- Chapter 7: Restitution For These Foiled Plans! -

Kazuma sighed as he pulled his phone from his pocket to check his latest text from Darkness. Or, more specifically, Aqua using the other girl's phone to text him, as she didn't have a phone of her own. He'd got a text from her as he was riding the train back and ever since he'd split off from Megumin, Komekko and Chomusuke, he'd been texting his former roommate to pass the time as he slowly made his way towards the café.

From the string of photos that had been attached, it really did seem like Aqua had been having fun on her little 'vacation'. Though the court was still out on if anyone around her had been having fun as well. Kazuma couldn't help but feel sorry for the residents of the Dustiness family home.

Eventually, Kazuma reached the café, texting Aqua a brief 'Gotta go now' before closing the messaging app on his phone and shoving it back into one of his coat's many pockets. Despite his more relaxed walk over to his destination, he surprisingly still had around five minutes before his shift properly began, though he knew that getting changed into his uniform would take up at least a minute or so of that time.

He ignored the closed sign on the door, as he always did, and opened the door to immediately spot Chris, as she finished wiping down the last of the tables, in preparation for the evening shift.

"Hiya, helper," She greeted him with an enthusiastic wave, "Early again! You've been getting good at this lately."

Kazuma shrugged in response, "I guess. It's just circumstances though, I haven't really made any effort to be overly on-time, it just kinda happens."

"Or," Chris gave a prideful smirk, "You just want to spend as much time as you can with your lovely boss. That's it, isn't it?".

"Sure, whatever you say, chief," He responded, completely monotone, getting his boss to finally crack as she started laughing at his unamused reaction, "Anyway, I'm gonna go change now, it's okay if I go make myself a coffee before we open up, right?".

The short haired girl considered it for a second before giving him a simple "Mhm," as Kazuma disappeared into the back of the café.

"I'll have one yakisoba bread please."

"Do you want a drink with that, or will it just be the yakisoba bread on its own?" Kazuma asked as he scribbled down his order.

"Hmm," The customer, A man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, thought about it briefly before replying, "I'll just take a glass of water, no ice."

"Water, no ice, got it," He quickly scribbled down the amendment to the order, looking back up to face the man, "You can go sit at any available table, we'll bring your order out to you when it's ready."

With a polite "Thank you,", the man moved to seat himself at a small table near one of the windows of the café. Kazuma had only been out front for around ten or fifteen minutes by that point, having just spent the last hour and forty five minutes before then back in the cafe's kitchen. Looking over to the small clock hanging on one of the adjacent walls, Kazuma took note of the current time. It was 8:13pm, just over forty five minutes until closing time.

Kazuma let out a yawn, which slowly evolved into a groan, although it was one more out of exhaustion than actual tiredness, he still had a couple hours of being awake left in him. Hopefully things would start to settle down pretty soon, customer-wise at least, as the last half an hour or so at the café was usually pretty slow. As he rested his head on his fist, leaning on the front counter, he heard the usual sound of a new customer entering the café, though he didn't bother looking, he was more than used to it by now.

It was only when about twenty seconds had passed and the customer hadn't appeared in his field of vision that he grew a little curious and decided to look over at the door, seeing no one there. When his eyes drifted over to the small table closest to the front counter, he suddenly recoiled back in shock, only barely holding back the surprised yelp that was begging to come out of his mouth.

"Jesus, Megumin!" He tried his best to keep his voice down as he stared down the girl sitting nearby, "How long were you planning on just staring at me for?".

The girl giggled at his reaction as she rested her head on her hands, "I was just seeing how long it would take for you to notice that I was here. It was around twenty-four seconds in case you were curious."

"Thanks, I really wanted to know that," Kazuma rolled his eyes at her, "But, seriously, what are you doing here?".

"Komekko went straight to bed practically as soon as she finished her dinner and there was nothing interesting to watch on TV," Megumin began explaining matter-of-factly, "So, in the end, I decided that I'd just get the bus and come bother you while you're at work."

"Ah, I see, loitering."

"I-it's not loitering! I was planning to buy a drink, I swear!" She waved her hands around before pouting and turning away from him, "You were the one who told me that I could do this, so don't try to turn it on me. You should be happy that I've come to save you from your clear boredom."

"Guess I can't argue with either of those points," Kazuma shrugged, "Anyway, I have to go give these last few orders to chief now, I'll take yours in a second."

As Kazuma hurried towards the back of the café, Megumin smiled and slumped her head down a little bit. Annoyingly, despite the fact that she'd felt wide awake the entire evening, she had suddenly started to feel a little drowsy as she had been walking over to the café. While she had considered just going back home, it would've felt like a complete waste of both time and money to get the bus there just to go back immediately.

And besides, she had a plan to see though.

Yes, in truth, she hadn't really just come to the café because she was bored. Sure, she definitely was bored, but it's not like she didn't have a myriad of other ways to deal with that boredom which she most likely would've chosen over what she was currently doing. No, instead, as she had been washing the dishes an hour or so before, Megumin's idle thoughts had begun to concoct a plan, one that she was more determined than ever to see through.

"Alright, I'm back," Kazuma's voice pulled her from her thoughts as he made his way back to the nearby counter, her head turning slightly so that he was in the centre of her view, "You ready to order now?".

"Hmm," The crimson eyed teen moved her arms to prop her head up slightly, "I'll just have, I dunno, pineapple juice, I guess."

"Right. You gonna pay now or later?" He asked her as he prepared her drink, which was simply just pouring the bottled juice into a glass.

"Later," Megumin replied as she took the glass from his outstretched hand, only needing to slightly lean forward to reach him, "Thanks."

While not the most complex, or overly flashy, plan, she was still quite proud of her plan, especially with how spur of the moment its creation was. Once Kazuma's shift ended, with her keeping him company up until then, they'd obviously walk over to get the bus together. After their bus dropped them off at their usual spot, she'd ask him to go for a short walk with her, with him hopefully accepting.

From there, Megumin would lead him to a small hill not too far away from her house, one she'd frequented for a few years now, and right there, under the stars, she would properly confess to him. Inexperienced as she was, she couldn't help but be proud of coming up with something so romantic. Or, at least, she hoped it was romantic, now wasn't the time to lose her nerve.

It wasn't the grandest plan in the world, she knew that much, but she hoped that it would be enough. Enough to make it clear to him how much she loved him, and how important he was, and always would be, to her. She could never imagine herself feeling that way towards anyone else. He was the only one who could make her feel that way.

Tonight would be the night, she would make sure that it was.

"Hey, helper, here are those two orders you gave me earlier," Came the voice of Chris as she walked out of the 'employees only' door with two dishes in her hands, "And I'm almost done with that yakisoba bread alread- Oh?".

"Oh?" Kazuma repeated in confusion for a second before he followed where his boss's eyes were looking, deciding to excuse himself before she got any funny ideas, "I'll… take those orders for you, chief."

Once Kazuma had walked off with the two orders in his hands, Chris wasted no time in rushing over to talk with Megumin in whispers, "Sooooo, what are you doing here?".

The younger girl blushed as she carefully considered how she would answer. Sure, she could, and was very much intending to, give some vague answer about why she was there, but she quickly came upon the realisation that she potentially had something very powerful at her disposal; a potential ally.

"H-hey, Chris?" Megumin took a determined breath, it would be best to just be direct, "Do you know if Kazuma... l-likes me? Uhm, a-as in, has he ever said anything about me to you?".

"Hmm?" The excited glint in the older girl's eyes did nothing to help with Megumin's embarrassment, "Well, maybe he's said a few things about you here and there, but why do you want to know? Do you like Kazuma, Megumin?".

The dark haired teen remained silent, glancing over at Kazuma to see that he was engaged in conversation with one of the patrons. As she glanced back at the other girl, her cheeks flared up at the idea of admitting such personal feelings to this girl that she barely even knew. But, even so, she really did want to know what kind of things Kazuma had said about her to Chris.

Just when Chris began to assume that Megumin, understandably so, wasn't going to answer her question, the girl in question spoke up, even quieter than before, "I… uhm, I love him…".

As soon as she uttered those few words, she sharply turned her head away from the other girl, trying and failing to hide her burning face, while Chris's face burst into one of her widest smiles. "Ah! When are you planning to tell him? Please tell me that it's soon!".

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" She scolded the silver haired girl, her voice then growing soft again, "And, I-I'm gonna tell him… tonight, on the way home…".

"You really don't have anything to be nervous about, you know," Chris told her matter-of-factly, a reassuring smile on her face, "Trust me, from what he's said to me, I'm preeeeetty sure he likes you too."

There was a look of relief, hope even, on Megumin's face as she listened to those words, "W-what has he said?".

"Hmm, well, let me see. He told me tha-".

"Oi, chief," The sound of Kazuma's voice caused Megumin to instantly jerk away from Chris, taking a large swig of her drink in a feeble attempt to hide her blush, "I'm done with those two orders, shouldn't be getting back to finishing that yakisoba bread now?".

"Oh, right, of course!" She managed to give an actually fairly convincing fake laugh before mouthing a silent 'sorry' to Megumin and moving away from her table, "Remember, helper, you are still on your shift right now, so try not to get too distracted, kay?".

The part timer simply just rolled his eyes as the girl disappeared back into the kitchen, before moving to stand back behind the counter. "So," He began, tilting his head slightly at his companion, "What exactly were you two whispering about back there?".

"Huh?" Megumin's eyes widened for a second before she quickly composed herself, the gears in her brain frantically working to create a convincing enough lie, "Oh, um, she was just telling me to make sure that you were actually working. If not, I'll have to report directly to her after your shift, so no slacking off, okay?."

"Oh, great."

"Finally," Kazuma let out a drawn out sigh of relief once a group of three women had left the café, his eyes instantly drawn to the clock, "We were supposed to start closing up seven minutes ago."

"Well, helper," Chris heartily slapped him on the back, making the boy stumble slightly, "The sooner we close up now, the sooner you can go home, so get on it!".

As Kazuma grumbled out some kind of affirmation, Megumin spoke up, "So, are you sure that I'm allowed to be in here when you've already officially closed?".

While she had expected a response from Chris, it was instead Kazuma who answered her, "Technically, no, you really shouldn't be here after we've closed. But I'd feel bad if we just forced you to wait outside while we cleared up, especially because it's still fairly cold out at night during this time of year. Plus you aren't really properly dressed for the cold right now."

It was true, Megumin was still only wearing the same red sweater-dress that she had been wearing when they went out to Axel earlier in the day. Her lips formed into a small smile at the concern that he was showing for her.

"...Thanks."

It took around twenty to twenty-five minutes for the two workers to change out of their uniforms and get the café fully closed up, with a now even more tired Megumin idly splayed out on the of the booth seats, making idle conversation with Kazuma as he wiped down the tables. Once they were fully closed up for the day, the three of them stood outside as Kazuma and Megumin waited for Chris to finish locking up.

"Oi, are you sure that you're warm enough?" The brunette asked as he turned his attention to the girl next to him, "You know, Megumin, you really should've brought a jacket with you, especially if you're going out at night."

"I'm fine, don't worry," Her words were betrayed by the small shiver that went through her body, getting an unimpressed side-eye in response, "M-my shoulders are a little cold, that's all!".

"Whatever," Kazuma let out a short puff of breath before speaking again, "It's not like I can do anything about it anyway."

"Hmm?" Megumin leaned towards him a small smirk on her face, "But isn't this the part where the man would give his coat to the woman?".

"No way," His response was practically instant, "Not if 'the man' is only wearing a t-shirt underneath his coat. You should know by now that I don't conform to such tropes."

"Well, it was worth a shot, at least," The girl tried once more to suppress a shiver, a small frown tugging on her lips.

"All done!" Came the voice of Chris as she wandered over towards them, shoving the keys into her pocket, "My ride heads off pretty soon, so we might have to walk to the station a little faster than usual."

"Huh?" Megumin stared at her, confused, "Why are we going to the station?".

"Oh, right," The sole boy of their small group explained to her, "Chris lives in Axel, so me and Darkness usually walk over to the train station with her before heading to the bus stop."

"A-ah, I see," Megumin suppressed yet another shiver. She really, really, wished that she'd bought a jacket.

Not long after, the three of them had finally made their way to the station, with about five minutes to spare before Chris' train set off. As such, they didn't really have time for proper drawn out goodbyes.

"Alright, helper, I'll see you tomorrow!" She yelled back as she quickly disappeared from view, "And feel free to stop by the café anytime you want, Megumin!".

They both spent a few seconds waving her off until she completely disappeared from their view.

"K-kazuma, K-k-kazuma," Megumin's teeth chattered together.

"Yes, Kazuma here."

"Let's get to the bus stop as soon as p-possible, okay?" She looked up at him, hugging herself for warmth.

Kazuma stared intently at her for a few moments before running a hand through his hair and groaning. "Fine," He grumbled as he placed his bag down onto the sidewalk and shrugged off his jacket, holding the article of clothing out towards Megumin, "You can wear it for now, but I'm taking it back again immediately if I end up getting cold."

She sent him a warm smile, the kind that made it practically impossible for him to keep up his annoyed façade, as she took the coat from him and hastily put it on, snuggling into her newfound warmth and, more importantly, Kazuma's jacket. She held back the overwhelming desire to inhale his scent, for the time being at least. Doing that in front of him right then would be super embarrassing, not to mention creepy.

"Th-thank you, Kazuma."

"...No problem," He looked away from her and slung his bag back over his shoulder, beginning to walk in the direction of the bus stop, "L-let's just get going now."

Megumin clutched onto her new, very oversized, jacket as she stepped into pace beside Kazuma, still smiling at him. She couldn't help it. Her plan was completely falling into place so far. This was quickly turning into the exact type of mood she had been hoping she'd be able to create between them. She had no doubts that she'd be able to pull this off and tha-

Megumin let out a loud yawn as her eyes fluttered slightly, feeling heavier than they had a few moments before.

"Don't worry," Kazuma commented after she finished yawning, "It won't take too long to get to the bus stop from here, there's a shortcut I found a while ago that cuts off a big chunk of the usual route."

She mentally cursed at herself. Sure, up until then, the discomfort of the cold had done a good job of staving off the tiredness that she'd felt back at the café, but now that she was all comfortable and bundled up in Kazuma's coat, she felt her drowsiness quickly return in full force. At this rate, there was a chance she'd end up falling asleep entirely before she even got the chance to make her confession.

Megumin smacked her cheeks in a rudimentary wake up call, getting an odd look from the boy next to her for her sudden action. "I'm not really all that tired," She lied, "It was just one of those… random yawns, I guess?".

His odd look persisted for a few seconds longer before he went back to looking at the dimly lit street ahead of them, "If you say so."

True to Kazuma's words, they reached the bus stop far sooner than Megumin had been expecting. Unfortunately, they'd still have to wait for a few minutes more until the next bus would arrive, with the previous one having departed a minute or so before they got there. By this point, Megumin's sleepiness had only gotten worse, with the poor girl's eyes drooping shut more often than she was happy with.

"Hey…" She tried to make conversation in an attempt to keep herself awake, "Are you still warm enough without your coat?".

Kazuma checked himself over, as if somewhat surprised, "Weirdly, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am a little cold, but it's nothing too bad. Still though, I'll probably want it back if I don't end up warming up again on the bus."

"That's fine," Megumin felt her head slumping ever so slightly, leaning against the boy sitting next to her, "Haah… Your coat is so comfy, Kazuma."

She felt Kazuma's body briefly twitch, an action that suddenly made the drowsy girl partially aware of what it was that she was actually doing, and what she'd just said. If she wasn't as tired as she was, she'd probably be blushing up a storm at her own actions. Well, Kazuma didn't seem to mind it all that much, so she decided to stay as she was.

"H-hey, not that I'm bothered by it, but you really shouldn't have gone out if you were this tired," The emerald eyed boy lectured her, trying and failing to sound like he was actually scolding her, "Between this and not bringing a jacket, you really should plan things out a little better, y'know."

The irony of Kazuma telling her to plan things out was not lost on her in the slightest.

Soon enough, the next bus arrived and the two teens quickly boarded it, Kazuma sighing contently as he entered the comparatively much warmer vehicle. While they continued to make casual, mostly meaningless, conversation once they'd gotten into their seats, the boy could clearly notice that Megumin was only getting more and more tired as she rested against her seat, her responses getting progressively shorter and quieter as time went on.

It was only when, after around two minutes since she'd last spoken, Kazuma felt her head gently come to rest against his shoulder that he realised that she'd fallen asleep, her closed eyes and soft breathing only confirming it for him. Though he was originally just planning to try and ignore it at first, once he felt her head slowly slide further down his upper arm, Kazuma decided to help her get into a more comfortable sleeping position.

Moving away and stretching out the very arm that Megumin had been resting against, Kazuma wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to comfortably rest against him, her head staying mostly upright against his shoulder. While he couldn't be entirely sure, the vaguely positive sounding mumbling that he heard from the girl seemed to be an indication that she was at least subconsciously content with her current position. He pulled her in a little closer, hoping to use her body heat to warm himself up. It was only fair, after all.

With Megumin out like a light, Kazuma instead chose to spend the rest of the bus journey mindlessly scrolling through his phone, a sure-fire way to kill time and distract himself from the girl whose soft breathing he could now feel against his neck. Once the bus began to near their drop-off point, Kazuma removed his arm from around Megumin, instantly feeling just a little bit colder than before, and gently shook her awake, quickly turning much less gentle as the girl refused to rouse.

"Kazu…ma…" She softly mumbled as she cracked open her eyes ever so slightly, clearly only barely conscious.

"Oi, Megumin, wake up," Kazuma stopped shaking her, his hands resting on her shoulders as she groggily looked up at him, "The bus is gonna stop soon, so we need to be ready to get off."

"O…kay…" The half awake girl closed her eyes again, falling back asleep almost immediately.

"Oi!".

After repeating the exact same routine with her three more times, to the exact same results every time, Kazuma groaned in frustration as the bus came to a complete standstill. They had to get off right now, one way or another. Not seeing any other options, he gently moved Megumin to the edge of her seat and kneeled down in front of her, sliding her onto his back. He felt her subconsciously wrap her arms around his neck with a loose grip as he supported her legs with his hands, his bag hanging hands free from his right shoulder.

Making his way to the front of the bus, he tried to ignore the odd looks he got from a few of the other passengers as he carried the unconscious girl on his back. Once outside, he took a moment to enjoy the pleasant feeling of the chilly night time breeze that gently brushed through his hair and the comforting warmth of the girl on his back.

The walk back to Megumin's house was a short one, but Kazuma didn't feel any real sense of urgency, he was happy to walk back at a more relaxed pace, just this once. After around five or so minutes of walking, he felt Megumin shift around slightly on his back, making a few faint sounds that he couldn't quite determine, an indication that she was finally beginning to wake up of her own accord.

"Oh, good morning," Kazuma said sarcastically as the girl perked up slightly upon hearing his voice, "You finally awake now?".

"Mmm, kinda," Came Megumin's response, her voice sounding ever so slightly more awake than it had when Kazuma had tried to wake her earlier, "...Where are we?".

"Around ten minutes away from your house," He answered, feeling her loose grip on his neck slowly tighten into something much more secure, "I tried to wake you up on the bus, but you just kept falling back asleep, so I kinda had to carry you instead. I can let you down now if you want."

While he obviously couldn't see it, he could still very much feel her slowly shaking her head, her head brushing against his own due to their closeness, "No thanks, I feel a little tired still… and this is really comfortable."

"Right. W-well, that's fine by me, I guess," Kazuma fumbled slightly at her statement, especially when the half-asleep girl nuzzled her head into the back of his neck, "A-anyway, we should be back soon enough."

Though she was clearly still pretty tired, Megumin seemed to be a lot more awake than before by the time that her house finally came into view, her arms still wrapped around the brunette's neck. Truthfully, for as comfortable as she felt in that moment, she couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong, like she was forgetting about something important. Whatever it was, in her current state of consciousness, she just couldn't recall whatever it was no matter how hard she tried.

"Oi," Kazuma's voice broke through her thoughts as they reached the front door, "Can you get down now? I kinda need my hands to unlock the door."

Begrudgingly, she released her hold on Kazuma as he gently let go of her legs, allowing her to land back on the ground, her legs being unsteady at first. Once he had access to his hands, he quickly checked his pockets for a few seconds before his face lit up on realisation and he turned to look at Megumin.

"It's in my jacket. The key, I mean. You mind…?" He asked her, Megumin making fast work of scouring through the pockets of her - well, Kazuma's - coat, eventually finding the key and unlocking the door, letting the both of them inside.

The bright shine of the bathroom lights was doing a pretty good job of fighting off Megumin's drowsiness, with her no longer feeling as if she would fall asleep at any moment. She looked into the mirror, being greeted by the visage of a groggy-looking girl dressed in her usual pink tracksuit, a toothbrush sticking awkwardly out of her mouth.

After arriving back inside a few minutes beforehand, she'd said her goodnights to Kazuma and thanked him for carrying her back before heading toward her room to change into her nightwear. Apparently, from what he'd said, the older teen had gone to his temporary room to relax for a little while until he felt tired enough to go to sleep, which she all but confirmed when she didn't see him anywhere on her way to the bathroom.

Now that she was all on her own, she couldn't help but swoon a little over the events of the evening. Not only getting to wear Kazuma's jacket, but also having him carry her home under the stars. She couldn't help but be a little bit excited to find someone to brag about it to, maybe Funifura or Yunyun. With how great things had gone, it was almost as if it'd been…. planned… out…?

Her plan. In her sluggish state of mind, she'd somehow managed to completely forget about her entire plan.

If it wasn't for how horribly painful it would be, Megumin probably would've slammed her head down onto the porcelain sink in utter frustration. She suddenly didn't feel tired in the slightest. Once again, despite her best efforts, another moment - potentially the moment - between her and Kazuma had been completely ruined.

After a few moments of angry spluttering, Megumin managed to recompose herself enough to take a deep breath and properly calm herself. Whatever anger she'd been feeling slowly faded away and was replaced by the disappointed frown that appeared on the face of the girl in the mirror. She paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh.

There was no way she was gonna mess up yet another chance with him.

In that very moment, she felt her head begin to fill up with something different, memories. Memories of walking home with him, of all the small ways he'd show her that he cared without ever outright saying it, of every time he'd roll his eyes at her and make a sarcastic comment, yet still send her a small, tired smile. Anything and everything that reminded her of Kazuma. Anything and everything that reminded her of why she adored him so much.

With a newfound determination bubbling up inside of her, and any sense of her previous tiredness having almost completely vanished from her body by this point, she pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth, tossed it into the sink, and made her way out of the bathroom, her destination already in mind.

Despite her apparent 'newfound determination', Megumin still found herself fidgeting around as she stood outside the door to Kazuma's temporary room, her head quickly becoming clouded with doubts once again. But still, she wanted to do this. She really wanted to do this. Taking a deep breath as a last attempt to calm her beating heart, she extended out her fist to softly knock at his door.

There was a sound of bedsheets rustling for a few seconds before she finally heard his voice, "Megumin? Is that you?".

"Y-yeah," She replied, her hand now on the door knob, "Is it okay if I come in?".

"Uh, yeah, sure," His response sounded a little uneasy, but it was all the confirmation Megumin needed to open the door and slip inside, "Shouldn't you be asleep by now?".

Kazuma, who was lying down under the covers with his phone held above his face, sat up in his bed and placed his phone down onto the nightstand, now giving her his full attention.

"Well, I don't really feel that tired anymore," The short haired girl explained, letting out an awkward chuckle, "I guess that nap I took on the bus refreshed me more than I thought, so I wanted to come talk to you."

"Oh?" His tone of voice made his curiosity plain as day, "What did you wanna talk about?".

Once she'd made sure that the door was indeed fully closed, with the room now solely illuminated by the moonlight pouring in through the window, Megumin made her way over to the bed, sitting on the side of the bed. Though, after a few seconds of hesitation, she instead swung her legs onto the bed itself, now staring directly at Kazuma, who blushed at her closeness.

"Oi, Meg-".

"Kazuma…" The soft tone she used when saying his voice combined with the way she was looking at him did a great job at shutting Kazuma up, not that it was Megumin's intention to do so. Instead of saying anything, the boy just subtly exhaled, a glimmer of what Megumin could only hope was anticipation in his eyes.

She gulped, preparing her resolve, and then, in one fluid motion, pulled up the bedsheets and hid under the covers next to him, with only her head peeking out.

"Oi, s-seriously," Kazuma finally managed to get his voice back in response to her sudden action, "W-what the hell are you t-trying to do?".

"I-is it okay if I sleep here tonight?" Megumin asked, barely above a whisper, "With you?".

Kazuma's cheeks flared up to a degree that he didn't even know was possible for him, his thoughts quickly getting out of control and his heartbeat only growing louder and louder. Reflexively, he went to make up some lame protest, but quickly found that he could barely even form his own voice. Without any other real option, and knowing that there was no way he was gonna refuse sleeping in the same bed as Megumin, he slowly lowered himself from his sitting position, with no small amount of hesitation, to lie down next to her.

"Hey, a-aren't you worried about sharing a bed with a pervert like me? I mean, w-who knows what might happen…" He managed to question her, averting his eyes from her own once he took note of the way she was looking at him.

"Not really," The dark-haired girl simply responded, surprising him, "You've been here for a week now… and you haven't really d-done anything. S-so, I'm not worried. I d-don't think you'd do anything to me, anyway."

Kazuma's eyes darted all over the place in an attempt to not get locked onto the genuine smile she was sending in his direction. Now would probably be a bad time to mention that he'd gone snooping around to find her underwear drawer the first time he'd been left in her house alone, or the return visits he'd made there since then. She didn't need to know about that.

If Megumin had been focusing on the expression on his face, she might've even found it funny. But she wasn't. There was no backing out from this now, she'd come this far, she wouldn't stop now. Not when she was so close to what she knew she wanted. She gulped and closed her eyes for a few tense moments before she reached out her left hand and gently cupped it against Kazuma's cheek, feeling him tense up under her touch, opening his mouth for a second, as if to say something, before closing it again.

"Kazuma…" Her voice slipped back into the soft, almost vulnerable, tone that she reserved for Kazuma, and Kazuma alone. Megumin began to rub gentle circles into his cheek with her thumb as she lovingly gazed into his wide eyes, "Th-there's something I want to, n-no, need to tell you. I've been waiting to say it for so long that I can barely hold myself back anymore. S-so that's why I have to tell you… right here, right now… Kazuma…".

Megumin paused for a moment, entranced by the expectant look in his eyes. He was waiting for her to keep speaking, but now that it was really happening, she felt even more nervous than ever. Just as her breathing began to turn ragged, she felt the soft sensation of Kazuma's quivering hand coming to rest on her cheek, just as she was doing to him. The small jolt that went through her body as he reached out to her, touched her, was all that she needed to keep going; to finally tell him the three words she'd wanted to tell him for so long.

"...I love you."

She looked up at Kazuma. A look of longing, and maybe even a small amount of fear, was present in her eyes as she took a drawn-out and shaky breath. The boy's expression was one marred by a wave of poorly hidden nervousness, the hand that rested on her cheek sliding down ever so slightly, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the blushing girl as his anxious expression only served to let loose the insecurities that she'd been trying to hard to ignore the entire time.

Just as those fears began to bubble up in her, she felt the hand that was once on her cheek slowly back away, Kazuma's warmth disappearing with it. But then, just as she began to prepare for the worst possible outcome, she felt his arms slowly wrap around her small frame and draw her into him, his chin resting on the top of her head as she was pulled into his chest, squeaking in surprise. She was so close that she could even make out his rapid heartbeat and the slight trembling that consumed his entire body, he might've been even more nervous than she was.

"M-megumin," Kazuma finally spoke, his voice uneven and his face seared a deep red as he made his choice, "I um, I thi- No, I uhm… I love you too,". He almost physically cringed as he heard the jumbled mess of a confession that came out of his own mouth. Why was he suddenly so nervous?

But just like that, with those few words, and the loving embrace she found herself in, Megumin's previous fears were instantly replaced with the happy squeal that she accidentally let slip from her mouth. She wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Kazuma before pulling back slightly to look up at his face.

For a few moments, it looked like she was about to say something, but she quickly closed her mouth again and tightened her grip on him, as if she was trying to convey whatever she had been about to say through words instead. Kazuma found himself having to look away slightly due to the pure intensity of her gaze, his voice stuck in his throat.

Acting solely on instinct, he looked back towards her and slid one of his hands away from around her waist and moved it to begin tenderly brushing his fingers through her short hair. Megumin closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of pleasure before she moved one of her own hands to return the favour, caressing the boy's own hair as they gazed at each other in silence.

Staring down at the girl in his arms, his breath hitched in his throat as he properly took in how beautiful he found her in that moment. Sure, he'd always found her to be pretty, attractive even. But it wasn't until now, seeing her features so up close, with the moonlight dancing off of her visage, that he truly realised just how beautiful she was to him.

Her soft, pale skin, with not a single blemish or trace of acne to be seen and her smooth, silky hair invaded his vision. But more than either of those were her deep red eyes, the same eyes that he suddenly found himself being lost in. Gazing upon the image in front of him, the word 'perfect' came to mind, but Kazuma really wasn't the type of person to use such a pretentious sounding word.

So why did that word appear in his mind at that moment?

Feeling even more embarrassed with the silence between them, one that must've lasted for at least a full minute by that point, Kazuma swallowed the lump in his throat and decided to try speaking up, saying the first thing that came to his mind, "Hey, s-so, what happens now?".

Though she didn't respond verbally, the short pause in her brushing and the somewhat questioning look she gave him made it clear that she wanted him to elaborate.

He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger as he continued on, "I mean like, we've, umm, both confessed now, right? So uh, does that mean that we're dating now, or…?".

Megumin brought the hand that was previously attending to his hair over to once again cup his cheek, feeling the heat from his cheeks against her hand as she smiled at him, "I-I… I'd like that, if you wanted to…".

"Well, I w-wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't… want… to…" Kazuma trailed off as he blushed and averted his eyes, "So, y'know, I guess I wouldn't mind it if we were… y'know."

The short haired girl giggled, relieving the tension a fair amount, "You don't have to be so nervous about this, Kazuma. I… I'd love to be your g-girlfriend."

"If that's the case…" The brunette replied in a hushed tone, allowing his hand to explore the back of her scalp, a sensation that she seemed to be enjoying, "Then I see no problem with being your boyfriend."

"I'm so happy to hear that," She whispered back.

Just as he was about to comment on the joyous look he saw on Megumin's face, he felt her hands pull away from him for a moment before he felt her touch once again, now with one hand wrapped around his neck while the other was gently pushing on the back of his head, pulling him closer towards her, or - more specifically - towards her lips.

If her actions didn't already make it obvious enough, the look on her face and the clear desire in her eyes made it abundantly clear to Kazuma that she was moving in to kiss him. Megumin paused for a second, looking into his eyes, silently begging for permission to keep going. As he watched her swallow the small lump that had formed in her throat, Kazuma shyly nodded, giving her permission to go further.

His nerves finally lost out as he was taken over by the excitement of finally experiencing his first kiss, a kiss between him and the girl who was, as of that moment, officially his girlfriend. Sure, he was still pretty nervous, but there was no way he'd let this opportunity pass. And so, watching her face slowly inch closer and closer to his own, he slowly began to lean in, closing the distance between them, knowing that whatever was about to happen was something that Megumin wanted just as much as he did.

Then, after a second or two of anticipation, their lips finally met. Kazuma closed his eyes as he felt Megumin firmly meld her lips with his own, returning her actions with a much softer, yet still passionate, kiss of his own. He felt her loosely clutching at his hair as she held him close, keeping him locked into the kiss, not that he had any intention to pull away in the first place.

Neither of them were sure how much time had passed when they finally pulled away, but it didn't particularly matter to them either. The dark haired girl looked up at Kazuma, a deep crimson blush invading her cheeks as she let out a laboured breath.

"W-was that okay?" She meekly asked, clearly not confident in her technique, "The kiss, I-I mean. Was it good?".

The older teen gently cupped her cheek in one of his hands, watching with a reserved smile as she rubbed her cheek against his palm, "...Uhm, it was g-good, yeah."

Megumin seemed to relax for a second before, for some reason that Kazuma didn't quite yet realise, her eyes went wide and she wriggled backwards in his hold.

"K-kazuma!" She squeaked, a look somewhere between shock and embarrassment on her red-tinted face, "Your thing, i-it's…"

'Shit.'

"J-just ignore it," Kazuma whispered guiltily, suddenly finding that he'd rather be looking anywhere else besides her face, "It's not like there's anything that I can do about it, it's a natural reaction after all. If a beautiful girl just sneaks into my bed and kisses me like that, then of course my son is gonna act up."

To his surprise, despite the fact that he'd expected at least some kind of complaint or retort from her, Megumin seemed to have actually taken his advice and ignored it, readjusting her position in their embrace. It wasn't until she spoke again that he realised the main reason for her submissiveness.

"B-beautiful…?" She pulled him in even tighter, her head now resting on her shoulder and her mouth close enough that her warm breath began to tickle his ear, her hand once again making its way to his hair, "Hearing you say something like that about me makes me really happy, Kazuma."

"O-oh. Well, of course," He stuttered out, not even realising that, in his attempt to salvage what could've been a huge misunderstanding, he'd called her beautiful without even thinking about it. "Hey," Kazuma loudly yawned, "Not that I'm not enjoying this or anything, b-but maybe we should go to sleep now, I uh, I actually think I'm starting to feel kinda tired now."

In reality, that wasn't really the full truth. Sure, he was feeling a little tired, but he was mostly just searching for any way to ease his raging nerves. With how she was holding him, the way she was looking at him, and the things she had said to him, as much as he truly hated to admit it, it was all way too overwhelming to him.

Not that he wasn't enjoying every second of it, just that… Well, he just needed to calm himself down a little, he hadn't been properly prepared for what something like this actually felt like. Through his internal battle, he could only vaguely make out that Megumin had just finished saying something in response.

In an attempt to reach a reprieve from his uneasiness, Kazuma let go of his grip on his new girlfriend and rolled over, creating a small amount of distance between them.

"Kazuma?" Megumin softly called his name as he pulled away from her grip slightly. She patiently watched as he took a single, drawn out breath, his body looking a lot more relaxed than before.

With the tight feeling constricting his chest having mostly let up and returning to something that felt a lot more 'him', Kazuma used his newly returned confidence to roll over to once again face Megumin. He gave her his usual smirk, now being able to much more freely enjoy the feeling of everything that just happened between them.

After a few moments, he felt Megumin's arms softly wrap around him once again, it seemed that she wouldn't be content to sleep without holding him. Not that he at all minded her doing so. Closing his eyes, he returned her actions, with one hand resting against the back of her tracksuit while the other absentmindedly played with the tips of her hair.

Though he hadn't really expected anything more to be said between them both after that, he eventually felt the dark-haired girl shift ever so slightly and raise her head up from his chest.

"Goodnight, Kazuma."

"Yeah, g-goodnight, Megumin."

She sent him one last wide smile, maybe her widest one that night, and buried her head back into his chest, nuzzling her face against his tracksuit for a brief moment before relaxing in his arms. Kazuma swore that he could hear her mumble something into his tracksuit, something that sounded vaguely like another 'I love you', but he didn't bother questioning her about whatever it was.

It took only a few minutes for Megumin's breathing to slow and her occasional strokes through his hair to stop completely as she finally rested for the night, Kazuma's arms tenderly circling around her.

As Megumin groggily opened her eyes, she couldn't help but feel as though her surroundings were… different, in some way or another. That feeling was only brought out even more and she felt that her arms, the ones she had intended to use to rub the sleep from her eyes, were presently wrapped around something. Something cozy, something that seemed as if it was breathing.

It wasn't until she looked up slightly and saw his sleeping face that she remembered where she was, and what had brought her up to this point.

She had slept with Kazuma, her… her… boyfriend. She really didn't know how long it would take until calling him her boyfriend, even just in her head, would start to feel natural. But, regardless, the thought of it made her excited. She just hoped that he was feeling something similar, maybe even dreaming about it.

Not wanting to disturb his sleep yet unless absolutely necessary, Megumin removed her left arm from around Kazuma's waist and reached out to grab his phone from the bedside table, only barely reaching it. Turning it on, she saw that Kazuma had a few unread texts, though for the sake of his privacy she tried her best to not look at them, and instead focused on her main objective, the time, clearly displayed in large text the moment she turned it on.

7:07am. Even for an early riser like Megumin, it was still a pretty early time for her to get up, and she doubted that Komekko would be getting up anytime soon, especially with the exhausting day she'd had yesterday. Yet, surprisingly, despite her early rise, she didn't feel all that tired. She actually felt… really good. A large grin grew across her face as she realised the new factor that could have potentially played a part in her refreshing night of sleep.

Feeling no need to get up anytime soon, she made the easy decision to stay where she was for a little while longer, snuggling back into Kazuma's arms and gently stroking his hair. She wasn't sure if she ended up falling back asleep at some point or not, but after a while of cuddling herself against him, she felt Kazuma finally begin to stir, his eyes slowly opening as he stretched the arm that had previously been loosely draped around her neck.

"Uhm, g-good morning, Kazuma," She blushed, admittedly feeling fairly bashful now that he was actually awake.

Megumin watched him loudly yawn and then mumble something that she couldn't make out no matter how hard she tried, probably a good morning of his own, before he blinked a few times, gazing into her eyes. "...Ah, right. We…".

The crimson eyed girl nodded her head, fighting a losing battle against the small smile tugging at her lips, "Yeah."

Kazuma let out a relaxed sigh as the warm water rained down on his body, his muscles instantly loosening up. He took a moment to perfectly adjust the temperature and pressure before he shut his eyes and took a single deep breath, resting his palms against the comparatively cold tiling of the wall in front of him, his head hung downwards.

As he allowed his eyes to open again, the stream pleasantly washing through his hair, he instantly found his mind wandering back to the events of the night before, it was the reason he had taken a shower in the first place, after all. With everything that had happened between him and Megumin, he certainly felt it would do him good to get away and relax with his thoughts for a little bit.

"I really am in a relationship with her now, huh?" The brunette mused to himself, his voice being entirely drowned out by sounds of water splashing against the shower floor.

An uninhibited smile formed on his face, feeling no need to hide anything now that he was alone. He couldn't really get over how happy it was making him, a lot happier than he'd expected entering a relationship would feel. Though, taking the time to think about it, maybe it was because it was Megumin that it all felt so… right.

Looking back on the time he'd spent with her, the last week especially, he couldn't deny the way her mere presence would be able to lift his mood at times. Or the way he found himself noticing more and more small details about her, the type of details that he never bothered to care about with anyone else. He hadn't been lying last night, he was pretty sure that he loved her.

Freeing himself from his thoughts for a second, he stepped out of the jetstream to grab the bottle of shampoo from the small shelf within the shower. He was pretty sure that it was women's shampoo, most likely the one that Megumin herself used, but he didn't really have any other options, and it did the job just as well as the shampoo he usually used, so he wasn't really complaining. He'd just make sure to buy his own bottle when they went out to get groceries later.

Squeezing a small amount into his hand and rubbing it into his dampened hair, Kazuma felt his previous apprehension be slowly overtaken by a new feeling of excitement, maybe even anticipation. He had no idea what the relationship would be like, or even what pace it would go at, but worrying over stuff like that really just didn't feel like him. After all, he finally had a girlfriend, one that actually had feelings for him.

He may as well just allow himself to enjoy it, whatever happens. That felt much more in tune with his style, didn't it?

"All done!" Komekko cheered as she finished up the last remains of her rice, making sure to lick the inside of the bowl clean, "Thank you, big sis."

"You really were hungry this morning," Megumin commented as she looked down at her own, still mostly full, bowl, in awe of how fast her sister could eat sometimes.

For what might've been the first time since sitting down at the table, Komekko glanced around at her surroundings, quickly noticing something missing, "Hey, where's big brother?".

"He's still in the shower, I'm pretty sure," She explained between mouthfuls, "I hid his breakfast so that you wouldn't eat it, Komekko."

Her little sister pouted at her. Clearly her intention had been to get his portion of food for herself.

Before Megumin could explain to her sister why she shouldn't try to eat Kazuma's food, the two sisters were interrupted by the sound of their home phone ringing, a somewhat uncommon occurrence, all things considered. Just as Megumin made to get up, Komekko shot up out of her seat and dashed out of the room, the ringing suddenly stopping a few seconds later.

Following her sister out into the hallway a few seconds later, she immediately spotted Komekko with the phone up to her ear, talking excitedly to whoever was on the other end, "Yup! Big sis and big brother have been making me lots of yummy food!".

Megumin made her way towards her, "Hey, Komekko, who's on the phone? How about you just let big sis handle i-".

"It's mommy," Komekko simply replied, going back to her conversation, "Mhm, that was big sis. …Big brother is in the shower… I think."

Their mother would occasionally call when she and their father were away, so it wasn't much of a surprise to Megumin. She had no problem letting Komekko take her time talking to her mom before she herself would eventually have to talk with her, not looking forward to the inevitable Kazuma related teasing she'd probably have to endure. She just hoped that her mother wouldn't try to get her to put Kazuma himself on the phone.

After a few minutes of listening to one half of the conversation between Komekko and her mom, with Komekko describing all the fun she'd had in Axel the day before, she heard the sound of a door opening and turned around just in time to catch Kazuma exiting the bathroom, clad in a simple green t-shirt with black shorts. Upon noticing Megumin and Komekko, he made his way over to stand beside Megumin.

"Who's she on the phone with?" He inquired, giving her a curious look.

"My mom," Megumin answered, then changing the subject, "Your breakfast is in the kitchen by the way. It should still be warm enough, but you can always warm it up if you need to."

"Mhm, thanks," Kazuma simply responded, bringing a hand up to his still slightly damp hair. Just as he was about to turn away and go into the kitchen, he instead grew curious and decided to listen in on whatever Komekko was saying, just for a little bit.

"Yup, just like you said, mommy," He heard her say, and then after a short pause, "I dunno."

Well, he wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting to hear, but the reality was obviously a lot more boring. After a few more moments of listening to Komekko giving short answers to whatever it was that her mom was asking about, he turned around and took his first step towards the kitchen. It was then that Komekko said something he certainly was not expecting.

"Hmm, oh, but big sis did sleep with big brother last night."

After that, it didn't take long for a red-faced Megumin to quickly grab the phone from her sister, demanding to know what kind of questions her mother had been asking Komekko, with the girl in question looking between her and Kazuma with a blank look.

"Good morning Megumiiin~" Yuiyui's voice came through the phone, clearly happy, "I was just about to ask your little sister to put you on for me."

"Mom!" She squealed into the speaker, somewhat louder than she'd intended, "W-what do you think you're doing?".

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" Her mother calmly asked, "I was just asking your little sister if anything had happened between you and Kazuma. I must say, although I am very supportive of you finding a nice young man like Kazuma, I'm not sure how to feel about you two going that far already."

And with that, her entire face burnt a deep crimson. "N-no! We didn't d-d-do anything like that, mom!" She turned herself away from Kazuma and Komekko in shame, wishing that they weren't there to watch the entire thing play out, "I-I just, we really just… s-slept in the same bed… that's all."

From behind Megumin, the confused Komekko tugged on the bottom of Kazuma's shirt, getting his attention, "Sometimes I sleep with big sis too."

"Oh? Surely that's not everything," Her mother cooed, "Come on, you would tell your mother if you happened to get a boyfriend now, wouldn't you?".

"Umm…" Though she knew that she was mostly only teasing her, it did bring up the small problem of telling her mother about her and Kazuma. Well, more importantly, if she would even tell her mother about her and Kazuma. But, although there was definitely a small part of her that wanted to keep it a secret, it would probably be better in the long run - as embarrassing as it was - if she just told her now. It wasn't like her mother would disapprove of them, at least. "...He is," Megumin mumbled, putting the phone as close to her mouth as she possibly could so that the other two people in the hallway wouldn't hear, "Kazuma is my… b-boyfriend."

"Fufu, finally," The woman on the other end proudly giggled, "It's about time, you know."

"Th-that's enough of that!" She began sneaking glances at Kazuma, who was still standing a few feet away, talking about something with Komekko, "So if you have anything else to talk about, let's move on to that instead. Okay mom?"

"Well then, if you don't want to say anything more, then that's fine…" Yuiyui purposely drew out her words, an undertone of mischief hidden within them, "How about you just put Kazuma on the phone for a little bit? I'd love to talk to him. I'm sure he could fill me in on a few of the things you don't want to talk about with me."

"No! N-no, he's uhm…" She locked eyes with Kazuma, giving him a sheepish look, "he's in the shower right now. So you can't talk to him."

"Oh, so you two don't shower together yet?".

"Right, goodbye mom! I'll see you next week, good luck on selling dad's products!" She practically yelled out, all of her previous composure having completely vanished, preparing to end the call at any moment.

Unfortunately, for Megumin at least, the call didn't end just there, as, according to Yuiyui, they still had to go over 'the more boring stuff', to which Megumin reluctantly obliged. After updating her other on all of the more important things; such as how much she'd spent, which wasn't as much as she'd thought it would be due to Kazuma cutting most expenses in half, and a general overview of how everything was going at home, her mom finally let her get off the phone.

Once she'd said her goodbyes and hung up the phone, still very much flustered, she finally noticed that Kazuma and Komekko had disappeared at some point, no longer standing in the hallway behind her. After finding no one in the kitchen, she made her way over to the dining table, finding Kazuma eating his breakfast while Komekko was staring at Megumin's half finished bowl with a hungry look in her eyes.

"Big sis!" Komekko swivelled around to look at her the moment she entered the room, "Tell big brother to let me eat your breakfast!".

"Oi, Megumin, where exactly do the cans go again?" Kazuma asked as he plucked a few cans from one of the shopping bags.

"Oh, um," Megumin turned to him, pointing over at a cupboard in the corner of the room, "Just over there, second shelf."

"Right, thanks."

It was a few hours later, just before midday, and Megumin and Kazuma were finally finishing up on the process of putting away their shopping for that week. Presently, Komekko was in the front room, watching TV, while the other two were in the kitchen, with three almost empty shopping bags between them.

Despite the frankly very normal atmosphere, Megumin couldn't help but feel on edge, as she had been for the last hour or so. While she was glad, very glad in fact, that things hadn't become awkward between her and Kazuma in light of last night's events, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed over the fact that nothing had really happened since then.

Sure, she'd seen him sneak a few glances at her from time to time, and she was pretty sure Komekko having been with them the entire morning was probably part of the reason why neither of them had addressed the obvious, but she still felt the itch to make something happen. And, now that they were alone, it felt like the perfect time to put her new 'girlfriend privileges' to the test.

"Hey, Kazuma, I'm all done with this bag," She said, lightly tossing the empty bag she was holding into the middle of the room to prove her point, "What about the other two?".

"Uhh, no idea," The teen replied, leaning down to look into the two bags near his feet, "Oh, there's not much left in either of them, just all stuff to put in the fridge, I think."

Grabbing the two, now very light, bags, Kazuma made his way over to the fridge, opening the door and beginning to put the last of their groceries away. Unbeknownst to him, Megumin had followed behind him, standing just behind him as he rearranged one of the shelves ever so slightly to make space for a carton of juice. After a few more seconds, Kazuma dropped the two empty bags down onto the floor and shut the fridge door with a relieved sigh.

Turning around, he suddenly felt two lithe arms snake their way around his waist while something else softly impacted against the top of his chest. It took him less than a second to figure out that the culprit was Megumin, if the pair of big red eyes looking up at him didn't make it obvious enough.

"O-oi," He looked down at her, their faces just a little bit too close for comfort.

"Oi?" Megumin repeated, grinning as she softly tightened her grip, "What's wrong? It's just a hug, that's all."

"I… guess this is fine," Kazuma mumbled, finally bringing up his arms to return her embrace. He managed to maintain eye contact with her for a lot longer than he'd expected to, before he brought up one of his hands to gently push her head into his chest, resting his chin on top of her head.

"Y'know," He heard her speak into his chest, just barely loud enough for him to hear, "You should just let yourself enjoy this, Kazuma. You don't have to get so flustered, I just wanna hug you."

"And how exactly am I supposed to-'' Kazuma shook his head, feeling the calming sensation of her hair tickling at his chin, "Never mind, actually."

Megumin quickly nuzzled her face against his chest before pulling back slightly to face him once again, noticing the way his eyes darted away for a moment before slowly coming back to make eye contact with her. She really did love seeing him get as embarrassed as he was, but she couldn't deny that she really wanted him to be a little more forward with her, especially when it came to physical affection. But, at the same time, they hadn't even been dating for a full day yet. She was probably getting a bit too ahead of herself by expecting things to move so quickly.

"Kazuma…". Even so, there was no harm in trying, right? Kazuma nodded, waiting for her to continue, causing her to fidget slightly in his arms before speaking again, "C-can you… kiss me?".

The brunette blushed and turned his head away, only for a second, before looking back at her and eventually, gradually, moving his hands up to instead slowly cup her cheeks. They'd already kissed once before, this should be fine for him. Though, his resolve did crumble the smallest amount when he saw the way she was looking at him, twitching nervously. Sure, maybe she could hide it a little better than Kazuma could, but, truthfully, she was even more timid about this whole thing than he was.

Trying his best to ignore the submissive expression on her face, and the rising heat he could feel against his palms, he slowly brought his face towards her lips. It was too late to go back now, he'd already started. Bringing one of his hands over to the back of her head, softly pressing against her hair, he pushed forward, gradually closing the remaining distance between them.

And finally…

"Big siiis! Is it time for lunch yet?".

Of course, it would be the perfect moment for Komekko to burst into the kitchen.

AN: I've always loved fics that include a decent amount of both pre-confession and post-confession content, and from the very start of this story, the plan was always to have the first week contain Kazuma and Megumin dealing with their feelings for each other in their own ways while the second week would focus on them fumbling their way through the early stages of their relationship.

Also, there will not be a new chapter uploaded next week. The next chapter will instead be up in two weeks from now (July 12th). Simply put, I'm not gonna have any time to write over the next few days and I highly doubt that I'll be able to complete a full chapter in time for next Wednesday.

I hope that's understandable and that you all look forward to the next chapter!