Homecoming
"So, have you been to Miss Vallière's estate before Saito?" Asked Siesta who was sitting next to me in the carriage. Louise and her evil sister, Eleonore, were in the carriage behind us. We were riding towards Louise's family's estate. I was not looking forward to it.
"I can't say I have been." Not a lie, but not the whole truth. I have been there, quite a few times actually, but I couldn't say that.
Than Siesta did her best Kirche impression and grabbed onto my arm and tried to glue it to her body through sheer force of will.
"S-Siesta? Y-your-"
"But Saito has been so mean to me." She said in mock sadness.
"W-what? How so?" I ask her, scared out of my mind.
"I've been sitting right next to you but you haven't made a move yet."
Before I can explain why I haven't been trying to get in Siesta's skirt, the roof explodes.
"Ahhh!" Siesta screams.
"Siesta, if you don't want to die, than you might want to detach yourself from my arm right now!"
She grabs my arm even harder.
"I don't know what's going on but my heart is pure!" I almost laugh. She calls herself pure by trying to force me onto her and reading those accursed novels? I respond by doing my best to push her away. She refuses to let go, so I try harder. Before the entire carriage can explode, it stops and the driver opens the door.
"Are we here?" I ask desperately.
"Yes. Welcome To the Vallière estate."
*Scene Break*
After finally getting Siesta off of my arm, and Louise learning not to ask Eleonore about her engagement, we went to the dining hall for some dinner. Karin, Louise's mom who was just as terrifying and serious as ever, sat at the head of the table. Eleonore sat across from Louise, and I sat next to her.
"Louise!" Came a friendly voice. Louise turned towards the voice and her face lit up.
"Cattleya!" Louise ran towards her sister and gave her a big hug.
"Oh my little Louise! No, I can't call you that. You're not little anymore!"
I always liked Cattleya. She was pretty much what the ideal Louise would be. Cattleya was kind, caring, beautiful, helpful, and loved animals. She always does her best to help her little sister out. However, she had a rather deathly illness which kept her from leaving the mansion for fear of her health. Then she noticed me.
"Oh! You must be Louise's lover!" She says.
I spit out the soup I was trying, and Louise blushed.
"H-he's not my lover! He's my familiar! He's only my familiar!" Louise cried in anger and embarrassment.
Cattleya smiled at Louise's reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. Please forgive me."
Eleonore was done beating around the bush. "Stop this idle chit chat. Mother, Please tell Louise how stupid she is for wanting to go fight in the war!"
"How am I stupid for wanting to support the royal family?" Louise asked angrily.
"Enough. We will discuss this when your father arrives tomorrow." Said Karin, effectively ending the discussion. Wanting to avoid the frightening atmosphere, I excused myself from the table and went back to my room. I killed time by going over the events coming up next and thinking of ways to help me get through them. Then Siesta burst into my room, a bottle of wine in her hand.
"Saaaaaitooo! You have to try this!" She says pushing the bottle of wine into my hands.
"Um... Thanks but where did you get this?" I ask her.
"Shtole it." She says happily.
"Are you drunk? I asked her.
"Yep! You should be too! Have some!" Than she took the bottle from my hands and shoved the entire damn thing down my throat. I had what most would consider and overdose and blacked out.
*Louise POV*
At Cattleya's insistence, I was heading to Saito's room. I was having trouble sleeping, so Cattleya suggested I go to the person who was occupying my thoughts.
"What? Who do you mean?"
"Why, weren't you thinking of that familiar boy who was with you?" Cattleya asks.
I blush. "N-No! Why would I be thinking about him! I don't love him!"
"Louise, did I say anything about loving him?"
I look down, embarrassed. "Go on Louise, I can see you'd rather be with him."
Eventually, clutching my pillow I get up and headed towards the door, "I-I'm only doing this because you said so Cattleya." I opened the door and walked out.
I'm not doing this because I want to see him. Being a void mage, I just instinctively feel safer around my familiar. Yeah! That's it!
When I entered his room, I noticed he was passed out on the bed, and Siesta was sitting next to him.
"S-Siesta? What are you doing here?"
Siesta looks at me. "Saito invited me here."
What? Why would he do that?
"Saito said that he couldn't live without me! He was fighting this war to protect me! He told me all about how much he hated Miss Valliere, about how she was terrible!"
Every word she said I felt like I was being punched. No, he couldn't have said that.
"Oh? Are you okay? You seem upset? Did I strike a nerve?" Siesta says in a voice trying to anger me. My response is to go back to Cattleya's room and cry myself to sleep.
*Scene Break*
*Saito POV*
When I woke up, Siesta was gone, so was the bottle, though I had a solid idea where it went. I tried to shake off the massive headache I had. Ugh... mental note, never get Siesta drunk. Bad things happen, My inner monologue noted. You'll be crapping out glass for weeks.
Than I heard a knock on the door. I stumbled over to the door and opened it, and was greeted by Cattleya.
"Oh, hi." I said, trying my best to hide the fact that I had the biggest hangover of my life at the moment. That tends to happen when you chug a bottle of wine, bottle and all, in a few seconds.
"Hello. I don't believe I ever caught your name." She says kindly.
"I-i'm Saito Hiraga."
She smiles. "What a lovely name." Second time I've ever been complimented on my name. Three guesses as to who gave me the compliment the first time.
Huh, does Louise look and act like this when she grows up? It had been a while since I'd seen the Louise from my time and I couldn't remember exactly how she was.
"Louise will mellow out with age, but she probably won't get much taller." Cattleya says.
I forgot, she can read minds.
"No, I can't read minds."
"Really? Because you're not making a convincing argument for that point." I say, scared of her power.
She chuckles. "It's just written on your face. You looked like you were thinking if Louise would look like when she grew up, then you looked like you were terrified that I could read minds. But that's not why I'm here."
"May I ask why you're here?" I manage to calm myself down. Having someone read your mind, body language, or whatever is never pleasant.
"Father was not pleased about Louise wanting to go out on the front lines. She wants her placed under house arrest. Than he wants her to find a husband to calm her heart."
I try not to punch something. I should have know that's what this is, but the wine made me forget more than it should have. I silently pray that the wine-induced amnesia won't create any negative effects in the near future.
"I know you are not her lover, but I can tell you aren't very happy with that statement are you?" She asks me.
"Again, not making a good case against the 'I can't read minds' claim," I tell her.
She chuckles. "Anyway, I have prepared a carriage to take you back to the academy. It is at the front gates waiting for you. You'll find Louise hiding in a boat on the small lake we have in the backyard. She often went their to hide when she was little."
I nod. "Thank you Cattleya."
*Scene Break*
Ah, the lake. I had quite a few memories about this lake. Some good, Some terrifying. I approached the lake and saw the boat. In the middle was a blanket with a human shaped lump in it. I stepped in the boat and pulled the blanket off.
"Louise, it's time to go. Cattleya prepared a carriage for us to get out of here." I tell her.
"I don't want to." She mumbles.
"What?"
"There's no point. I can't tell my parents about void, they won't take me seriously, and my own father wants me to marry someone just because he doesn't want me going to the war. No one here acknowledges my existence." She pulls the blanket over her head again, but I rip it off her and throw it onto the pier.
"Look Louise, I acknowledge you. I know all you've done, and I know that you're going to do so much more for this world."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying!"
"Than let me ask you something. What do you want to fight for? Why are you fighting?" She asks me. What? What made her want to ask that?
"I'm fighting to protect my friends and those I love. I fighting to protect you." Okay, not the best reply I could have come up with, but I wasn't expecting this conversation to go this way.
She sits up and a blush is visible on her face. "Liar! Than why did you invite that maid to your room last night?"
"Siesta? She barged into my room drunk and then forced me to have some wine with her down my throat. I'm pretty sure I passed out after that. That's the last thing I remember from last night."
Louise glares at me. "Really? Because I sure didn't see any wine bottles around."
"Um... I'm pretty sure that's because she also shoved the bottle down my throat."
Louise looks at me blankly. "What?"
"Like I said, she was drunk. She said I should be to and shoved the bottle down my throat."
"T-then, she was lying?" She blushes a little more.
"I don't know what she told you, but it was most likely just something she said to provoke you. She was drunk after all."
Louise looks down, ashamed. My turn.
"Since we're on the topic, what are you fighting for?"
"Eh?" She doesn't look like she was expecting that question.
"Are you fighting for the princess? Maybe you're fighting for your honor. Maybe you're fighting for nobility, or to protect your lineage and pride?" I look at her seriously. "I ask again, what are you fighting for?"
"I-I'm fighting for... for..." She begins.
"On second thought, don't bother answering. If what you're fighting for is honor or noble pride, than I'd rather you not talk about it. Those things aren't worth dying for."
"NO! That's not it!" Louise's outburst shocks me, but I'm not backing down now. Never back down from an argument, it doesn't make a good impression.
"Than what is it? What are you fighting for?"
Louise looks down, and blushes. What? But why would she-
"I love you!"
Eh? d-did I hear that right? WHAAAAAAT! 'I'm as surprised as you are! WHAAAAAT!'
"You want to now what I'm fighting for? It's to help you! If I don't fight to help you, no one will! I'm fighting for you because I love you!" She screams at me.
Realizing what she just said, Louise blushed such a furious shade of red, I'm worried that a vein snapped or something. There's silence for a solid minute. Louise is too embarrassed to speak, and I just don't know what to say. Last time it was the other way around.
"Louise, are you serious? You're not messing with me are you?" My face is a deep shade of red by this point.
Her head still hung low, she gives a small shake. "No, I'm serious."
Then, almost as unexpected, she buried her face in my chest and started crying, probably from embarrassment. I know I almost felt like crying when I accidentally confessed to her last time.
I pat her head and give her a hug.
"It's okay Louise, I know how you feel. I've been there."
"R-really?" She asks me through her tears.
"Yeah, last time I was the one telling you how I feel on this boat." I shudder when I remember what happened after that.
"Really? On this boat?" She seems almost bewildered that such a reversal of roles could happen.
"Yeah. Actually now that I think of it, not counting the contract this was the first time you and I kissed." I wince, I shouldn't have said that. To reiterate an earlier statement of mine, YOU IDIOT! Thanks inner monologue, I wanted to be chastised by myself.
"W-w-what?" Louise grabs my shoulders and looks straight at me. "Details! I need details!"
"Okay fine! Anyway, as I said, I told you how I feel about you and... things happened. Things I would rather not go into."
She glares at me, unamused. "Those are not details."
I sigh. "Okay, okay. I came and found you in the boat, much like right now. We had a similar argument to the one just now, only I was the one who told you how I feel. Since I practically swore loyalty to you, you felt as though a reward for loyalty was necessary."
"Reward?" Louise looked a little confused.
I blushed. "You had this idea or 'rewarding' me when I did something good. I have reason to believe it was just an excuse to get to first base."
She blushed, "R-really?"
I nod, "Yeah. You said that since I pretty much swore loyalty, I should have a reward. I could touch one place I wanted." I blushed, remembering the event almost too vividly.
"And you went for a kiss?" she was blushing a very vivid shade of crimson. I reply by nodding.
Louise closes her eyes, lowers her head and looks deep in thought. I often wonder what goes on in that head of hers, but I never bothered to ask.
She looks at me, blushing, and says, "Y-you know. S-since you were so honest... A r-r-reward is n-needed, r-right?" Her voice was shaking.
"Eh?" before I have a chance to ask she means by that, Louise grabbed my neck and pressed her lips to mine.
My brain shorted out immediately after. I found myself unable to comprehend anything. All I felt was Louise's lips against mine, and then I had a thought. That single thought, a memory of what happens next, jolted me back to reality. I tried to pry Louise off of me, but I realized I had no strength left. I fell backwards, and Louise's lips never left mind. Crapcrapcrapcrap. Louise's dad nearly killed you last time, and that was when you pushed Louise down! When he sees this... This is not just the only thought keeping me connected to reality during this whole situation, its my only thought at all. If my inner monologue didn't keep repeating that thought to me, I would have given in a long time ago.
Then it gets worse. I feel something in my mouth, and I nearly die right there. I try to breathe, but realize my lungs no longer seem to work. 'Can't breathe... Louise's tongue... In throat... Blocking airways...' Finally, my resistance falters, and I give in. My eyes close for a split second, then the boat hits shore. My eyes shoot open and I see the duke and duchess, shocked beyond all measure at the scene before them. I push Louise off me, and she opens her eyes, startled. Then she looks behind her, and her eyes open wide in fear and surprise.
"..." is the sound of everyone's reactions. I gently step out of the boat and Louise does the same. We make an attempt to just walk off and pretend that never happened. Maybe that was asking too much.
"Stay where you are!" bellows the duke, and we freeze in place. "Hmmmm. Jerome, put Louise in the tower and make sure she stays there for at least a year. As for the commoner... I think beheading should be good. Then put him outside the manor as an example."
"Don't I get a say in this?" I ask hopefully.
"No," comes the reply I expected.
"Right. In that case," I grab Louise and throw her over my shoulder, and grab Deflinger, who's strapped to my back, with my other hand. I take advantage of the added speed to get out of that place as soon as possible. I run in the direction of the main gate, where Cattleya had the carriage set up. We were stopped by a drawbridge which was held up by a giant metal chain.
"Shit!" I figure I should spice things up instead of using my favorite word all the time.
Then before our eyes, well my eyes since Louise was slung over my shoulder, the chain became dirt and fell apart. Not pausing to wonder, I ran across the drawbridge and saw the carriage. Siesta was waving at us and she yelled at us to get in the carriage. I jumped in the carriage, set Louise down, and Siesta had the horses go as fast as they could. I didn't relax until we were far from Vallière territory. I looked over to Louise and saw that her face was a deep red and it looked like she was making a conscious effort to not look at me. I couldn't blame her.
*Louise POV*
I could have died of embarrassment right then and there. Not only did I tell him I love him, I kissed him! Then I got a little too "excited" and nearly lost my chastity, while my parents were watching! I silently prayed that I would never have to go back there. It would be too difficult to explain to them. "Why did I do that?" I couldn't help but wonder. I knew I loved him, but how could I lose control and be so bold? I blame Siesta's novels. I can't let that happen ever again. Not until after marriage anyway.