"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.
'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.
(One hour later.) = Time skip.
~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.
"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.
[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.
{Gate} = Spell name.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the mansion, at the front garden.)
"If you win, we won't say anything about your relationship with Linze." Elze declared, her eyes fierce, "But if we win, you'll have to listen to what we have to say."
"Wha- What's all this about?" Touya asked, confused about the whole thing and the change in atmosphere.
"This katana's edge has been rounded off." Yae ignored his question as she explained the bluntness of her sword, "It should not be able to kill or even cut you, but it will still break your bones, so please keep this in mind, okay?"
"Use [Modeling] to dull both your gunblade and spear, and don't forget to use rubber bullets." Elze suggested.
"Wait, wait." Touya paused, bringing hands up, getting more and more confused about the whole situation and their reluctance to explain was not helping, "Why do I have to fight you two? What's the point of all of this!?"
"Well, we're the type of girls who can't properly express ourselves without a proper push." Yae explained, bowing her head slightly, "If you wish to call us cowards, we will understand."
"And I suppose losing intentionally won't cut it huh?" Touya inquired, Elze nodded her head.
"Yeah, don't even think of trying to give us a win, not only will it make us think you look down on us, but it'll make me not want to give up my sister to a half-baked man!" Elze yelled as off to the side Yae was nodding in agreement.
"Okay…" Touya sighed, he started loading rubber bullets into [Brunhilde]'s cylinder while taking more from {Storage} and replacing his live ammo, 'Push comes to shove, I can always just use {Slip} and be done with it.'
"Oh! And don't use any of your null spells either." Elze shot down his idea before it could even bore fruit, "This won't be much of a match if you use {Slip} to end the fight before we get a chance to move, but to make it fairer, I won't be able to use {Boost} either."
"You may also use your elemental spells if you wish to, Touya-dono." Yae added, "We can only use our melee weapons, but there are two of us."
'Yeah, you'd think that'd be unfair for you girls, but I've seen you train with Sally and Setsuna, I know that none of you are slacking in the slightest, especially you, Yae.' Touya quipped, while he was confident he could beat them, emphasis on the word could, he was sure it wasn't gonna be an easy match, especially if they trained together.
Which reminded him, he needs to ask Sally to spar with him again, he needs to catch up with the rest or else he'll fall behind.
"That seems fair, yes?" Yae gave a quick smile before she just as quickly reverted to a calm expression.
"...Is there really nothing I can do to change both your minds?" Touya inquired, holding onto some hope that they'd at least hear him out.
"No." Elze shot down immediately, Touya sighed, at least it was worth a shot even if he knew they weren't gonna agree.
"I am fully aware that we are being overbearing." Yae explained, "However, we need an opportunity to take the first step."
"If you want to do this, I guess I won't hold back then." Touya shook his head, he reached into his inner pocket of his coat and pulled out [Gungnir] and unfolded it into its spear mode, "Ready when you are."
"Very well." Yae nodded and slowly approached him, Elze trailing after her and they synchronized soon after.
Touya kept his stance firm. Not moving an inch as both the Eashen samurai and silverette approached him, each step they took, Touya could easily hear, echoing in his mind as they got closer and closer.
Time slowed down, the white noise of the background faded into nothingness, the only thing he could hear was his own breathing and the steps his opponents took. He waited for any slight movements, any changes in their steps or a slight twitch in their bodies to indicate their next course of action.
And he got his answer.
Elze sprung forwards, raising her red-clad gauntlet towards him – Touya easily redirected the jab to the side, however, Yae soon came upon him, her sword over her head as she swung down.
He quickly moved to the side, letting the blunt blade hit nothing but air and his after image, Touya swung [Gungnir] towards the Eashen samurai, but she brought her sword up fast enough to block it, the loud 'clunk' of their clash reverberated through the garden.
Yae managed to push the spear to the side and tried a fast thrust – Unfortunately for her, Touya was able to redirect his spear back around and blocked it flawlessly, The Eashen scoffed and backed off as a swing forced her to move. Touya brandished his weapon before adopting a stance.
Elze didn't waste any time and moved, striking Touya from the sides and forcing his attention off of Yae and put him on the defensive as he blocked and parried away the silverette's attacks – As the exchange of blows continued, Elze started to move faster than the eye could see, appearing as a blur to the outside person's perspective as she struck Touya with a flurry of blows.
He held his own though, easily answering them and was seeing the similarities with his fight with Beastking Jamukha, still, he dared not to underestimate his opponent, especially when she wasn't alone. Yae came from behind Elze and swung her sword.
Touya stopped moving and brought his spear up to meet the strike away – He let out a sigh as he pushed the sword away from him and quickly changed the swing into a thrust, aiming it towards Yae's abdomen.
The blow struck true, hitting her and knocking the air out of her lungs, she doubled over and Touya would've taken that as his chance to knock her out but Elze intervened, sending a fast and almost unavoidable jab towards his head.
Touya's eyes widened as he quickly moved, dodging the jab by a hair as it wizzled past his cheek – He backed off, creating some distance between him and Elze but by the time he was ready to attack, Yae recovered from his strike, thanking Elze as she helped her up to her feet, the duo immediately charged him again, weapons drawn.
They separated, planning to attack him on both sides.
Touya's mind raced, trying to determine who he should focus on first, but each second he wasted the closer they got to him, figuring that he might as well leave it to fate, he blocked the first one that reached him.
And it was Yae.
He swung his spear, blocking the strike the Eashen tried to make but that left him vulnerable to a follow up from Elze, the silverette raised her fist and was about to throw a punch but Touya was faster, quickly changed his stance and using the momentum to swing [Gungnir], Elze's eyes widened as she brought her arms up to blocked the swing.
She grit her teeth as she felt the full force of the impact, even with his hands covered in full metal of her gauntlets the power behind the swing was immense – If she didn't train with Sally when she did, she would've been thrown like a ragdoll.
Thankfully, due to Touya's full focus on her at that moment, Yae was free to swing her katana, hoping to hit the back of his neck to knock him out.
Touya's berated himself as he quickly found himself in a pincer attack, he knew if he chose to block Yae's swing, Elze would hit him from behind, but if he didn't do anything he would end up on the ground unconscious from the sword swing, and he couldn't even dodge it, there wasn't enough room for him to move.
Which left him one option.
*CLUNK*
"Wha!?-" Yae blurted out, astonished as her swing was blocked.
Touya smirked as he was able to draw [Brunhilde] from its sheath fast enough and blocked the swing, despite it being smaller than its blade mode it was still lengthy enough for him to use just enough to have it block the katana.
He caught them in a dreadlock, him pushing Elze back while keeping Yae at bay, he knew he was at least stronger than the two physically, so he used that to his advantage.
But he knew that he would tire out faster if he kept himself in this unfavorable position.
He moved, swung both his weapons in a wide motion, throwing and forcing his opponents to back off, of course it did nothing, but that was the point, it was to throw them off him and give him some breathing room to work with.
He lunged, capitalizing on their state of confusion and disorganization to his advantage, his eyes landed on Elze and went for her, not letting her breathe for a second as he unleashed an onslaught of attacks, both from [Brunhilde] and [Gungnir].
Elze was slowly getting overwhelmed, the shock from Touya's maneuver and the constant pressure he was applying was gradually whittling away her defenses – She cursed under her breath as this was exactly what Sally told her to work on when they sparred together.
She's definitely gonna take that more seriously from now on.
But her thoughts were interrupted when a hard slam to her stomach caused her to double over – The air violently forced out of her, she couldn't help but cough at the same time. Touya was cringed a bit when he realized how hard he hit her, but he steered his nerves and moved to incapacitate her, unfortunately, before he could even take another step towards her, he was attacked by Yae.
She slashed him while he was distracted, forcing him to block quickly, but the awkward angle did not help him and he was pushed back slightly away, still, he swung his sword in his other hand, batting Yae's to the side as he reeled his spear back and thrust it forward.
Yae narrowly dodged the thrust, she quickly moved into Touya's blindspot, crouching down, she sent a kick to his chest, the blow staggering him as he took a step back and into Elze's path, who was able to recover, as she unleashed a flurry of blows.
Touya tried to block them all, but their close proximity and the sudden assault rendered him helpless as he was peppered with endless streams of punches and jabs, the last punch was a strong and devastating right hook that connected with his face and sent him skidding on the pavement.
Elze was huffing and panting, the adrenaline of her attack as well as the effects of the injury she sustained earlier worked her up more than she anticipated, nonetheless, it looks like Touya was out for the count.
"We did it…" Elze coughed out, Yae narrowed her eyes, checking to see if Touya's downed form was moving, and she turned her attention to her comrade and nodded as it seemed like he was indeed unconscious.
"Yes, so it would seem-" Before she could even finish her sentence, an ice attack appeared, forcing her to dodge and move Elze out the way as well.
Yae cursed, she instinctively brought her katana up and blocked [Brunhilde] as it was in its blade mode. The impact of the metals echoed through their ears, Elze wasted no time and helping Yae as she tried to get a few hits in Touya, but he sidestepped and swung [Gungnir], the silverette tried to block it, but was not prepared for the power behind the swing and was unceremoniously thrown around like a ragdoll.
Touya had to admit, that combo Elze did really took a chunk out of his endurance, but he was glad that he trained himself cause if he didn't, that single combo would've ended with him unconscious on the ground, he let out a quick exhale before he lunged.
Touya continued his onslaught against Yae, the Eashen samurai did her best to hold on, but the unpredictability of Touya's style of a sword and spear made it hard to counter.
Touya was relentless in his blows, each one was fast, almost blindingly so, and hit as hard as a golem, Yae found herself outmatched in the clear stats disadvantage. Still, she held on as much as she could, she knew that in terms of sword skills, she was still better and so she used what little she could to squeeze through.
A swing to the left was what she needed, she parried the blow and turned it into a riposte, Touya was forced to move back to avoid the blunt blade as it narrowly missed his chin.
Yae knew she couldn't reach him, so she did what she could, throwing her tanto at him as a makeshift projectile, however, Touya dodge and responded in kind, unloading his rubber bullets on Yae.
The Eashen samurai took the full brunt of the gunfire, downing her, but just before Touya could relax, he instinctively turned around and pulled the trigger, however, he forgot the one crucial detail.
Elze's left gauntlet had the power to redirect any physical projectile, and so, the rubber bullets harmlessly rebounded off their path and to who knows where. Touya's eyes widened as he quickly resheathed [Brunhilde] back and brought [Gungnir] to the front, blocking Elze's attacks as she tried to overwhelm him with her punches.
Despite the clear disadvantage at close range, Touya was able to block and parry almost all of her attacks, avoiding the ones he couldn't stop in time. He swung [Gungnir] forcing Elze to avoid it by bending backwards but that left her vulnerable as Touya capitalized on her.
Thankfully, her fists weren't her only weapons, in a simple motion, Elze used her legs to deflect the strike, Touya was surprised as she used the momentum to flip back upright and sent a kick towards him, he dodged of course, but that was enough for her to continue and follow up with a swing of her fist.
Elze started to land hits now, forcing Touya on the backpedal as he tried his best to answer them but more and more were making it through his defenses, though it seemed like luck was on his side as she was starting to feel the aftereffects of her attacks.
Still, a little fatigue wasn't going to stop her in the slightest, so she pressed on, sending a flurry of blows but that fatigue was slowly creeping up on her as Touya was now blocking or parrying her strikes.
Nevertheless, she continued the pressure, trying to find an opening within the sea of attacks and capitalizing on it, her wishes were granted as she forced his spear to the side and she took that as her chance to strike – She was half-way in his blind spot, the spear rendered ineffective at this close proximity, she moved to close the gap and tried to unleash another barrage of punches.
But Touya acted faster, dropping his spear and grabbing hold of Elze's arm, using it as a lever to slam her into the ground. She tried to quickly get up, but by the time she raised her head, she was staring at the barrel of [Brunhilde].
"Your time's up." Touya remarked, keeping his aim straight, "This is my win."
"...You're not going to pull the trigger?" Elze inquired.
"There's no point, any slight movement and you'll be knocked out by then." Touya answered.
"...You're naive." Elze spat, "You think you can protect Linze like that? How about Yumina and Setsuna? Do you think your mentality can prevent the worst?!-"
"If possible, I don't want to commit needless killing." Touya retorted, narrowing his eyes, "But you're wrong, I'm not naive, I know when killing is the only option… I just won't resort to it if I could… Sorry, but that's just who I am."
The two stared at each other, a thick atmosphere engulfing their space, broken by Elze suddenly smirking.
"You're right…" Elze lowered her head, her words barely a whisper, but with how close they were, Touya could hear it, "I guess that's one of the reasons Yae and I fell in love with you."
"..What?" Touya mumbled, his attention cut off for a second as he tried to process the words Elze said, but that split second indecisiveness gave Elze ample time to move, pushing the gun away from her as she reeled her fist back.
Touya's eyes widened as he realized that he let himself get caught off guard and was desperately trying to avoid the magically-enchanted gauntlet, he remembered that it could store excess mana in it and use it to create a destructive punch and he wanted to avoid that – But Elze grabbed his outstretched arm and made it impossible for him to move away.
In one quick swoop, Elze's punch connected with Touya's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs, his vision blurred as the pain shot through his nerves, yet he was still very much awake and standing, he tried to move his hand to punch Elze's off but a hit to the back of his neck, courtesy of Yae, was the final nail to the coffin and knocked him out.
'Shit…' Touya cursed mentally, as the world started to fade to black, 'I can't say I didn't see that confession coming…'
The last thing Touya saw before he blacked out was the ground and the heavy breathing of his opponents, exhausted from the fight and the injuries they sustained.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(After the match.)
"We also want to be in the same position as Linze, Yumina and Setsuna!" Elze blurted out, all the fire she had during the fight evaporated and was replaced with a nervous and unsure expression.
"Huh…?" Touya mouthed, still dazed from the two hit combo prior.
It was a little over 10 minutes since their matched finished, ending with Touya on the ground unconscious after the swift and sudden hit from the back via the amplified punch from Elze and Yae's sword hitting him in the back of his neck, the aforementioned silverette and Eashen female took a breather to catch their breaths, while they won their match, both of them knew that if Touya really wanted to win he would've easily done so.
The only reason why they won was because of Elze taking advantage of his distraction from her confession, and even then, her attack almost didn't knock him out and the timely intervention of her partner saved her.
Still, they were glad they won, because now they can finally confess the feelings they so desperately wanted to say.
"Be-because we- we uhh…" Yae sputtered, unsure how to say the words without fumbling like an idiot, "You should be the one to s-say it, Elze-dono!"
"Huh!?" Elze exclaimed, caught off guard as Yae basically unloaded all the responsibility to her, "Ah- Well… ohmygodthisissoembarrassing! For starters!- I-I I like you!"
"I too… I also like you, Touya-dono…" Yae mumbled, pushing her fingers together as she avoided eye contact, Touya found it cute, "In short, we want to be your wives as well…!"
"...Is that so…?" Touya sighed.
"Y-you have to agree to this!" Elze snapped, her outburst likely a defensive mechanism so she wouldn't get rejected, not like Touya was thinking about it at the moment, "S-since you lost the fight!-"
"Not like I wasn't going to…" Touya sighed, he was still processing the fact that he basically accepted three wives and now he gets two more, bringing a total of five wives to his name, "Are you two okay with this…?"
"I don't mind one bit." Elze shook her head, and began to explain her reasons, "For me, my feelings for you won't change, and if I can be happy with my sister as we share the same husband, then so be it."
"I like you, Touya-dono, as I like all of them as well." Yae commented, a small blush dusting her face, "If we were to become your brides, then all is well."
"S-so what do you think?" Elze asked.
"I…" Touya drawled, finding himself with nothing to say.
"What's the hold up? You're not thinking of rejecting us are you…?" While she said it in an annoyed tone, he could tell Elze was afraid of rejection as was Yae, staring at him in fearful anticipation.
"No- No, if you're thinking of whether or not I like you or dislike you, the answer is obvious, I like both of you." Touya reassured the two girls, "But like I said with Linze and Yumina yesterday, while I'm glad you confessed your love to me, I'm still not sure about my feelings… I know I like you but they're far too vague for me to differentiate whether or not they're genuine or not…"
"That does not matter." Yae shook her head, "Whether or not your feelings make themselves known, we still love you with all our hearts."
"Yeah, Yae's right, we love you as much as Yumina, Setsuna and Linze, there shouldn't be a problem here." Elze added.
"I know that… But I just don't know how the other three would react." Touya sighed, he knew this day would come, where he had to think about their feelings, but he was hoping he would address them after he figured out his.
"I do not think it will be a problem at all." Yae shook her head, giving him a reassuring smile, "The one who proposed to us to be your wives is none other than Yumina-dono herself."
"Wait, what?" Touya asked, perplexed at the news.
"Just after Yumina proposed to you, she asked to talk with us. Told us that she wasn't going to monopolize you and we're free to be your wives if we want to." Elze added, remembering the conversation clear in her mind, she closed her eyes and held a small smile on her face as she recalled it a few times, "Of course, at the time, we weren't sure of our feelings for you, a small crush, yeah, but it wasn't anything beyond that… Until it started to blossom as the months went by… Afterwards, she asked us again weeks later when you got the mansion from the king, at that point we were sure we loved you."
"Yes and bit by bit… Our feelings grew, it grew to the point that we could no longer deny it." Yae smiled, "But we were afraid of rejection, so we could not confess our feelings… Until Linze-dono lost her composure…"
"It was then, we decided, that we can't deny our feelings anymore." Elze added, looking straight into his eyes, "I decided, I want to be by your side, as your wife, Touya."
Touya was amazed, and more so, flattered, he turned his head to Yae, the smile on her face never leaving, instead, it seemed to widen just a bit.
"I started thinking about living together with everyone as a family with you at the center, Touya-dono." Yae commented, "While I honestly am not used to Yumina-dono's leniency, I am no doubt thankful for her blessing, for she is the reason why I can stay by your side forever."
"So… Knowing all that-" Elze nervously asked, "What do you think?"
Touya said nothing for a few seconds, staring at them in silence as his mind tried to process their reasonings and subsequent confessions, racing to gather his thoughts on the matter, closing his eyes for what seemed like hours when in reality it was just a few seconds, he sighed as he opened them and faced their nervous looks.
"First of all, I now understand how both of you feel, thank you." Touya smiled, "Secondly, I can say I do like you two."
"Elze, you're lively and cheerful, a bit headstrong and stubborn sure, but I find it cute." Elze blushed, flattered by what he said to her all the while uplifting her spirits.
"Yae, you're very dignified, diligent and considerate of your family's honor, yet also passionate and loyal to your friends, and good with children – I can easily see you becoming a good mother." His words evoked a blush on the young Eashen's face, especially when he said about the mother part, further reddening her face.
"In fact, I think both of you would be excellent wives in the future." Touya admitted.
"Th-then!"
"However, I need some time to think it over." Before Elze could speak, Touya interjected and bowed his head, "...I just need to sort my thoughts out, I'll give you my answer later tonight."
Saddened, but understanding, the two of them nodded, at least he would think it over instead of just outright rejecting them.
"...Gotcha."
"I understand."
After that, there was nothing left to be said, the two girls excused themselves and left him to Touya to his thoughts, he sighed, all that energy he had in his legs evaporated and fell flat on his ass, he let out another sigh as he fell on his back, deciding that getting up from his position wasn't worth the energy he created a {Gate} spell and connected it to his bed.
He seamlessly slid down into the null spell and was dropped comfortably on his bed, he looked around and saw that Linze and Yumina were nowhere to be found.
'Huh, they must've woken up.' Touya mused, turning to his side, 'Welp, guess I should think about their feelings…'
Touya knew this day would come sooner or later, he was just hoping that maybe, just maybe, that their feelings for him was just a small crush, after all, they were still young, teenagers even, not even adults yet and somehow, he has to shoulder the responsibilities.
Still, he… He needed someone to talk to, but he couldn't figure out who.
He sighed once more, scrolling mindlessly on his phone, trying to distract himself until his finger accidentally clicked his contacts, he stared at the screen for a few and saw a name.
Something in his mind clicked and he decided that he was the only person that could help him.
He groggily got up from his bed and opened a {Gate} to his destination, he was a little surprised to find out that it actually worked and he was back at the same place he met God when he first reincarnated.
"Oh, well isn't this a surprise." God smiled, he put down the tea cup he was drinking from and greeted the newcomer, "What do I owe this pleasure, Touya?"
"Sorry for the intrusion." Touya apologized, bowing his head, God laughed it off and told him to sit down.
"No need, while it would've been nice for you to inform me beforehand, I didn't think you could even come back here, so no hard feelings at all." God assured, "Now, what do you like to talk about?"
Touya sighed and began to explain his reasons for being here, he told about his situation with the girls, about how they confessed to him and their intention of marrying him, though he did leave out the part where he was a little more intimate with some of them, like last night with Yumina and Linze.
"And that's what happened… These four- no, five different women in my life are important to me, so much as that I can say that I… I think I love them too…" Touya confessed, after a while, along with talking to God about this, he finally realized his feelings for them, "I don't want to, and moreso, let them be sad from my indecisiveness… But I keep thinking to myself, 'Am I good enough' for them?"
After Touya was finished explaining, God stroked his beard and hummed, "Hmm… You love them and they love you, the answer should be obvious… But I feel like I should call someone who specializes in this field."
"Huh?" Touya tilted his head in confusion as God began to dial a number on one of those old-timey telephones.
"Hey, it's me." God answered, and it seemed like whoever was on the other line understood why he called them, "Yeah, I need your skills here – I appreciate it, thank you, see you soon."
"Who was that?" Touya asked, curious of who God called.
"You'll meet her soon enough-"
"Sorry for keeping you waiting!" A voice called out, Touya turned to the source of the voice and saw a pink-haired female emerge out of nowhere, he had to squint his eyes as there was an aura of light surrounding her and it was steadily blinding him.
"Who- Who is she?" Touya inquired, turning his head away and saving his eyes from permanent damage.
"She's a Love Goddess, someone who can perfectly help you with your problem, Touya." God explained as the Love Goddess sat down next to them.
"Lovely to finally meet you in person, Touya." She replied, smiling, "I've been watching you ever since you met Yumina, and ever since then, I was interested in what your love life would be!"
"Wait- Wait- So does that mean you're the reason why I'm in this situation right now?" Touya held up his hands to pause as he raised a brow, questioning the goddess.
"Nope, it's not as if I can control someone's feelings for someone else." She shook her head, she could understand where he'd misunderstood her, but she swore her powers don't work like that, "I do things like setting up moods, creating moments or the standard love-related cliches. So I'm more of someone that can influence a situation rather than fully deciding how it should go. Kinda like a movie director, I guide the actors, which in this case are two people in love, and influence their actions to fully realize their feelings, I just make sure they get pushed to the right direction."
"Cliches?" Touya asked.
"Yeah." The Goddess of Love nodded, "Like for example, a soldier said he would marry his girlfriend after the war or something similar, then he won't be able to fulfill that!"
"Hold on-! That's because of you!?" Touya exclaimed.
"So what's wrong?" She innocently dodged the question. A slight glint of mischievousness in her eyes.
Just like with God, Touya explained to the Goddess of Love, she nodded and hummed, mulling over what to say to help him.
"Sounds like things are getting super interesting." She sipped on her teacup, "But I don't see the problem though, shouldn't it be fine if you both love each other back?"
"But having more than one wife…" Touya muttered.
"That's your first problem." The Goddess of Love stopped him from further finishing his sentence as she began to break down his deflection, "You have to discard your old world's laws, here, everything is different, different eras, different laws and certainly different views on love."
"Even if you love just one of them among the five and considered the rest as extras because you pitted them, that would make you not just cruel but insincere." She explained, Touya nodded slowly as he took in her words, "But you love them don't you? So what's the problem with that? After all, you wouldn't be thinking of this if you didn't love them to a degree, the fact that you considered and even needed help means you do love them, even if your brain says otherwise."
"Love…?" Touya whispered, the word echoed in his mind as he mulled over it repeatedly, "I always did wonder… Why would they fall for someone like me…"
"I can't answer that." The Goddess shook her head, giving him a small smile, "Some people fall in love at first sight, while some don't even realize they've already fallen in love with someone because they think it's because of how familiar they are with each other. Love comes in many shapes and sizes, there's no real way to determine how someone falls in love."
"Ten people, ten colors, each with their similarities yet unique that none of them are the same, that's how life is, each person is unique and thus the way they fall in love follows that." She smiled again, "That's why falling in love can't be explained well enough, plenty of people fall in love with no explanation, but maybe that's not the problem here. It lies with you."
"Me?" Touya pointed to himself, the Goddess nodded and took a sip of her tea before continuing.
"Yes, it's not that you're doubting their feelings, nor yours, it's more of you doubting if you're worthy of their love, of the responsibilities of being their chosen partner – You're anxious on whether or not you think of yourself as worthy, but that's not for you to decide." She explained, "The girls chose you because they know you're worthy, worthy of their feelings and their trust."
"Just be more honest with yourself, stop overthinking the situation and just follow your heart." She instructed, "While it's important to be considerate of other people's feelings, do just go around doing that at the expense of your own, doing so isn't rude to you, but to the girls also."
"I see… So can I be allowed to be selfish?" Touya inquired.
"Of course you can." The Goddess nodded, "One-sided love doesn't count as love after all, it'd be meaningless if you both can't be happy."
Touya thought long and hard about what the love goddess told him, her words clashing with his doubts, he hummed before a small smile appeared on his face.
"Did you find your answer?" God asked.
"I'm not sure, but I feel like I know what to do now." Touya nodded.
"I see. That's good to know." God smiled, offering the young man another cup of tea which he accepted.
"I'm glad my cliche didn't go to waste." The Goddess of Love remarked, causing Touya to raise a brow in confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean by cliche?" He inquired.
"Remember that time where you decided not to enter the bath unannounced?" She reminded him, he thought about it and nodded, wanting to know what she meant by that, "Well, I was pretty annoyed that you somehow stopped that cliche I set up! But by some unforeseen chance, that Sally girl was able to save that moment and made it even better!"
"That was you!?" Touya yelled, angered and annoyed that the reason that whole scenario happened was because of this pink-haired woman in-front of him, she shrugged her shoulders and stuck out her tongue in a playful gesture which only served to piss him off even more.
"Forget it, no use getting angry over it now." He sighed, frustrated, but keeping his calm, she was still a goddess, so she's probably strong even if combat wasn't her main attribute, "Before I leave, I have something to ask."
"Hm? What would you like to know?" She tilted her head.
"Yesterday… When Yumina and Linze talked with me…" Touya had a hard time saying it outloud cause he was both embarrassed and scared of asking, but he steered his nerves and pushed them out, "Were you… Were you responsible for that scenario or…?"
"Oh? That one where you three had a threesome?" She bluntly pointed out as Touya's face reddened but he nodded and tried to hide his face. The goddess giggled at his reaction but decided to save him from further embarrassment, "Well, to answer your question, no. I wasn't the one who set up the scenario, I only made sure to have Linze confess her feelings."
"Really? So was it someone else?" He asked.
"Yup." She nodded, "A fellow Goddess and a friend of mine… But she occupies the more lustful side of love than I do."
"There's more than one Goddess of Love?" Touya inquired.
"Yeah, we gods have some redundant titles, like God over here, he encompasses all aspects, but his main title is to be the God of Gods, our leader." She explained, "So that's where we come in, we take over most aspects but some of us also share different versions of those aspects, like Love for example."
"That… Sounds like a headache…" Touya sighed, he stopped trying to wrap his mind around it.
"Yeah, better to not question it." She nodded and clapped her hands together, "So, don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Huh? Oh- right." Touya chuckled lightly, standing up from his sitting position and bowed his head, thanking God for the tea. He went out the same way he entered, using {Gate} as the medium and went through but not before he waved goodbye to the divine beings.
Once he left, God turned his head to the Goddess of Love, "I don't think you told him your name, Karen."
"Oh~! I kinda forgot~ hehe." She giggled, "Oh well, he'll know about it later."
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the mansion, inside Touya's office/room.)
It was about evening time, just a little after dinner did Touya call for the five specific individuals that confessed to him. They obliged and one by one they entered his room and sat on the couch in the middle of his room, the atmosphere was tense as neither side were too anxious and nervous to say a word.
Touya observed them, out of the five, only Yumina seemed at ease, a blank look on her face as she stared back at him.
'These five girls… They're too good for me…' Touya mused, 'The fact that they're ready to spend the rest of their life with me… While I'm still indecisive is an insult not just to them, but to me – Which is why I finally decided to come clean.'
He sighed, closing his eyes for a second before he opened them, he stared straight at the five girls sitting parallel to him, waiting in anticipation, anxiety clear on their faces, hitched breath as they waited.
"As you know, all of you have proposed to me in some form or another." Touya started, they nodded simultaneously, "And while I can't marry you right now. I can confidently say I do plan on marrying you in the near future."
"Why not now? Is there a reason for delaying the marriage ceremony?" Yumina asked, voicing her opinion.
"Because, I'm still young, we all are actually – I'm not mature enough to look after other people and I'm still impulsive at times, which is why I want to take things slow, to get to know each other more until I know that I can look after you as you will with me." Touya explained thoroughly, giving them a small smile, "I don't want to marry you all and find out that you'll regret it later… I want to understand what it feels to bear the weight of your life alongside mine, which is why I ask, will you wait until I do?"
"...Aren't you sly..." Elze frowned, all that nervousness she felt coming here was immediately washed away when she heard of his reasons, "Saying this knowing we won't leave you… Well played, Touya."
"As they say, 'Whoever falls in love first loses' Elze-dono." Yae placed a hand on the older silverette's shoulder as she tried to comfort her.
"... Even if my sister gives up on you, Touya, I'll keep waiting for you, because I want to be yours." Linze commented.
"Hey-!? I never said I'd give up on him!" Elze yelled, frowning in anger as she faced her younger sister.
"I'm just glad you didn't reject us." Setsuna grinned before letting out a sigh of relief, all the nervousness she held was lifted off her chest and let her relax into the sofa, "Now all that's left is to make you fall in love with us even harder."
"Agreed." Yumina smiled, "With all our doubts cleared along with our feelings known. There's not much to worry about other than making you fall in love with us as Setsuna said, at this point, we won't stop until you're head-over-heels for us."
"Guess I'll do my best to fall harder then." Touya smiled, the girls giggled as they started to converse amongst themselves as well as their relief at the whole ordeal and its conclusion being a favorable outcome.
"So with all that said and done~!" Yumina clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention, "I suppose all that's left to do is line up and kiss our husband!"
"EH!?" Yae and Elze were taken back as they blushed hard.
"Wait- I- isn't that a little too soon!?" Elze spluttered, frantically waving her hands around.
"Umm- While we may be betrothed- I believe we may be too soon for such things-!" Yae tried to make up excuses, looking down as her face blushed redder every second.
"I don't mind." Setsuna was the only one who was unfazed by the proposition, almost like she waited for Yumina to ask her, "If they won't do it, I'll go first."
"Feel free to do so, I already had mine yesterday." Yumina smirked, getting a reaction out of the three girls who haven't kissed him yet, Setsuna on the other hand felt annoyed that she was not only left out of the conversation, but also kisses from their shared fiance.
"I-I've also gotten kissed by him." Linze raised her hand, looking to the side as she averted her gaze, 'Among other things… But I'm not gonna say that out loud!'
"Well that does it!" Setsuna stood out of her seat, hands on her hips, "I'm not gonna wait for these two's response, if they don't want to kiss you that's fine by me, but I'm getting my kiss here and now!"
"H-Hey! I didn't say I didn't want to!"
"I do as well!"
"Get in line! Then!" Setsuna wasted no time in moving, rapidly making her way to Touya who just let the Mismedian Princess do what she wanted, he faced her as she crossed her arms, a slight frown on her face that he honestly found to be cute.
He gave her a small smile and she returned it with one of her own, he leaned forward and cupped her chin before he captured her lips and they kissed, Touya mused that her lips tasted different from Yumina or Linze, she tasted a lot like meat, maybe it was cause of the food she ate at dinner.
After a while, their lips parted ways, Setsuna had a faint pink blush on her cheeks, she suddenly hugged Touya close, and took a huge whiff of his scent, her tail wagging happily, he found it absolutely adorable and patted the top of her head. She mewled from the warm touch of his hand, hugging him tighter.
Alas, she had to let him go as she wasn't the only one wanting a kiss from him, so she reluctantly separated from his warmth and went back to her seat on the couch. Elze was the next one up, though she was stiff in her movements as the nervousness came back in full force and a raging blush on her face.
The older Silhoueska tried to look at her betrothed in the eyes, yet her embarrassment made her avert her gaze, Touya shook his head, a light chuckle leaving his mouth, his hand cupping Elze's chin and gently moving towards him.
Elze closed her eyes and puckered up her lips, Touya smiled as he closed his and was inches away from connecting.
'Huh, usually Elze would get way too embarrassed and would throw a punch by now-' Before Touya could finish musing, his instincts flared.
"I knew it! This is way too embarrassing!" Elze suddenly lashed out and threw a fast right hook.
Touya's eyes widened as he immediately dodged to his left and narrowly avoided a punch to his gut, though due to her putting all her weight into the punch, Elze was steadily about to fall to the floor. Thankfully, Touya acted fast and grabbed her outstretched arm and used it to lift her back up, turn her towards him and hold her close.
If Elze had a raging blush before, she was redder than a tomato now, incoherent noise escaped her mouth as she failed to form words but Touya kept a reassuring smile on his face which was calming her down a bit.
He waited until she stopped feeling tense, and when she finally relaxed, he leaned forward, capturing her lips, each second that passed, the more Elze relaxed in his arms, her hand that he was holding maneuvered until their fingers intersect.
After the long drawn-out kiss, they separated with a thin line of saliva being the aftermath of the action, Elze said nothing as she stared into his eyes, the blush turning from red to pink as she dumbly nodded, her eyes droopy as she went back to her seat in silence, a satisfied smile on her face.
Next up was Yae, but she was way too embarrassed to even move, covering her face with her hands as she turned her head away. Setsuna sighed as she shook her head, Yumina smiled her usual smile while Linze did the same, Elze was still in her own little world, the kiss still fresh on her mind.
Touya sighed but he understood, she reminded him of the same schoolgirls back in his old world, shy and meek when it came to romance and so was he, but he was steadily trying to fix that. So, he slowly made his way towards Yae and knelt down to his knees.
"Yae." He called out, he grabbed her wrists but didn't pull them away from her face, "It's okay to be embarrassed, but you want a kiss don't you?"
"I…" Yae mumbled, still keeping her face covered, but soon enough she nodded, "I- I do! However-"
"Does it feel too fast for you?" Touya asked, trying to reassure her, "Because if it is, I can just kiss you some other time-"
"That is not necessary! I will- I-I will-! Kiss you here!" Yae blurted out. The thought of her being the only one Touya hadn't kissed despite everyone, even Elze who was just as indecisive as she was! Having theirs was too much for the young female, so she used up all her courage and separated her hands from her face, showing him her reddening cheeks and flustered look.
Touya chuckled as he grabbed Yae's hands, her fingers instinctively interlocked with his and it seemed like she caught on as the blush on her face deepened, Touya smiled as he slowly leaned forward, the Eashen female closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, once their lips made contact, Yae took it in slowly, relaxing herself as she enjoyed the sensation.
Unlike with Elze's, it didn't draw itself any longer than it should have since the kiss with Yae was short and sweet, the two separated soon after, Yae's lips turned into a smile as she mouthed a silent thank to Touya, he nodded and stood up to his full height.
"I'm glad we all finally confessed." Yumina smiled before she clapped her hand to get everyone's attention. Touya mentally mused that she seemed to like doing that a lot lately, "You would not believe how long I've been silently pushing all of you to confess."
A series of cries and denials came, with the exception of Setsuna who joined Yumina in the teasing, the three others tried to make up excuses that they weren't ready yet or something similar but the Belfastian Princess would just shoot their excuses down.
"I see…" Touya chuckled and watched as his wives-to-be started to converse amongst themselves, his eyes roamed around, watching them laugh and smile as they recalled all the moments of romance they had with him.
He felt a sense of pride wash over him as he observed them getting along with each other, despite knowing each other for only half a year at the very least, they were as close as a family and that made him happy.
It made him feel… At home.
'Heh, how about that.' Touya mused, he never really thought about it, he did miss his old world, he knew the dangers of going there since God himself told him about it, but still, he was homesick – Now though? He found himself a new home, a home with his fiancees and close loved ones.
And he wouldn't trade it for the world.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(Just outside of Touya's room/office.)
Sally sighed – Looks like the girls finally took the hint and confessed, and like she predicted, Touya didn't reject them and told them that he would marry them at a later date.
Still, the former assassin was happy for them, at least they found their special someone, unlike her.
Though just as she was about to leave, she looked to her side, "Are you gonna join them or what?"
What seemed like it was Sally talking to herself, Chiyome emerged out of the shadows and walked towards her.
"I have no clue what you're talking about." Chiyome responded.
"Sure." Sally smirked but it lasted only a fraction of a second as she turned to the door of Touya's room, "Now that they're an item, the real challenges begin."
"And what would those challenges be?" Chiyome asked, curious at what the former assassin was implying.
"Only time will tell." Sally replied vaguely as she started to walk down the hallway to who knows where.
Chiyome was even more curious at the vague statement, but kept it to herself. After all, curiosity killed the cat – Instead, Chiyome opted to leave and go to her room, tomorrow would be a big day it would seem.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
And that's a wrap.
Sorry for the long wait, summer has been a very hectic event for me, from joining a fashion event to being scouted by a dance group. My month of July/August has been rather busy compared to last year's, coupled with finding a job has made finding time to write this chapter very slow.
Not much can be said as this is mostly inline with canon, but the next chapter should be a relaxing chapter where the main crew bond and the next one after it is where things really start to divert off of the main story.
Of course, that will take time, and I'm not even sure it'll drop in late-august or early-september but I'll try my best to give you dear readers an experience!
Speaking of which, has over 170+ likes and 180+ followers on FFnet while having 100+ kudos and 50+ bookmarks on Ao3! Gotta say, I appreciate all of your support and hope to have more to come!