! Fine, fine, you win!"
Now Aqua's gone too. And it's just us.
"Hey, Megumin?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't we head to bed, now?"