Disclaimer: I do not own DanMachi or any of Omori's original characters, nor do I make any profit off of my writing.

"Mrow."

Bell's eyes remained resolutely shut, the adventurer never having been one to back down from adversity. This cat would be no different. All he needed to do was pretend he was still asleep. Garbanzo Bean would finally stop screaming at him. She'd leave his tent. She'd find Aiz. All would be well.

"MROW."

Bell's chest rose and fell with feigned restful breaths.

A paw lifted from his chest and Bell allowed himself the briefest moment to simply hope. Hope that the cat would finally leave him be after what had to be a half an hour of constant meowing and kneading of his stomach.

Then, the paw landed on his face, just to the side of his mouth. Her pads dug into the skin of his cheek, pushing the flesh up and away, and baring some of his teeth to the cat.

Still, he refused to wake.

"Mew."

Nope. Not going to happen. If he didn't look in her eyes, she could never hope to weaken his resolve.

"Meeew."

Sorry, darling.

Another paw lifted from his chest and landed on his other cheek where Bean quickly set to work kneading his face as a whole, pushing his cheeks up and down repeatedly. When he didn't move, Bean returned to her earlier practice of simply screaming.

"MRROOOOWWW!"

If he wasn't fairly certain she could find her way back to him no matter what, he'd consider abandoning her.

(Not really, but it was a nice thought.)

"Bell-sama?" He wasn't going to fall for it. He knew someway, somehow, Bean had taken control of Lili's mind and speaking through her mouth; he wasn't to fall for that little trick. "Bell-sama." Her voice was more urgent this time, more desperate. Obviously, Bean did not appreciate his silence and was obviously growing frustrated through her pallum host. Obviously.

"If Bell-sama does not feed the cat, Lili will have no choice but to kick him and the cat out of the tent."

Fine.

The white-haired boy groaned as he rolled himself up into a seated position, one of his arms extending upward and cupping beneath Bean to catch her as she lunged. He sighed. "What do you want to eat, Bean?"

"Mew."

He sighed again, deep and resigned.

Bean hopped down to the ground, choosing to walk on her own four legs than be carried, the strong, independent cat she was. Still, even as she moved with feline grace, her eyes never left Bell's face, and her mouth never stopped moving.

"Mrow."

"Mrow!"

"MROW."

".. mrow."

"Mreow."

"Mrow?"

"Mro- "

Bell wanted to cry and honestly? He might.

He stumbled tiredly through the campsite, wondering just what cruel god stuck him with a cat that somehow managed to wake up before him. What had he done wrong to deserve such a horrible fate?

The campfire from last night's dinner still smoldered beneath the dirt kicked over top, proving just how little time had passed since they had turned in for the night.

How was this cat always hungry? He swore she had a stomach bug or something. She was eating for two.

Oh gods, she wasn't pregnant, right? Surely not. She was still a kitten. Hopefully.

Probably.

He honestly didn't know.

She was small? Small means young, right? Then again, Finn was small despite being far older than Bell, maybe she was a pallum cat? Was that a thing? Do cats have different races?

"Mew."

Maybe she's actually like.. really, really old and that's why she was so mysterious. Or maybe she was secretly a god in disguise. Bell remembered hearing stories that one sect of gods in Tenkai frequently took on more feline appearances. In fact, those gods were responsible for the creation of the race of cat people, or so the legend goes.

Could Garbanzo Bean secretly be one of them?

Or was she really just a young cat and he was thinking way too far into it?

"Mew."

Perhaps that was it, he was just being way too imaginative and there was nothing supernatural going on.

Then again, it was Bean. So who knows really.

Regardless, it didn't change the fact that she was a nuisance when she was hungry.

"Mew."

See? Even she agrees.

Bell peered around the clearing, blinking rapidly as he tried to see through the night air. What exactly was he supposed to feed her in the dungeon? Aiz had been giving her some of the stew last night but he didn't see any more around and he doubted he should raid the Loki familia's food stores without permission.

He sighed and placed his hands on his hips before turning to the direction he vaguely remembered had a river.

Fishing.

At four in the morning.

Joy.

He sighed again, much deeper and far more resigned.

"Come on, Bean, let's get you some food."

This better not become a regular thing.

Knowing his luck, it would.

The eighteenth floor was still quiet as the crystals sparkled faintly overhead, small gleaming lights shining down over the dark forests. It did little to actually illuminate anything, but it sure did look pretty.

On the bright side (pun intended), Hestia's blessing granted him some degree of enhanced vision. On the not-so-bright side-

"Umph- !"

-roots were still very difficult to make out.

"Mew."

Bell sighed. Again.

If he was going to be wandering a dark, monster-filled forest on the eighteenth floor to feed his best friend/girlfriend/fiance's cat, then he may as well strike up a conversation. It might help to pass the time, who knows.

"Oh, you poor thing."

"Mew."

"That must have been really hard for you."

"Mew."

"Oh, darling."

"Mewmewmew!"

Bell nodded sagely, Bean really had it rough.

The white-haired boy glanced down at the kitten as a low rumbling erupted from her chest. He stumbled slightly as Bean curved left and cut in front of him, brushing lightly across his ankles.

Adorable.

Perhaps he could get used to this.

When Aiz woke up, she was reasonably upset to find Bell was (once again) nowhere to be found. The only thing that stopped her from organizing a familia-wide search (again) was the fact that Garbanzo Bean was gone too.

Aiz glared scornfully at Bell's tent.

"Thou better wishest thou art unharmed, BellCranel."

Else he face the fully fury of a woman scorned.

Aiz stalked off into the woods without further fanfare, not even bothering to notify her familia on where she was headed. She was going to be the one who found the idiot of a novice adventurer who thought he'd be alright to wander the eighteenth floor on his own. Just because it's a 'safe zone' doesn't mean it's a safe zone.

Oddly enough, the first hint of Bell's location came in the distant echoes of a man reduced to tears.

There were two reasons Aiz could think of that her intended would be crying for, the first being that he was seriously and gravely injured. The other was everything aside from that.

The boy cried a lot. It didn't really have to mean anything for him to be crying again.

With two whispered words, Aiz took off with a gust of wind, sweeping and twisting her way through the trees that dotted the forest floors with the same ease as the gale that surrounded her.

"Bell?"

She stood behind his back, not having a clear view of his face.

He didn't look to be injured at the very least. Bean's unpanicked state seemed to suggest the same, even if she was rather.. Vocal. Why was she screaming at the boy?

There was a makeshift fishing pole extending from Bell's hands and- oh. That is hilarious.

"Garbanzo Bean's hunger ist insatiable, ne?"

"She's eaten eleven fish, Aiz. Eleven."

The swordswoman let out a quiet giggle into her palm as closer the distance between her and them. She settled down on her knees beside the grassy bank, easily scooping the bloated kitten up from the ground and settling her upside down in her lap. One of Aiz's fingers wiggled over the kitten's head and Bean made a few lethargic swipes at it before sinking into a deep hibernation.

"Sleep well, little warrioress."

Bells shoulders slumped as he stared down at the snoring kitten, a single word slipping from his lips as he held back a few sobs.

".. how.. ?"

He'd been listening to her scream at him for hours. Hours. She hadn't shut up. He had tried, (by the gods he had tried) to keep their conversation going smoothly. Honest! It was hard, so hard, to speak back and forth with somebody who, for all intents and purposes, couldn't actually respond.

At some point, it had devolved to her meowing and Bell meowing back.

And then her meows turned to screams and Bell's turned to sobs.

How can she eat so much?

Why won't she stop yelling at me?

Why does she randomly start purring and butting her head against my arm just to bite me?

Does she hate me?

What did I do to deserve this?

Aiz pat him on the head a few times in empathy. "Thou are not the leader of thy pride."

Bell blinked over at the girl through his tears. "Huh?" What was she saying about his pride now?

"Garbanzo Bean hast no respect for thee; thou must win it."

Okay. Ouch. What the hell? He didn't have a kitten's respect? How hard was that even to get? It felt like it shouldn't be that bad. He'd seen the little weasel face plant because she got distracted by a butterfly, it wasn't like she was the peak of ferocity. If he were being honest, he was fairly certain the only reason Bean made it down to this floor was because even the monsters can recognize how wrong it would be to hurt her. She's simply too cute.

As if hearing his dissenting thoughts, his protector cracked a singular eye open and regarding him through its feline pupil. He couldn't help but feel slightly offended when she rolled (actually rolled!) her eye at him before returning to her nap.

Did she just dismiss him entirely?

Gods, why did it feel like the cat was the protagonist here? If anything, Bell would have thought this was Aiz's story seeing how amazing she is. She'd just come out of nowhere and taken over his life.

Oh.

Oh.

So that's what Aiz meant. He was a pushover.

"Keep thy heart firm, do not lose thy convictions. Lady Garbanzo ist a fair maiden, she doest not giveth out her trust easily."

Was it just him or was she talking about a cat still? It wasn't, right? They were both talking about the same cat here? He got that she was an incredibly capable cat, but she was a cat. He wasn't really sure how much he truly bought into this whole 'respect' thing, trust definitely, but respect? Cats were cats. They typically just did what cats can do. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Do not be disheartened, she shall learneth to love thee soon enough. Just as I have."

Bell blinked, storing away that little bit of knowledge for safekeeping. He'd be recalling it just about every chance he got. It was hard to be disheartened when she said things like that. Seriously, he wasn't that big of a fan of sweet foods before but he was fairly certain that they'd never measure up now. Just as I have? Yeah. That was just about the cutest thing he'd ever heard. How could one person be so sweet?

With a beaming smile, Bell turned back toward the river. It'd be a good idea to prepare some extra fish just in case. He didn't want any more early-morning feeding sessions after today.

Bell sent out the line and waited for no more than two seconds before tossing the pole in to. Yeah. There was no way he was spending any more time fishing today. Bean could hunt for herself.

Truth be told he had a much, much better way to pass the time.

"Hey, Aiz?"

The girl turned away from where she was scanning the trees, only a furrow of the brow in response to his question.

Bell nodded in the direction of the water with a sly, little grin. "Wanna go swimming."

The reaction was immediate. Bell didn't even have time to blink before Aiz had launched herself back into the tree line, her back pressed against the nearest and sturdiest one.

Bell blinked. "Uhh.. Aiz?"

"No matter mine affections for thee, thy willst not forceth me into the water. Never, Bell, never."

The boy glanced at the water then back at the girl. Aiz immediately pressed herself back against the tree, shaking her head back and forth with the most minute of movements. The tree behind her creaked under the strain, the centuries of growth not being near enough to hold strong against the might of a level six.

Just to be sure, he pointed toward the river. "None of.. ?" Aiz tensed up and Bell nodded, more than a little confused but willing to roll with it.

That is certainly new information.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder. Why?

So, he asked her.

"All water leadeth to the Great Falls."

And he was right back to square one on the whole 'confusion' front. What on Gekai did that mean? Great Falls? And how did he even know it was capitalized? It was definitely a place, right? And how did all water lead there? That was a bit of a stretch, wasn't it? Like if he walked up to a pond right now, that pond would lead to the Great Falls? It just didn't seem likely. Did this have anything to do with her whole speech on 'wherefore wouldst a person approach water willing?'back when they were making junket?

Still, he didn't want to say anything that might seem like he was making fun of the girl. She obviously wasn't faking her fear, her expression was too raw for anything like that. The glazed look in her eyes, the slight tremble to her knees, the whimpered, shuddery breaths she drew in and out.

".. and.. uhh.. what happens at the Great Falls?"

Well, he finally forced a reaction out of her that wasn't petrification!

He just really wished she didn't have to look at him like he was the biggest idiot she'd ever met.

"What doth thou mean, 'what happens at the Great Falls?' Thou shalt fall! It ist in the name, Bell Cranel!"

That's fair. That one was on him. He wasn't afraid to own up to it. That was his bad.

"And just out of curiosity.. how far does one fall there?"

"'How far does one- !?'" Aiz cut herself off before she said anything she would regret and instead balked at the boy. The sheer stupidity in that one, singular question was just overwhelming her. How far does one fall there!? They're the Great Falls! You fall! Greatly! How hard was that for him to understand? Better yet, how did he not know any of this? It was common knowledge! "Bell Cranel did thy grandfather teacheth thee nothing? Ist thy foolishness contagious and derived from thy ancestors? Wast the sir yond careless with thy safety? Wherefore wouldst he not teacheth thee such things? What if thou hadst fallen into the water— "

I would have swam? It really didn't seem like something he needed to get all that worked up about. If he fell into the water, he would just have swum to shore.

" —wouldst he simply leaveth thee to thy fate? To beest swepeth hence with the current to the w'rld's edge? To thy doom and torment?"

Bell tried his best to wrap his mind around that, he really did. It was just- it was just crazy. Right? That was crazy, wasn't it? None of that made sense, it wasn't just him, right? He wasn't being stupid? Because it felt like Aiz just said if he fell into the water he'd follow the river downstream and fall off the edge of the world.

Which is ridiculous. It was laughable. The world's edge? The world doesn't have an edge. It was round, of that he was certain. To say it had an edge would be as misguided as like.. saying an object fell to the ground because some invisible force derived from the significant mass of the world atop which they stood caused it to. It was gibberish. It was like saying the sun didn't revolve around them as if they couldn't see it do that exact thing every day and night. They saw the sun rise in the east and set in the west, they saw it every day, it very clearly circled around them.

But an edge? An edge?

Preposterous.

"Aiz? You don't think the world is flat, do you?"

The girl furrowed her brow in consternation as she stared down at the boy. He could take silent joy in the fact that she was no longer pressing herself into the tree, but he was a little too worried about her answer to even care. "Wherefore doest thou speaketh as if't not beest true?"

Bell blinked.

Aiz blinked.

Bell blinked again.

Aiz, never one to back down from a challenge, blinked again.

Then, in the softest voice he could manage, Bell spoke. "Aiz, the world is round."

His fiance frowned in worry. "Art thou alright? Shalt I taketh thee to see Riveria? I fear thee ist still suffering from thy injury. Thou art speaking lunacy. How doest thy head feel, art thou in pain?" Nodding to herself, Aiz determinedly stalked forward. So set in her mission to help Bell and make sure he wasn't suffering needlessly that she hardly even acknowledged the rushing water beside him. "Come now, love. I shall carry thee, rest thy body and mind."

He tried again. "Aiz, the world is round."

She merely shook her head sadly as she kneeled down in the sandy bank before him. She took special care in brushing a few of his bangs to the side so she could inspect his bandages. Luckily, he wasn't bleeding through them, but that could mean little when it comes to injuries like this. It was better to be safe. "Thou art not well of mind, Bell. Be at peace, I shall help thee."

Gently, Aiz moved her hands to curl beneath Garbanzo Bean's slumbering form and deposited her in Bell's lap before he too was plucked from the ground. Aiz held the younger boy closer to her chest and laid a tender kiss on his forehead as she walked back into the woods.

He tried to protest. "Aiz, I- "

"Hush, brave one. Rest."

He didn't want to. He didn't. He wasn't even tired, he swears. Plus, he still had to make sure Aiz understood that the earth was round. But..

.. but Aiz was humming in that soft voice of hers and her body was warm and it wasn't that big of a deal if she thought the world was flat. Right? There wouldn't be any immediate consequences if he just listened to the woman he loved and slipped away for a bit? Bean had robbed him of several precious hours of sleep this morning. It would only be right.

Yeah. It was perfectly reasonable.

He murmured out a sleepy 'm'kay' before nuzzling deeper into Aiz's neck, not noticing the burning blush on her cheeks nor her beaming smile.

Bonus:

"What doest thou mean 'he is perfectly healthy?' He wast babbling nonsense not ten minutes ago!"

Riveria blinked at her surrogate daughter before simply shrugging. "I mean that he is perfectly healthy, I can't find anything wrong with him. What kind of nonsense was he babbling?"

Slumping in relief, Aiz waved off the question and moved to collect the boy. "Just some foolish notion yond the world wast flat."

"I beg your pardon?"

Aiz nodded emphatically. "I knoweth, right? Lunacy!"

"No, that's— "

—that's not what she meant.

Kami, had she never taught Aiz that the world was round? What else had she failed to teach this child?

Bonus bonus:

"So that's how she managed to get past it."

Bell had been wondering about that. How does a kitten bypass a floor boss? It wasn't as if Goliath wasn't there, he'd damn well ensured the monster rex was already outside of the Great Wall of Lamentation when he ran past. It stood to reason that Bean had to have gotten past somehow.

Honestly, he had half expected her to have just walked on past. There isn't really a precedent for how monsters interact with animals in the dungeon. They were rather vicious predators on the surface so it wasn't exactly hard to think the same would be true in the dungeon, but then again monsters had pantries within the caverns, they didn't really need to hunt.

It was a real grey area.

Even seeing the answer in front of him now, the area was no less grey.

Beside him, Aiz and a few other random adventures from Rivira nodded dumbly. The Sword Princess had all but insisted she stay behind with the Hestia familia to ensure their safe return. Garbanzo Bean had seemed mildly taken aback by her mother's lack of faith but ultimately melted into the swordswoman's soft pets.

Then there was that whole fiasco with Hestia being kidnapped which was admittedly annoying. Aiz had just wanted to play with her kitten.

And now this.

What was this, some people might ask. Honestly, Aiz wasn't really sure how to describe it.

On one hand, it was her brave little warrioress showing off just how capable she was as a defender.

On the other hand, it was a Black Goliath petting a kitten a billionth of its size. Yeah. She was more than a little lost. She had experience with the black variant of monsters all the way back when she was still level one. The things were vicious and powerful. Seeing her baby so close to something like that pained her more than she could ever describe. She was so worried! She knew Garbanzo Bean could handle herself, she knew that, but that doesn't stop the dread from pooling in her gut! It was a mother's job to worry!

"Do we just leave it there or.. ?"

That was another thing they needed to worry about. What would happen if the kitten left? Sure, right now she was batting playfully at the titan's massive finger, her little claws barely even scoring the beast's flesh. But what would happen when she has to return home?

Aiz was under no impression that the monster was by any means 'good.' Sure, it wasn't attacking her Bean, but that meant little in the end. Her kitten's cuteness was something that transcended the hostility between man and monster, but that did not mean a monster was 'good' for not hurting her. Attacking Bean would be tantamount to slapping a baby. Not even monsters hurt their young. To say somebody or something was a good person because they didn't slap a baby is far too low of a bar for judgement. So, no. The Black Goliath was not to be trusted.

Aiz sighed.

She really hated having to hurt Bean's playmate, but it needed to be done.

I hopeth thee wouldst forgiveth me for mine crimes, little warrioress.

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