Chapter 20: Asta

Asta paced in the kitchen of the house. Nacht, Vanessa, Gauche, Marie and Secre were all there with him, as Liebe was going to visit for the first time. It was the middle of his Winter Break from school, so Nacht thought it was the best time to have Liebe visit. Liebe would be bringing his foster mom Lolopeckha too. They would only be here for an hour, which was how long Vanessa thought Asta could handle spending time with his older brother.

Okay, okay, calm down. I have an older brother. Please, Gauche, try not to threaten him. Oh, God, oh God, I don't think I can do this. His mind was racing with all the wrong panicky thoughts. Asta stopped pacing and hopped up and down in place to get rid of his nervous energy.

"Asta, it's going to be okay," said Marie, jumping out of her seat to hold his hand and sound way wiser than her age. "I'm sure that Liebe is super nice because he's your brother and you're super nice so it means that Liebe will be a good person too! He's probably just as nervous as you."

"Marie, you're so sweet," Gauche said, picking Marie up and squeezing her in a hug.

"Brother!" Marie protested.

Asta cracked a smile and signed to everyone, "Thank you"

And then, the doorbell rang and Asta jumped. Gauche and Marie guided Asta to the seat where Vanessa had gotten some pastries from the local bakery (fancy stuff that Vanessa didn't get often) and Gauche made tea. Marie hugged Asta, while Gauche patted Asta on the shoulder. Moments later, Vanessa led Liebe into the kitchen. Asta already spotted Nacht speaking to some soft-spoken woman in the living room, where Gauche and Marie quickly fled.

"You boys have a good visit, we'll be right in the living room," said Vanessa, winking. She left them alone.

Liebe stood in the kitchen, staring at Asta, for a few seconds before taking a seat across from Asta. "Hi."

Asta waved.

Scratching the back of his head, Liebe said, "First, I wanna apologize for just showing up and freaking you out. I was just really excited to finally find you. I'm sorry."

Asta began to sign that it wasn't a problem but remembered that Liebe probably didn't know sign language. Thankfully, Vanessa left him his tablet, so he was able to type out his response. "It's really no big deal. Anything can set off a panic attack. It was a big surprise."

Liebe cracked an awkward smile. "Okay, fresh start then?"

Asta nodded.

Liebe continued, "So, what should we do? Trade life stories?"

Asta typed out one of the topics that Vanessa had prepared with Asta last night. "Do you like basketball? Or sports?"

"I play football," said Liebe. "Let me guess, you like basketball! That pans out. Your school is like one of the best basketball teams in the four Suit nations. The Heart Guardians do give your team a run for their money."

Asta grinned, and typed, "The Guardians are pretty good, but the Clover Knights are way better. Football huh? Do you play in high school?"

"Yeah, I'm a goalie," said Liebe, grinning. "I'm playing in college."

Sports, I can talk about sports. This will be easy. Asta thought as he typed his response to Liebe.

The hour visit went by in an instant once they started really talking about college-level sports and Asta learned that Liebe had a good grasp of statistics and strategies, similar to Asta. Nacht and Vanessa gave them five more minutes to say goodbye and trade contact information.

"We're going back to Heart in a few days," said Liebe, "but I'm going to university in Clover in the fall."

Asta nodded happily and typed out, "That's awesome. Congrats. You got on the football team at Clover University?"

"Yep," said Liebe. "Anyway, I'll see you around. Tell your boyfriend not to hate me, alright?"

Asta raised an eyebrow. He typed, "What boyfriend?"

"The tall, handsome guy with you at the festival? He looked like he wanted to deck me if I didn't back off," said Liebe, amused. "Well, I thought you were on a date."

Asta shook his head frantically and his face felt warm.

Liebe snorted. "Alright, if you think. But if you asked him out, he'd definitely say yes. Good luck with that."

Asta glared.

His older brother laughed. "You're the least intimidating person ever. But seriously, good luck."

"Liebe! Time to go, sweetie!" Lolopeckha called.

"Alright, Mom," said Liebe, yelling back. To Asta, he said, "Later."

Asta waved.

"Well, that was a good visit," said Vanessa, combing Asta's hair, as they sat in the living room. Nacht and Secre left already. Gauche went to tuck Marie in for bedtime.

Asta nodded.

"It's very good," said Vanessa. "I'm glad that we found out a bit about your biological family. I know you were always curious but you never wanted to go down that path, in fear that they didn't want you. But they did! It's so tragic, baby, but you were so loved. And now you have another brother!"

Asta leaned back and let Vanessa hug him. He sighed.

"And Liebe already figured out that you and Yuno have crushes on each other, so that means it's time to try to ask him out," said Vanessa, teasingly.

"No," Asta signed.

"That boy is smitten with you," said Vanessa, kissing him on the top of the head. "And there is a big game coming up. You should ask him out before or after."

Asta grumbled. She was so pushy sometimes. He was not going to ask Yuno out. Definitely not. That was an embarrassment that he couldn't take when Yuno rejected him. He didn't want to lose his friend.

But then again, it'd be nice to go on dates with Yuno, wouldn't it?

"Dropping it, dropping it," said Vanessa. "By the way, you need to take a shower."

Asta stood up and gapped at Vanessa.

She giggled.

~to be continued