Author's Note: Hey guys, this is a story idea that came to me while typing a comment on r/DanMachi, I wasn't gonna write it at first but I had an idea for the opening dialogue (which ended up being the second paragraph) and it all just kinda flowed naturally from there. This is gonna be Bell x Aiz and Bell x Haruhime. It's not gonna be polyamorous and the endgame is Bell x Haruhime but it'll come really naturally I promise and with no disrespect to Aiz, I wouldn't spend so much time developing their relationship and showing their love just for her to act out of character and break his heart or something haha. You guys will just have to wait and see what's gonna happen. If Bell and Haruhime is a dealbreaker don't worry, I also plan on writing a couple "alternate ending" chapters that have Bell and Aiz living happily ever after being the ending instead of the events/ending I have in mind. I plan on updating this pretty frequently and the current plan is for around 5 - 6 chapters at least, the alternate ending chapters and eventually to come back and do some one-shots and maybe a whole new storyline set in this particular story's universe.

That all being said, this is my first piece of creative writing I've done outside of when I was in school (so the first thing I've really cared about lol) and the first fanfic I've ever written. Let me know what you guys think, good or bad, in the reviews and hopefully I'll be back here with another chapter for you really soon.

Help Editing by u/MeguZuma12 on Reddit

(7/30/2020) Small Update: I realized Aiz has been "drunk" before but she's only ever been inebriated from taking a single sip or 2 so I changed the part that mentions her being drunk for the first time to say "truly blackout drunk" for the first time, implying this time she was slamming down pints instead of just taking a sip of wine and getting messed up. Also, chapter 2 is almost done it's taking longer than expected because it's turning out to be over double the length of this chapter so you guys will have a lot more to read this time.

Chapter 1: The Harvest Dance

"Aw, come on, Bell, quit takin' so damn long! I need to get ready too ya' know!" Welf shouts at me from outside the bathroom door, I choose to ignore him. Everything needs to be perfect for today. I finally built up the courage to ask Aiz out and I want to look the best I possibly can for her.

It all happened so fast, well relatively speaking, it's been over 7 months since I hit level 4. Not long after that though, I had hit level 5, then level 6, and then finally level 7. I had met and then even surpassed Aiz finally, and yet I still didn't have the courage to ask her out. That all changed when we slew Balor, the Monster Rex of the 49th floor, alone together.

Aiz and I are widely known as some of the fastest and most capable adventurers in Orario. Given that fact, we were specially selected to scout ahead for one of the biggest expeditions ever planned. They wanted to make sure there were no more abnormalities like the Moss Huge waiting for us in the lower levels and so a small group of very fast adventurers would be perfect.

We could escape easily if any dangers like that presented themselves, and that would prove crucial they felt. While running, avoiding, and slaying monsters left and right we got caught up in a discussion about the One Eyed Black Dragon, and how to possibly defeat it. Without even realizing it, we had stopped counting which floor we were on.

We had a rude awakening when the entire dungeon around us began to crumble, but after a long and hard battle we had managed to kill it by the skin of our teeth through working together. Well, that and a little help from my Argonaut skill. I almost went completely mind-down after the battle, but Aiz managed to pull most of the weight and get us back to the middle floors for some much needed sleep.

After we got out of the dungeon, she ran to me the very next day with the most genuine look of pure joy on her face I had ever seen. She gave me a bone-crushing hug and nestled her head in between my shoulder and my neck, then she announced to me that she had finally reached level 7. I felt special being the first to know and the feeling of her soft body pressed against mine so snugly made my heart pound and my face turn beet red. Any chances I had of being able to think clearly vanished when she said to me "I did it, all thanks to you Bell-kun!"

I felt like I had just won the lottery at that moment, she had called me Bell-kun! I took her out to the Benevolent Mistress for drinks that night to celebrate and she got truly blackout drunk for the first time in her life. Seeing the usually graceful-as-a-swan Kenki cutely stumbling around and slurring her words was an experience that caused cognitive dissonance.

But seeing her cheeks tinted red from the drink and her truly opening up for the first time made my heart nearly jump out of my chest. I should have made my move right then and there, well not really because it'd be dishonorable to ask her out while she was drunk, but I missed my opportunity and after that I didn't see her again for 3 days.

Apparently Loki was pissed when her Kenki disappeared immediately after being told she had levelled up, and was especially angry upon finding her passed out with a hangover on the couch that morning. I would have given my right arm willingly to see her face to tell the truth, though from what I heard from Tiona and Tione… Loki was mostly angry that Aiz' first real drinking experience beyond just a few sips was cheap ale at a bar with someone from another Familia rather than fine Soma with her in private.

When I saw her again after that she was back to her usual self, albeit her gaze looked more lively, she smiled much more frequently, and she had an overall happier air about her while we were talking. And her calling me Bell-kun stuck around too! I felt like I was on top of the world, like everything I had ever dreamed of was right in front of me and all I had to do was reach out and take it. And so I did.

It had been roughly 10 months since Aiz, the Goddess, and my visit to Edas village, which meant that the harvest festival should be happening again in the next few days.

I'd already asked my Goddess for permission to go. This was a perfect opportunity, one I wouldn't let slip through my grasp. Without thinking twice, I asked Aiz if she'd like to come with me and reminded her of the promise I had made to take her back there someday. I was scared that she was going to say no…

But that all evaporated and was replaced with pure euphoria when her face broke out into an unusually huge and happy smile and she answered, "Of course!"

Aiz had been giddily rehearsing what she would say in her head all day, she knew Bell was going to ask her to dance tonight and she was the happiest she had ever been. A feeling she hadn't understood at first had been growing in her heart ever since she found him passed out in the dungeon and let him recover in her lap.

After many months of slow buildup and confusion she had finally recognized that feeling not long ago. Although it took the help of Tiona, Tione, Riveria, and Finn for her to realize what it was, it was love. Bell made her feel a way that she never had in her entire life, she wanted to do anything she could to protect him.

She wanted to be able to hold him close to her the way she had when she levelled up to 7 every single day for the rest of her life. She had long suspected that Bell had feelings for her, well she had ever since every single person in her familia had told her that he did. when he had asked her to come to the festival with her, her heart had skipped a beat, This could mean only one thing.

Bell intended to ask her to dance and that would mean that they would become lovers, she would get to finally be with her rabbit. She felt so excited, like a little girl reading tales of brave adventurers and noble heroes. Her heart beat thunderously in her chest and a red blush overtook her cheeks as she looked into the mirror, Aiz imagined Bell asking her to dance and, giggling with excitement, mouthed to herself, "Yes, my prince."

It was a little cheesy she knew, but she didn't care. She wanted Bell to know exactly how she felt and Tiona said that would do it for sure. Not to mention the look on Bell's face after she said it would make it all worth it.

Aiz and I had shown up in town early in the afternoon, Mayor Lina greeted us with a warm smile and open arms and told us how happy she was to see us in town for the festival. With a knowing look she had glanced at me and asked, "Are you two excited for the festival? And for the dance?"

Before I could even open my mouth, Aiz had happily replied with a cheerful smile and a yes. Thinking back on it now made my heart thunder in my chest in eager anticipation, was this really happening? Surely I must be dreaming? But no, this is real, I'm really here and Aiz is really here with me.

Well, at the moment we aren't together. I gave her some time to get ready for tonight and went off on my own towards the town square to find a very special place I had heard about. After walking down a few very short streets, I come to my destination. Before me stands a large statue, it depicts an old man supported by a cane with multiple children playing around him by his feet.

He wears a kindly smile and looks upwards towards Heaven, a golden shield adorned with an emblem stands out on the statue's chest, the emblem of the Brigid Familia. This is a statue honoring the previous mayor of the town, Lina's adopted father Caam. He took my Goddess, Aiz, and I in and gave us food, shelter, and a place to stay all those months ago.

He was a great man and, from what I've heard, an even greater father to Lina and many of the other orphans from the village. I kneel down before the statue and begin to pray a silent prayer. I pray to Heaven above that Brigid had found Caam's soul and that they were living happily together for eternity.

I pray that I would have a love like that, and I pray that I can be as great a man as Caam was in life and that people will someday look up to me and love me the same way that they did him. After my prayer, I get up and walk back down the street I came from. The sun is starting to set and that means it's almost time for the festival to start.

Remembering Bell's compliment the last time they had come here, Aiz requested the same outfit she had been given before. She tied the white and red bandanna around her hair, slipped on the red skirt, pulled on the white blouse, secured it in place with a red bow, and finally, she fastened the gold buttons on the black vest.

She barely has a moment to even look herself over in the mirror before she hears a knock at the door of the room she was staying in. She walks over and opens the door to find Bell waiting for her on the other side. He looks her up and down with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Aiz timidly asks him, "How- how do I look?"

"You look amazing." The boy replies to her, awestruck.

Her heart warmed, Aiz gives him a genuine smile and says, "You look very good as well."

After a quick thank you and one last stolen glance at her, Bell takes her hand and leads her out of the building and into the night.

"Now that our guests of honor have arrived, we can begin tonight's festivities!" Mayor Lina says aloud. Wow, guests of honor, I think to myself, it feels like we've done nothing to deserve that but it makes me happy nonetheless. With that proclamation, a huge fire erupts in the middle of the square setting the carefully constructed pyre ablaze.

The festival is finally starting, that makes me very excited, and very very nervous. Aiz and I hang around the outskirts of the festival, eating food and talking with the locals. She has a very nervous air about her too which makes me wonder. Does she know what I'm planning? Does she want me to do it?

Just the thought of her being as eager for me to ask her as I am about asking is enough to lift my mood to an all new level. Finally, a voice rings out over the crowd, "It's time for the Harvest Dance everyone!" Cheers ring out and people begin to search for partners and ask them to dance left and right. Soon enough, almost everyone attending is dancing.

Aiz and I watch them from a distance, a very tense, nervous air about us. Come on Bell, I say to myself, now is not the time to chicken out, what would Grampa think if you came all this way just to back down now?

"Aiz."

She tilts her head, closes her big golden eyes, smiles, and replies with a very sweet "Yes?"

She looks more like a Goddess here, bathed in the soft glow of the fire, than she ever has. Freya has nothing on her, just seeing her look so radiant is enough to make my entire face turn red and make me stumble over my words, "Um, Aiz, ah, Kenki, no, ah." Come on, Bell, Get it together, "Would- would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Sword Princess?"

How perfect! Aiz thinks to herself, he used my title! It makes what I'm about to say so much better! Her face turns a deep red and her heart pounds against her chest, hard enough it seems like it's going to break through her ribs, fighting back every nerve in her body she responds quietly and timidly with, "Yes, my prince."

She was 100% right, the look on his face made it worth it.

Did- did I just hear her right!? My prince, she called me! At her words, my jaw drops, my face turns as red as a tomato, and my heart begins to beat so hard I'm sure she can hear it even over the sounds of the festivities. Was I right? Does she really actually like me that way? Surely she has to, there's no other explanation for what I just heard come out of her lips.

This is the best thing to happen to me since becoming an adventurer, no, this is the best thing to ever happen to me in my entire life to this point! Forcing my jaw closed, I grab her soft outreached hand and pull her, maybe a little too hard, to the middle of where everyone is dancing.

The words of Lord Takemikazuchi's voice echo in my head, "Look at each other, discern each other's movements with your feet and communicate with your eyes. No techniques are necessary, only advance and retreat." We look each other directly in the eyes, both sharing bright but timid smiles, and begin dancing. There is no stumbling around this time.

We easily fall into step with one another, gliding gracefully from side to side, front to back, letting each other's bodies grow closer and closer as we move in unison with the other couples on the dance floor. Before we even know it, the song that was playing is over and people are beginning to break apart, our bodies still pressed together.

Without pulling away, Aiz looks towards the musicians and says "Aw, is it over already?" Seeing my opportunity slipping through my fingers right in front of me I make one last desperate play, I reach out to her with my hand letting my fingers brush her cheek lightly and guide her face back towards me. Her eyes widen in a shocked but not unwelcoming way.

I say "Aiz.." before deciding to let my body do all of the talking, I pull her face closer to mine, and bend down slightly, locking my lips with hers. She doesn't break away, in fact she leans into it and deepens the kiss, her delicate arms wrapping around me and pulling me even closer.

It only lasts a few seconds but it feels like hours, the best hours of my entire life thus far. "I love you Aiz Wallenstein." I say, "And I love you, Bell Cranel." she says back to me, before pulling me right back in for another deep kiss. After we break apart, I take her hand and lead her away from the village to a small clearing with a bench overlooking a lake.

It's the same spot my Goddess had taken me after Caam-san's death. We spend a while sitting together on that bench, fingers interlocked with one another's and her head resting peacefully on my shoulder. Eventually, Aiz falls asleep on me. I shift my weight out from under her, careful to not wake her up, and pick her up into my arms.

I lay her down on the soft grass and take up a spot beside her. She's so peaceful when she sleeps that it's hard to believe this is The Kenki, no, My Kenki, My Sword Princess. What a crazy and wonderful thought that is. I plant one last soft kiss on her lips before laying back and gently placing her head on my chest and both of my arms around her.

This truly is the best day of my life, I think to myself as I drift off to sleep.

Up Next: Hestia's dirty little secret, a picnic in the most unexpected place, Aiz' story, and more in Chapter 2: Dungeon Date