Kazuma didn't get much sleep last night. For long, he was waiting for his chance to get lucky with the lady, and then last night, a beautiful girl just confessed to him, let alone it was an actual goddess. So why doesn't he feel happy? There's only one answer that made sense: it's Aqua. He wasn't entirely sure how to handle the situation, which is what kept him up all night.
He sat at the table near the corner brooding. Finally, Aqua arrives to the Guild Hall, she looks terrible.
" I feel terrible." The goddess said.
" you smell terrible." Kazuma added. It looked as of she wanted to make a comeback but was too tired to think of anything so she just sat down at the table with him.
" So, what's the plan today, we're dealing with those frogs again?"
" No, since we clearly can't do it without any party members and none are showing up, so I'm thinking of taking just a couple of days off."
"Oh, okay." She made a slight grin, which Kazuma noticed.
" You seem relieved?"
"Huh?" The self-proclaimed goddess stumbled and stuttered over her words, trying to find an excuse to change the subject. "So, did anything crazy happen last night while I was wasted."
"Let's see." Kazuma set up in a chair. " You threw up on three cats. You said you were in love with me, and you walked into a wall on the way home."
" Wait, what did you just say?"
" You threw up on a family of cats, that poor kittens probably traumatized."
"No, you jerk, the other thing!"
"Oh yeah, you said you loved me." His deadpan stare what have usually made her think he was joking, but when she took a minute to think about it, she did slightly remember a conversation. He waited to see what she would do next. Maybe her response could change how he feels of the matter.
"W-What are you t-talking about Kazuma? I'm not in love with you, geez. I know you're a shut-in neet, but you shouldn't lie through your teeth like that." She tried her best to put on a brave face and just laugh it off, but she was getting more flustered as she kept talking. It didn't help that she avoided eye contact.
It wasn't the reaction he expected, and watching her try so hard to deny it did irritate him a bit, so he considered poking the bear to see what happens.
" Your hair looks great today." He didn't have really any experience with this kind of situation, so he just went with the first compliment he could think of even if he didn't really mean it.
"Really, you think so?" Somehow, it worked. As soon as she realized she was tricked, she covered her face in embarrassment and put her head down on the table. This goddess seemed more underwhelming as the days went on. "Okay, fine, you win, I'm in love with you."
"Thanks." was all he could say. It's his third time hearing this, and still: nothing. It could be because she sounded so defeated saying it this time.
"Excuse me?" Aqua granted and slightly moved her head up from the table. "Thanks, is that all you can say. I poured my heart out to you!"
"You were pissed face drunk!" The argument was starting to get the attention of everyone else in the Guildhall.
"And whose fault is that."
"Yours! We would have had a party by now if you didn't get jealous over a bunch of people you haven't even met yet!" Aqua looks like she had something else to say, then she remembered the reason she confessed last night in the first place.
"Y-You know about that too, huh?" She slowly put her head back down in shame.
" I don't know if we would have only gotten one new party member or two or three, maybe even 100 who knows. But thanks to you, I'm stuck living in the staples, with no money, all because of a crazy, drunk, useless goddess decided to get feelings! "
" I'm not crazy." She mumbled. And it's not my fault, I can't control how my heart feels."
" Well, if you can't do anything about it, I will. This is where we part ways. Good luck." With that, he got up from the table and headed outside.
"Huh, wait, you're joking, right? Kazuma!"
Kazuma felt as if he was truly going crazy, an actual goddess confess to him three times now. And the first thing he does is try to separate himself from her entirely. At first he didn't know how to feel, he had a lot of time to think about it, but now all he feels is anger. He is almost out of money he's still living in the staples and it's not like he can buy any better equipment. His best chance now is to lose the dead weight and hopefully run into anyone who's willing to take a rookie adventure into their party.
"Kazuma, wait!" Speaking of the Dead weight. He was lost in thought and didn't notice her go after him. " You can't abandon me, Kazuma. I'm only here because of you. Without you, I can't even go home." She now looked like she was on the verge of tears, on top of that, some of the others in town were watching them. Kicking a crying girl to the curb probably wouldn't be the best luck right now, so instead of yelling at her, he took a deep breath.
" Look, aqua, it's pretty obvious that this isn't going to work with just the two of us. I need to make some changes, or we're not even going to have enough to eat."
" Then leave it to me, I'll find us a new party member, I promise." She didn't sound too convincing. " I know, let's make a bet."
"A bet? Sure, if you don't find at least one new party member, you're on your own."
" Fine then, and if I win, you have to say you love me." She said it was such confidence it almost made him laugh.
" You want me to lie to your face?" His joke made Aqua reconsider, whenever whenever he does confess she wants it to be because he means it ( and it would look really pathetic otherwise).
" I want you to kiss me." That said she clearly had no problem with getting physical.
"Not happening."
"Alright then, a hug, no hold my hand for the rest of the day." Again, she said it was such confidence that she would win it was really hard for him to take this seriously. He also considered how far he could take the bet, Maybe he could use it to sleep with her and possibly feel something that way. Then again, that just seemed way too desperate for him to lose his virginity.
" Sure, we'll hold hands. You got 24 hours by the way."
" What, that's not fair!" She yelled.
" Well, it wasn't fair when you stopped us from getting more party members in the first place, so consider us even." It was harsh to admit, but he was positive she wouldn't find anybody to join them. The short timer is so he doesn't have to wait too long to try to execute a backup plan. It seemed a little cruel, but you couldn't help but it meant watching her panic like this was surprisingly amusing.
"Um, excuse." A young girl who looked around the same age as Kazuma ran up to the two of them. " I was at the guildhall earlier, and I heard some of your conversation. I'm sorry for asking this, but you wouldn't happen to be a Lady Aqua, would you?" Aqua tilted her head while she examined the girl.
"Yeah, who are you?" Despite the rude response, the girl had the biggest smile on her face.
" Thank goodness it's really you. Lady Aqua, it's so good to see you again." She bowed down to show respect, and Kazuma finally took note of the outfit she's wearing. Her jacket and shoes look like something straight from Japan.
"No freaking way." He whispered to himself.
" I remember now." Aqua said. "Your Lia, right?"
" Yes, I'm so grateful you remembered me, I've been trying my hardest to make use of the second chance you gave me." That confirmed it another person who died and got reincarnated thanks to Aqua. " I'm determined to defeat the Devil King, but I've been doing everything on my own. I've been lucky so far. I have a decent place to stay, but as you can see, I haven't had a chance to upgrade my gear. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Kazuma felt the need to interject
" Long story. " He said, glaring at Aqua. Though it seems like she was ignoring him.
" This is Kazuma, the two of us working together to try to defeat the Devil king."
Lia could tell based on the clothes he was wearing. He was also reincarnated into this world, which gave her an idea.
" If that's the case, could I join the two of you? To be an honor to fight along side of you goddess." Aqua gave her a smile.
" Of course, under one condition." She pointed at Kazuma. " Romance between the two of you is forbidden." The sudden change in her tone took the other two off guard.
"O-Of course." Was all Lia could say. With that, Aqua turned around to face Kazuma and held out her right hand.
"I WIN!" Again, the sudden change in her attitude took them off guard. On top of that, Kazuma was so focused on finding another person like him that he completely forgot about the bet for a second. "And now you have to hold my hand all day! Fingers locked." The way her eyes squinted along with that disgusting smile when she said that last part mad his skin crawl, unfortunately for him a bet is a bet.
"Fine." He's slowly grabbed her hand ( and like she said she locked fingers with him) she then locked arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder, giggling to herself. Lia, on the other hand, started questioning what she just got herself into, let alone is this really the goddess Aqua or not.
Author's note: for those who don't know, Lia is a character from the mobile game konosuba fantastic days. Since the other two arrivals have been delayed I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring in other potential candidates to join the party before I do anything with them. ( I also thought giving Aqua someone else in her corner to help with her antics would be fun.)