- Chapter 12: Goodbye To This Vagrant Lifestyle! -
Megumin drowsily licked the inside of her mouth as she began to stir from her sleep, an uncomfortable wetness covering her face. Scrunching her face up, she quickly realised that what she first assumed was probably just a little bit of sweat was actually, to her pure displeasure, drool. Something - no, someone - was definitely licking her face. If she was even the slightest bit more awake at that current moment, her reaction probably would've been much more aggressive.
"Ewww… Kazuma, that's so gross… S-stop it," Megumin weakly mumbled, her eyelids glued shut, "...Seriously, I might actually get mad in a second if you don't stop."
Not receiving any sort of reaction from the boy, She finally mustered up the energy to slowly crack open her eyelids, coming face to face with a familiar set of piercing yellow eyes.
"Meow."
"O-oh, Chomusuke," Blinking a few times, Megumin let out a small, quiet laugh as the cat guiltily backed a few paces away, instead settling to lick her own paws instead of her owner's face, "How did you get in here? I thought you were looking after Komekko for me?".
Completely ignoring her, Chomusuke curled up into a ball and rested against Kazuma's unoccupied pillow. Megumin had long since stopped questioning the cat's strange ability to get into places she certainly shouldn't be able to access, mentally shrugging it off as usual.
Shifting her gaze downwards, she quickly spotted a messy head of light brown hair gently resting against her chest. She craned her neck downwards until his hair was tickling her chin, rubbing against the top of his head for a couple of seconds before bringing her head back up. Briefly, Megumin considered going back to sleep, finding her current situation a bit too comfortable to just give up, but eventually decided that she should probably at least check the time before going back to sleep.
Carefully pulling one of her arms away from Kazuma, she reached out as far as she could towards the bedside table, her short arms not even making it to the end of the mattress. After fruitlessly clenching and unclenching her fist in a fit of mild agitation for a few seconds, she eventually let her arm flop down onto the bed, Kazuma's phone being just too far out of reach for her.
Letting out a dejected sigh, she rested her head back against the pillow, glancing over at the window from the corner of her eye. Looking at the sky, it was probably still pretty early in the morning, and Komekko was seemingly still in bed, so maybe it would be okay for her to rest a little longer before waking Kazuma up. Megumin was certain that he'd have no complaints about getting to sleep in for a few extra minutes.
"I really do like sleeping together with you like this, Kazuma," Megumin, taken in by the pleasant atmosphere she was experiencing, whispered to the sleeping teen, petting his head, "I'm honestly gonna be a little sad when you move out to live with Aqua again."
Just as she felt her eyes begin to grow heavy once again, a faint sound caught her attention, paired with a tiny, miniscule, gust of wind blowing against her chest area for a brief moment. It was fleeting, and barely perceptible, but she'd definitely heard it. It almost sounded like… sniffing? Almost like clockwork, her hand stopped brushing Kazuma's hair and she narrowed her eyes down at the boy resting in her arms.
"So how long have you been awake for, exactly?".
"...I have no idea what you're talking about," Came his muffled reply.
"Uguh," Megumin whined as she shot back, pushing the boy's head from her chest, "I c-can't believe I said something so embarrassing out loud while you were actually awake…".
Kazuma rolled onto his back, groaning, "I was enjoying that, you know. You didn't have to stop."
"I-I'm definitely spoiling you too much, aren't I!?" She crossed her arms as she sat up on the bed, "Giving a pervert this much leeway has gotta be dangerous, right?".
"O-oi! Don't go around calling me 'dangerous'. That totally makes me sound like some kind of sexual deviant!" The older teen retorted, tilting his head to look over at her.
"But isn't that what you are?".
"Wha-? Bu- No! Of course not!" He spluttered, his face red, "Th-there's a difference!".
"Mhm, if you say so," Megumin smirked, before reaching out to finally grab Kazuma's phone and check the time, now that she could freely move, "...Oh. It's earlier than I expected. Not by much, but still… Komekko should be waking up at some point soon."
"Well, yeah, that's why I didn't wanna ge- Hold on, wait! Gimme that! It's important!" The brunette's eyes widened in realisation before he suddenly sat up and lunged for his phone.
"Ah- Hey! You don't have to snatch it from me!" She complained as she watched Kazuma's gaze intently focus in on the screen, "Uhm, so what are you looking at, anyway?".
The teen remained quiet, concentrating, for a few seconds longer before his posture relaxed and he let out a loud cheer, throwing his arms into the air. Megumin briefly smiled at the boy's sudden display of happiness before it dawned on her that she still had no idea what it even was that he was so happy about in the first place.
"H-hey, answer my question already, Kazuma."
He kept grinning to himself as he flicked his focus over to Megumin. "I can finally start renting that house now," Kazuma proudly stated, pointing his thumb towards his chest.
"Wait, really?" Megumin's eyes lit up, quickly shuffling her way over to Kazuma to peer at his phone, "Are your parents actually gonna send you money, then?".
"They already did," Kazuma waved his phone in her general direction, "My dad sent it through late last night, apparently."
She lightly chuckled to herself as she looked at the phone screen from her position right next to the boy, "That's a relief. I was honestly pretty sure that they wouldn't after all."
"They're not as unreasonable as you think, they just don't trust me in the slightest."
"I could tell," Megumin commented, before smugly puffing out her chest and raising herself up from sitting down to resting on her knees, "Anyway, more importantly, isn't there someone that you should be thanking, Kazuma?".
"Huh? Oh, right," Kazuma's face darkened as he slowly advanced towards her, "That reminds me…".
"Kazuma, Kazuma? What are y-? Ah! S-stop!" She yelped as the high schooler lunged at her, shaking her back and forth, "You-ou alre-eady scold-ded m-me for thi-is yester-day!".
"Didn't your parents ever teach you to not steal other people's phones, especially when they're in the middle of a call!?" He paused his shaking, holding her shoulders in place and allowing herself to reorient herself.
"I couldn't help it!" Megumin insisted, "Th-there's no way I could let them go around with those false assumptions about you!".
Kazuma glanced away, his cheeks darkening, "W-well, I mean, I'm not really, like, all that mad about it. If it wasn't for you, I kinda doubt that I'd have been able to convince them."
"Soooo…" She leaned forward towards him, an amused look on her face.
"Yeah, fine, whatever," The brunette sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Tha-".
"I wanna join in too!" Komekko suddenly burst into the room, having been woken up by Kazuma's previous cheer, "I can shout super loud too, big brother! Lemme show you."
"Kazuma, I'm back!" Megumin called out as she entered the house, having just dropped off Komekko.
Kazuma had never been as relieved to hear those words as he was at the present moment.
Letting out a loud groan, ensuring that it was loud enough for Megumin to hear from the front door, he slumped forwards onto the table until his head met paper. It was around twenty seconds later when he sensed a new presence enter the room, with Chomusuke trotting away from her spot on the table to go greet the new arrival.
Megumin regarded the boy with a mixture of pity and disapproval as she crouched down to scoop Chomusuke up in her arms and made her way over to the table.
"Hey, Megumin," He greeted her, unmoving, "I need you."
"Come on, you can easily finish this if you just put in the effort for like… an hour, maybe less?" She said, trying her best to sound encouraging, "This is the last thing you have left to do, right?".
Kazuma turned his head away from the table to look at her, "Mhm. Well, I still have to actually pay for and do the paperwork to get the keys for the house, but I can't do that right now, anyway."
"Oh, and when can you do that? It seems like the type of thing that you might wanna do sooner rather than later," Megumin inquired, idly fixing up her bangs with her thumb and forefinger.
"Pretty soon actually," It didn't take long for the high schooler to perk up, the conversation being the perfect excuse for him to take a short break from his homework, "I texted the guy about when I could properly move in while you were out and he just got back to me a few minutes ago. Apparently, if I can get him the payment for the first month by tomorrow, I can get the keys right then and there."
"Woah, really?" Her demeanour quickly turned excited as she sat down next to him, "That's great! You'll even have an entire day to get everything settled in before Aqua gets back, won't you?"
"Mhm, yeah. Aqua and Darkness are getting back Sunday morning, so that gives me all of Saturday to get ready to properly move in," Kazuma explained, idly rolling his pen between his fingers as he spoke, "I'll be heading over to get the keys at six p.m. tomorrow, you and Komekko are free to come along if you want."
Megumin put on a smug smile, letting her eyes flutter shut for a moment, "Obviously, we'll be coming with you, there's no way we wouldn't."
The green eyed teen reclined back into his chair, a relaxed smile on his face, "Mhm, I've got no problems with that."
For a few moments, she matched his smile with one of her own, softly beaming at him, before she suddenly grabbed Kazuma's papers and placed them back down directly in front of him. "Alright, break is over! Come on, you can finish this in no time at all," Megumin assured him as she gave him a wide eyed stare, one that almost unnerved him a little, "Think of all the things you'll be able to do once you don't have to worry about this anymore!".
Kazuma fixed her with a tired stare, slowly morphing into a small smirk. "As soon as I finish this, I'm going back to bed. Immediately."
"…I'll help you finish the rest."
"Here's the sandwich you ordered, ma'am, and this is your drink. Please enjoy!" Aqua cheerily stated as she placed down a plate and a tall glass down in front of Darkness, a wide smile plastered on her face the entire time.
"Wonderful job, Miss Aqua!" One of the surrounding maids clapped as the girl in question did an overdramatic bow, her hair almost touching the floor in the process, "You haven't dropped a single plate today, you're getting much better."
"Mhm, I agree," Darkness joined in, "You're very friendly with customers, and your high energy would definitely be a nice addition to the cafe's staff."
The blue haired girl proudly placed a hand on her chest, standing at full height, "Yup, yup, keep it coming. More praise, more!".
"Hmm," Another maid put a hand to her chin, massaging her jaw, "Maybe it would be a good idea to try presenting a scenario with a more aggressive customer. It's just as important to know how to deal with more… disagreeable clientele, don't you think?".
There was a general murmur of approval, both from the other maids and Darkness herself, in response to that suggestion, with one of the other maids in particular even volunteering to take up the part of the customer. Aqua, of course, agreed in an instant. With how high her ego had been boosted within the past few minutes, she was pretty much ready to take on any challenge that they would present to her.
"Alright, here you go, Miss Aqua," Aqua was handed a new plate and a glass as she got herself into her new waitress persona, "And we can start… now!".
Feeling a pretty sizable high from receiving her favourite thing of all - praise - the blue haired girl decided to show off a little, balancing the glass cup with only a single finger while she spun the plate around with her other hand as she made her way over to the table. Of course, if there had been any actual food on her plate, or a real drink in her glass, she'd probably have made a mess all over the floor by now, but Darkness would wait until Aqua had gotten the basics down to tackle that potential issue.
"Enjoy the meal, ma'am," She placed the dish and the drink down in front of the faux customer and gave a polite - yet completely unnecessary - curtsy, "And make sure to leave me a generous tip once you're d-".
"This isn't what I ordered," The maid interrupted her, putting on a gruff and irritated voice that clearly didn't fit her usual personality, "Take it back, now."
For a moment, Aqua seemed genuinely shocked, not fully understanding the imaginary situation presented to her, "A- Bu- What?".
"This isn't what I ordered," She repeated, her tone even harsher, "I did not order this, so you need to fix it."
"Why do I need to fix it, huh?" The blue eyed girl shot back, almost immediately, "It's not my fault, so you better stop talking to me like that!".
"Oh yeah? I'll talk to you however I want!" The pretend customer glowered at Aqua, despite the fact that she had to look up at her, getting even further into her role, "Here's what you're gonna do, since you can't think for yourself. You're gonna take this back to the kitchen, and get them to make my actual order, okay?".
It was only then that, with angry tears bubbling up in the corners of her eyes, Aqua finally broke and grabbed the maid by her collar, "Now you listen here, cleaner lady, do you have any idea who you're talking to?".
Darkness sighed, dramatically slumping her shoulders and trying her best to tune out Aqua's oncoming rant. The small amount of enjoyment she was getting from imagining herself in the maid's current situation was completely overpowered by the feeling of complete hopelessness she was feeling. For once, she felt like she could sort of understand why Kazuma often treated Aqua the way he did.
"This might take a little longer than I first thought."
The maid nearest to her regarded her with a sheepish expression, most likely having similar thoughts about Aqua's training herself, "I did try to warn you of this, Miss Dustiness."
True to his word, and much to Megumin's dismay, Kazuma did actually end up going to sleep almost immediately after finishing up the last of his work. It wasn't until she went into his room to ask him about lunch and saw him sprawled out in the middle of the bed that Megumin that he was actually serious about his earlier statement.
Even worse, he slept for a while. Not just an hour or so in the middle of the day, but long enough that Megumin had to resort to waking him up herself just to make sure he wasn't late to work.
Was Kazuma really that tired?
Either way, she didn't linger on those thoughts for too long, instead poking fun at him for it throughout their bus ride to their respective destinations. But - anyway - that didn't really matter right now, she had other things to focus on at the moment. More specifically, dinner.
She let out a small noise of annoyance as she, now back home, filled around with one of the dials on her family's gas hob. The stovetop was, to put it kindly, temperamental, as Kazuma had made sure to remind her every time it was his turn to cook something. Despite the fact that she'd always always retort with a sarcastic comment of her own, she couldn't deny how nice it would be to own an electric stovetop, or even just a more reliable gas one.
"What's for dinner, big sis?" Komekko asked as she hopped up and down, trying her hardest to peer into the pot, "Smells yummy!".
"Of course it smells yummy. Everything big sis makes for you is yummy," Megumin proudly put her hands on her hips, as she looked down at her little sister, "I'm making a curry for today."
The young girl narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, an almost disgusted look on her face, "Uuuwwggghh."
"Hey!" The dark haired teen crouched down to be at her sister's height, a stern look on her face, "We don't make rude faces like that when someone makes food for us, now do we?".
"Uwww."
Megumin sighed, "I didn't add any spice to it this time, Komekko. You don't have to look at me like that."
"Yay!" In an instant, Komekko's expression transformed into an ecstatic grin, as if she'd never been upset in the first place, "I love big sis' food!".
Despite the fact that she often liked to consider herself to be a pretty good cook, a statement that both Kazuma and Komekko had backed up on multiple occasions, Megumin still had to admit that cooking didn't really come naturally to her, continuing to be an arduous process no matter how often she did it.
Regardless, though, she did enjoy it, really. She just also enjoyed it when someone else was there to take over from time to time. That was understandable, right?
Megumin shifted her gaze over to the door, her eyes having grown accustomed to the darkness a few minutes prior, as she watched Kazuma perform something halfway between a stretch and a yawn as he made his way into the bedroom, having just finished up in the bathroom for the night. Their eyes met for a second, with Kazuma sending her a look that she couldn't quite parse, before he went around to the opposite side of the bed from her and got under the covers.
There was a prolonged period of complete quiet as they both lay there, neither of them moving. The younger teen found herself growing a little impatient as she waited for him to move over towards her. Yet, after around thirty seconds of nothing, she began to grow a little bit unsure. Was something… wrong?
"Hey, Kazuma?" Megumin broke the silence as she idly bunched up her end of the blankets, "Are you… mad at me about something?".
To his credit, the brunette did look genuinely confused as he rolled onto his side to face her, "Wha?- No, I don't think so. Why?".
"'I don't think so', how reassuring," She sarcastically commented, rolling her eyes, "So, if you're not mad, then why are you all the way on the other side of the bed?".
"Oh, r-right," He frowned, a guilty look spreading across his features, "No reason."
Before she could question anything further, Kazuma shuffled towards her, quickly closing the distance between them. The moment he got close enough for her to touch, she wrapped her arms around him, almost instantly relaxing as she felt his body heat warm her up ever so slightly. It wasn't until she felt something touch her, just below her pelvis, that his behaviour started to make sense to her.
"I-is it really that hard to control it?" She asked, shifting uncomfortably, "I didn't wanna say anything about it before, but having it pressed up against me almost every time we cuddle is a bit… well…".
"I-I already told you that I can't control it!" Kazuma hissed, glancing away, "Of course I'm gonna get like this if you're clinging to me this tightly. D-do you know how hard it's been to hold myself back for the past week or so!? Us men have needs, you know?".
"It's not… it's not like I don't have those kinds of… n-needs, either," Megumin blushed, lowering her head in what could've either been embarrassment or shame - Kazuma wasn't quite sure - "I'm not a-against doing… some things, b-but there's no way I'm doing anything in my own parents' bed. Absolutely not!".
Kazuma inhaled a shaky breath, a little shocked. Megumin was a girl going through puberty, after all, he noted. It's not like he'd deluded himself to the idea that she had absolutely no interest in anything sexual, but he'd never expected her to be so… honest about it. As much as he hated to admit it, she was making him a little - no, actually, very - nervous.
"Ah, uh, uhm," He fumbled his words, entirely unsure of what to even say, for a few seconds before saying the first thing that came to his mind, "Let's move to your room then."
"No way! K-komekko's in there!".
"Tsk, fine then, we can just d-do it on the couch, come on," Kazuma insisted, trying to squirm away from Megumin and get up out of the bed; an action that she immediately put a stop to by tightening her embrace around him.
She furrowed her eyebrows, increasing her grip to the point where it began to hurt a little, "I know that you're a huge pervert and all, b-but can't you at least be a little bit reasonable right now!?".
"H-how am I the perverted one!?" The high schooler shot back, his demeanour slowly becoming agitated, "Don't act like y-you weren't talking about your n-needs, as well!".
Suddenly, without warning, their small squabble was interrupted by a light giggle, a serene smile appearing on Megumin's face as relaxed her grip on Kazuma, with the older teen awkwardly hugging her back.
The older teen faltered for a second, confused, "...What? What's so funny?".
"It's just," She averted her eyes a little, "I was - and, well, still am - really nervous about this whole… thing, but I'm glad that we can still talk normally with each other, even when we're this close."
There was an obvious, prolonged beat of silence between the two, as Kazuma used his tongue to nervously move around the saliva that had built up in the back of his mouth. Clearing out the inside of his mouth with an audible gulp, he tried his best to think of a suitable response, coming up short with each attempt.
"C-come on, say something already," Megumin let out another, much more anxious, giggle as she stared directly into his eyes, "I-its embarrassing if you just clam up like that."
"I, uh, I'm glad too… I suppose?" The look on his face was almost expectant - hopeful, perhaps - as if he was waiting for her approval; for her to tell him that his answer was, at least, acceptable.
Megumin couldn't be exactly sure if that was really the case, or if she was just looking too far into things, but, either way, it was pretty adorable to her. Deciding right then and there that such behaviour shouldn't be ignored, and because - quite frankly - it had been a little bit since she'd last done it, the short haired girl moved her face closer towards Kazuma's until there was barely a centimetre between them.
Before the older teen could react or say anything, she closed the remainder of the distance and pressed her lips against his, keeping them there for a few seconds before pulling back and briefly cupping Kazuma's face in her hands.
"Umm, that was fine, right?" Megumin sheepishly smiled up at him, sounding a little unsure, "You won't get excited from just a small kiss, will you?".
The high schooler held back his snap response of 'Of course I will' in favour of just pulling her head into his chest and beginning to stroke her hair once again, mostly just in an attempt to relieve some of his own tension.
Sure, Kazuma's 'issue' hadn't exactly been fixed, not in the slightest. Actually, it had probably gotten worse if anything, but it's not like there was anything else he could do about it at the moment. But still, maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to tough out for the night without it being that bad, right?
For once, he was really starting to wish that his sex drive wasn't always so damn high.
"...What are you putting your coat on for?" Kazuma shot her a questioning glance as he slid his arms into his own jacket.
"Because it's still kinda cold out today," Megumin nonchalantly answered, "We're still a few months away from the start of summer, after all."
He rolled his eyes, hiding his ever-so-faint smile, "That's not what I meant. Are you going out somewhere or something?".
"And what if I am?" The short girl questioned, playfully leering up at Kazuma, "Would that be a problem for you?".
"Nope, just a little surprised. You never usually go out at this time, that's all," He shrugged, opening the door and making his way outside, "Well, have fun with whatever it is that you're doing, I'm going to work now. Later."
Just like that, Kazuma sent her a quick wave and began the oh-so-familiar walk over to the bus stop, the bag containing his work clothes being casually strewn over his shoulder. The earlier shift wasn't what he usually chose, he was just more used to the later one, but if he wanted to make his way over to his new house at six, he didn't really have any other options.
"...".
"...".
"O-oi."
"What?" Megumin, who had casually sauntered up to him and latched onto his arm, tilted her head in his direction, "Am I not allowed to walk to the bus stop with you?".
"You… can, I guess," He responded, taking the time to carefully choose his words, "Wait, so are you actually going somewhere, then? Where?".
"Well, since you were talking about planning your expenses so much yesterday, I decided to check through my own allowance. Just to make sure I wasn't spending too much," The crimson eyed girl explained, temporarily releasing one of her arms to pull her scratty-looking purse from her coat pocket and show it to him, "Turns out, I still have more than I thought, so I see no harm in going into town to buy something small for myself; I'm thinking a new manga might be nice. I've already read all the ones I have at least four times now…".
"Ah, right," Kazuma put a hand to his chin, "Sometimes I forget that you're still a gigantic nerd at heart, despite how much you try to hide it."
"I d-don't try to hide it!" She objected, before realising that she was probably focusing on the less important part of his statement, "And you're way worse than me! Every time I try to recommend something to you, you always say that you've already read it!".
"Obviously," He matter-of-factly drawled, "My time as a shut-in allowed me to consume as much media as I wanted. There's no way you'd ever be able to beat me. Unless it's something super recent, I suppose, I haven't had anywhere near as much time or money recently."
"I guess it doesn't help that a large portion of my collection is just second hand from you," Megumin commented, shoving her purse back into her pocket.
The green eyed boy gave her a questioning look as they made their way past the road to Kazuma's old apartment, "I haven't given you that much, have I? I thought that it was just all the stuff that I couldn't fit into my old apartment."
"I mean, yeah, it mostly is, but aren't you forgetting about that entire collection of second-hand manga you gave me for my birthday? That alone makes up at least a third of my collection."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, I guess," Frowning, Kazuma shoved his free hand into his pocket, "I didn't really have enough money at the time to buy anything, especially with Christmas being a few weeks after, so I kinda just asked my little brother to send over my collection of that entire series, since I know you liked the first two volumes."
"Why are you apologising? That was one of my favourite gifts that I got for my birthday last year," The short haired girl let out a small chuckle, "You should already know that I'm not the type of girl who cares about expensive things. I don't mind that you didn't actually buy anything, I'm just happy that there was some thought put into it."
"Right, you are a rather easy girl to please, after all," He quickly buckled under the harsh glare that he received from his comment, focusing his eyes on anything besides her, "Ah, but, anyway… I-I'm just saying that I'll get you something a little better for your fifteenth birthday, okay?".
Megumin rested her head against his arm, smiling to herself, "I didn't think that you were the type to get so bothered by something like that."
"Wh-whatever, that doesn't matter at the moment," Kazuma hurriedly interrupted her, "Your birthday is still ages away. Ah, but on the other hand, mine is only a couple months away now. I, of course, am also expecting a more special gift than usual. It is only fair, right?".
"Th-that is true," She began nervously fidgeting with her hands, rubbing her palms on the sleeve of Kazuma's jacket, "But, uhm, y-you do have to remember that I ca-".
"Ah, ah, shhh," He placed a finger over her lips, stopping her in her tracks, "I already know that money is a big problem for your family, so I don't expect anything expensive. Actually, now that I think about it, there's something you could give me that's completely free, something that only you can offer…".
"Something that only I can…?" Megumin slowly repeated to herself, before her eyes widened and leapt back, pointing a shaky finger at him, "Y-y-you're trying to get m-me to give you my body as a gift, a-aren't you!? Do you ever think about anything else!?".
"O-oh? And how exactly did you, the 'sweet and innocent Megumin', instantly know what I was insinuating, then!?" Kazuma hurled back, then moving to smugly poke a finger into her forehead, "Face it, you're turning into a pervert, too, aren't you? You are at that age, after a- Ow!".
"P-pervert! Jerk! Scum!".
"Ow, yea- Okay, ow, I relent! I give up!" He covered his chest with his arms, shielding himself from her tiny punches.
"Geez…" The dark haired girl sighed and leaned back towards Kazuma as they continued walking, her arms going back to their previous position, "I seriously don't know if I should be flattered or disgusted by the increase in perverted comments I've been receiving from you recently. Probably both, actually."
"It's your fault in the first place…" Kazuma mumbled under his breath.
Megumin lifted her head up, straining her ears in an attempt to hear him, "What was that?".
"Gaah, nothing!".
After taking the bus together, they walked for a short while before Megumin split off from Kazuma as they passed by a store that sold manga at a fairly cheap price, happily humming to herself as she made her way inside to peruse her options.
Meanwhile, Kazuma made the familiar trek over to the café, the ever so slight detour he took to get to the bookstore pushing his arrival time back by around two or so minutes. After changing into his uniform a little quicker than usual, he made idle conversation at the front counter with his boss to pass the last minute or so before his shift officially began.
"Helper, I'm done with these two," Chris commented as she came out from the back with two plates in hand, around half an hour into Kazuma's shift, "Can you pass me over any new orders we have once I'm done serving these?".
"Mhm, sure thing chief," He replied as his boss passed by the front counter, "I've got two more written down right here. People are starting to order lunches already, apparently."
"Good to know," She called back as she wandered off to deliver her orders.
With nothing else to do, Kazuma rested his elbow on the counter and smushed his cheek into his fist. He absentmindedly smiled to himself as he realised how much more energised he felt compared to how he would be during his evening shifts. Sure, he really wasn't a huge fan of working in the morning, but at least it had some upsides to it.
The sound of a new customer entering pulled Kazuma from his musings, letting out an amused snort as he glanced over to the doorway.
"...I expected as much," He commented as the figure made her way over to the counter, sitting in the same nearby seat she'd previously occupied, "So, what did you end up getting?".
Megumin fished around in her coat pocket for a moment before pulling out a book and holding it up for him to see, "Well, I needed somewhere to sit and read this, so it may as well be here."
"Hmm…" Kazuma leaned towards her and focused his gaze onto the cover, "You got an anthology? With how rarely you get to buy manga, I didn't think you'd bother with something like this."
"I usually wouldn't," She admitted, placing it down onto the small partition between her and Kazuma, "But this one is entirely based on one of my favourite characters of all time, so I had to make an exception."
"Oh, yeah. You do like her, don't you?" The part-timer mused, picking it up and flipping through the pages. The character in question was one of the main characters from the same manga series that he'd given her his collection of. That fact brought a small, amused grin to his face.
"Hey, helper, what do you think you're doing rea- Oooh," Chris glared at Kazuma as she walked back to the front counter until she took notice of their newest customer, her tone quickly switching up as she beamed at the younger girl, "Hiya, Megumin!".
"Morning, chief," She replied, earning her a pointed look from Kazuma as he slid the book back over to her.
"Oiii…".
"So what brings you to our lovely café today?" The silver haired girl gave her a pleasant smile, one which quickly morphed into a more mischievous one, "You here to make out in the back with helper while he's on his lunch break?"
"Absolutely."
"N-no!" Megumin blushed, before snapping her head to her boyfriend, "E-eh? What did you just say?".
"Y-you wouldn't?" Kazuma turned to her just as quickly, sounding almost offended, "What's even the point of coming here if you weren't planning on getting busy in the back?".
A poorly hidden snort reminded them both of the third person in the conversation, a thoroughly amused smirk on her face. "I was seriously wondering how you'd start acting around her now that you're dating, helper," Chris snickered to herself, "It's almost relieving to know that you're still the exact same as always."
Kazuma huffed and held out a piece of paper towards the older girl, "Don't you have orders to start preparing?".
"Fine," She pretended to pout for a second before winking and walking off, "It seems that helper is far too embarrassed to show his lovey-dovey boyfriend mode in public."
"J-just because I'm not single anymore, doesn't mean that I'm gonna turn into some sort of stereotypical normie boyfriend, y'hear me?" He glared at the disappearing figure of his boss.
Megumin raised a finger as if to correct him, "Well, actua-".
"Shut it."
"...And it's not as big as Mommy and Daddy's house, but big brother gets it all to himself!" Komekko explained to her carer, not even stopping to catch her breath as she was guided over to the front entrance of her kindergarten, "Well, big sis says that he's staying with his friend, but they even get to sleep in their own rooms!".
"Is that so?" Wolbach politely replied as they made their way down the hallway, an attentive smile on her face as she listened to the small girl ramble, "You seem very excited about this. Are you going to miss living with your… big brother when he's gone?".
Komekko looked up at her for a second, as if she didn't quite understand what she was being asked, before she nodded her head a few times in quick succession. "Yup, big brother makes super tasty snacks and plays fun games with me, just like Miss Wolbach does! But he's still living with me and big sis, so it's okay."
The older woman raised an eyebrow at that, assuming, naturally, that the little girl was mistaken somewhere along the line and that she didn't yet understand that renting a house meant that he would in fact be moving out - and pretty soon, she assumed. Though before she could bring it up, they turned the corner into the main lobby of the kindergarten.
It didn't take long for Wolbach to spot Megumin, sitting down on one of the available seats, and her supposed boyfriend - Kazuma, if she was remembering correctly - who was leaning against the wall next to her, scrolling through his phone with a slightly antsy look on his face.
"Heyyyyy!" Komekko broke out into another wide smile the moment she saw them, running over to Megumin and repeatedly slamming her palms down onto her big sister's knees in what was probably supposed to be a friendly greeting of sorts, "Is it house time now, big sis?".
"Uhm, sure. House time is very soon, but we have to actually go all the way over to the house first, remember?" Megumin replied as she took the younger girl's hands in her own, most likely just to politely stop her from using her knees as a drum kit, "And don't forgot that you have to let Kazuma and the nice man deal with all the grown up things before you can start running around inside, okay?".
"Yes, big sis," The small girl spoke back, almost robotically, completely forgetting almost all of what she was just told.
"So I hear that you're gonna start renting out your own place from now on," Wolbach commented as she made her way over to them, prompting Kazuma to respectfully shove his phone back into his pocket before nodding and making a small noise of confirmation, "Not to be rude, but aren't you a little bit young to be renting out your own home already?".
"Eh, I was living away from my parents even before this," The brunette answered, cringing as he noticed the small tinge of worry that appeared on the middle aged woman's face, "I-it's by choice, I promise! It's really, y'know, it's not that bad…". As a final attempt to not make this woman he barely knew worry even further about him, he tacked on a final, "Oh, and I have a roommate who's technically an adult, so it's not like I'm on my own or anything."
Wolbach raised a brow, "Technically an adult?".
"She's still not fully adjusted to… certain parts of adult life," He awkwardly clarified, trying to paint Aqua in as favourable a light as possible in an attempt to move the conversation along.
"Yeah," Megumin finally joined in, "Kazuma's gonna be getting his key today, hopefully. It's sorta like our house but just a little smaller. It's not that big in the first place, so that's why he's able to afford the rent there in the first place."
"Keys," Kazuma corrected, tilting his head in her direction, "Two of them. Aqua needs a key as well, even if she probably won't use it all that much."
"Oh, right. Forgot about that," The crimson eyed teen stood up from her seat and turned to him, "We're supposed to be there by six, aren't we? When do we need to get going by?".
He faltered for a second, frowning as he lightly scratched at his scalp, "Uhhh, not sure exactly. Soon, I guess? It'll take us a decent amount of time to get there from all the way over here, so it might be good to get going as soon as possible."
Megumin nodded, letting out what Kazuma assumed was a noise of agreement, before flicking her attention over to the older woman, "Then, in that case, we're gonna get going now, Miss Wolbach. Don't wanna be late, y'know?".
"Of course," The redhead nodded to Megumin, before shifting her attention over to Kazuma with a kind smile, "And, Kazuma, good luck on getting settled into your new place."
Clearly a tad surprised, the brunette returned her smile with one of his own, praying that she didn't notice where his eyes had been looking mere seconds before, "Yeah, thanks."
"You don't have to worry about him, Miss Wolbach," Megumin waved the older woman off, putting two fingers up to her top lip as she glanced away with a grin slowly forming on her features, "Despite how he may seem, Kazuma is actually surprisingly capable."
"Despite how he may… Oi, how about you tell me exactly what that's supposed to mean, huh?" Kazuma leered at her, getting a prideful smirk back from her, making his fingers twitch in agitation.
"Bye bye, Miss Wolbach!" Komekko gave her teacher an enthusiastic wave, interrupting Kazuma and Megumin's playful squabble, "See you on… Mun-day?".
Just over an hour later, Kazuma found himself face to face with the stone-faced mountain of a man that was to be his new landlord. Megumin and Komekko were both a little ways away, with Komekko wanting to explore around the perimeter of the house, not that there was much to see in the first place.
"Was a lil' bit late getting here," The man explained as he shut his car door, with a little more force than he'd probably intended to use, "My bad, kid."
"I-it's not a problem," Kazuma placated, internally cursing at himself for his slight nervousness, "So, how exactly do we… do this?".
The teen frowned, a small sound of displeasure escaping his lips. When he'd first got his old apartment, it had been his parents that had handled everything for the first couple of months. Sure, by this point, he was more than used to paying his monthly rent and the other small responsibilities that he'd had as a tenant, but he was completely lost when it came to any of the initial processes of renting out a new place.
Really, throughout the entire day, his head had been filled with constant reminders of how unprepared he truly felt.
"We got some paperwork that we gotta go through, but it shouldn't take ya too long," The older man explained, indicating toward a small bag he was carrying with him, "You are able to pay now, yeah?".
"I already did, actually. I sent the money over to you the moment your car pulled up. The transfer should've gone through by now," Kazuma explained, looking fairly proud of himself as he spoke.
"Oh?" The muscular figure pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped through for around twenty or so seconds, the phone looking almost comically small compared to his large hands, "...Huh, so ya did. Nice goin' kid, that smooths out this whole process for us a little bit."
Before the conversation could go any further, Kazuma was alerted to the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him and, a moment later, spotted Megumin entering his peripheral vision, with Komekko in tow.
"Ah, uhm, hi again," Megumin gave the landlord a small but polite wave, one which was returned with a nod of acknowledgement and a subtle smile, "So, what's um, how far through are things?".
Kazuma, realising that her questioned was probably aimed more at him, instead of the other man, shrugged, "Well, my payment for the first month - and for the extra expenses - has just gone through, I think, so I'm pretty sure we just have to go through the paperwork and get stuff officially signed over, right?".
"'S right," The large man gave a curt nod to him, "But how about we go through all of this paperwork inside, eh? It might be nice to let the little one run around inside while we're getting through all of the boring stuff."
Komekko's eyes visibly lit up at that suggestion, clearly liking what she was hearing. Before Kazuma or Megumin even got the chance to respond, the house's owner walked over towards the front door in large strides, with Komekko hurriedly waddling along behind him.
Noticing Kazuma's gaze shifting over to her, as if waiting for her to say something, Megumin simply just shrugged, "No reason not to."
"Can't really argue with that."
As the two teens followed along in the direction of the front door, the older man suddenly spun around the moment he reached the door, keys tightly clenched within his fist. "Listen up, kid," He began as Kazuma made his way over to him, a sceptical look on his face, "These keys are gonna be all yours pretty soon, so ya better take good care of this place, m'kay?".
"Don't worry," The high schooler sent him a confident smile, "I plan to."
"In that case then…" He unlocked the front door and dramatically swung it open, cracking a wide smile, "Welcome to the gates of hell, kid!".
"Woaaah," Komekko looked up at him in awe, "That was pretty cool, mister!".
Megumin crossed her arms and nodded approvingly at the muscular individual, "Yep, super cool."
"You two can't be serious," Kazuma gawked at the two sisters, bringing a hand up to his forehead, before making his way over to the door and following the owner inside, "Let's… let's just get this over with already."
It was only around twenty minutes later when, with multiple sheets of paperwork read through and signed and important ground rules properly established, the four of them found themselves once again outside the front door, with the maroon haired man fishing through his pockets.
Whelp, it's all yours now, kid, for as you keep paying your rent, of course," He chuckled to himself, finally finding what he was looking for and pulling two keys from his pocket, "Then… these will be in your hands from now on. You did say that you wanted two sets, right?".
"Yeah, two is perfect, thanks," Kazuma replied, faltering for a second before taking the keys from his outstretched palm and examining them, as if to make sure that they were real.
"Heh, good," The middle aged man turned away and began walking back towards his car, looking over his shoulder to continue talking, "As much as I'd love to stick around and help you get settled in right now, I've got a pretty packed schedule at the moment, so I'll heading off now. I'll try to check in on ya at some point this week. Hopefully I'll also be able to meet that roommate of yours when she moves in."
"It might be better if you didn't," Kazuma grumbled to himself, still looking down at the keys in his hand.
"Thank you for helping Kazuma out, sir!" Megumin called out after him, waving.
"Bye bye, mister!" Komekko shouted as the man got into his car, sending the two sisters a casual wave before closing the door behind him and driving off not long after.
Megumin smiled to herself as her gaze lingered on the area where the car had once been. She felt her chest swell with something unfamiliar, something she couldn't quite put a name to. Pride was the first thing that came to mind, but even that didn't feel right. Either way, she was happy for Kazuma; happy that everything was finally starting to work out for him again.
With a wide smile plastered onto her face, and a slight reddening on her cheeks, she turned back towards the house to see Kazuma, facing away from her and Komekko, his gaze locked onto the house. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly heard him begin talking to himself.
"Finally… Finally, after all this time," His voice cracked as he ranted to himself, completely ignorant to the two other people behind him, "Finally, I'm not homeless anymore!".
Megumin, seeing her boyfriend triumphantly throw his fists up into the air, walked over to him with an ironic expression on her face, " Umm… Kazuma, are you… crying?".
"...No, not at all."
"Woohoo! Hell yeah!" Kazuma cheered to himself as he crashed head first onto his newly acquired couch, pumping his fists in a display of victory, "And with that, I'm officially broke."
"B-broke?" Megumin, who up until that point had been mostly smiling to herself in relative silence as she looked around, instantly snapped her attention over to Kazuma, a worried look on her face, "You're joking, r-right? You're not actually broke."
"Yay! New house!" Komekko, completely oblivious to what was just said, and simply just wanting to join in with the celebrations, also hopped up onto the couch, sitting herself down on the back of Kazuma's torso.
Kazuma moved his head from the couch cushions and turned to face the crimson eyed teen, "I mean, I still have money, but it's all for essential stuff like groceries and bus fares for the next few weeks. Besides that, I've got pretty much nothing left until I get my next pay check."
"A-aren't you being a little bit too casual about this!? Isn't that really bad!?" The eldest of the two sisters fixed him with an open mouthed glare, shocked at how seemingly okay he apparently was about something pretty serious.
"I mean, I've got enough to make it to the end of the month, so that's good enough for me," He buried his face back into the couch cushions, his voice becoming somewhat muffled, "And anyway, I'm just happy to have somewhere to live now. Compared to that, almost being broke isn't really all that bad. It's not like I'm usually all too far off from it anyway."
"No, that's definitely worrying!".
Kazuma groaned, most likely a sign of concession, but otherwise kept silent. It's not like he had any reason to disagree with her. Actually, on the other hand, she was completely right. But, still, there was no point worrying himself over something that he couldn't really do all that much about.
Before either of the two teens could say anything further, Komekko hopped down onto the floor and trudged over to her sister, dramatically clutching at her stomach. "When's dinner?" She whined, looking up at her sister with a pair of intensely red pupils, "I'm hungryyy."
"You're-? Well, actually, I suppose that does make sense. It is already…" She glanced around the room, looking for a clock, just to find the walls all completely barren, "Uhm, could you please check the time for me, Kazuma?".
Accepting her request, the brunette lazily moved into a sitting position and fumbled around in his pockets for his phone, "It is… oh, it's almost seven, already."
"S-seriously?".
"Mhm," He nodded, turning his phone screen to let her confirm it for herself, "Six forty-nine."
Megumin sighed, slumping a little, while her younger sister continued to lightly tug on the fabric of her leggings, awaiting an answer, "Well, if it's that time already, I guess we kinda have to go back home and get started on making something for dinner. It does suck to leave here so soon, but it's not like we have any other options, and it's not like we won't be coming back here tomorrow."
"Dinner…" Komekko dreamily repeated, having only really paid attention to the parts that she wanted to hear.
"Wait," Kazuma put a hand up to his chin, creasing his brows, "Actually, I've got a much better idea."
"Huh?" The short haired teen perked up a little, her tone seeming to be one of genuine curiosity, "Go on, then. What is it?".
"Well, I did just get this place and all, so why don't we stay here tonight? I mean, there's no reason not to."
If nothing else, the idea had definitely piqued Megumin's interest, a lot more than she was trying to let on. The small, almost excited grin that was threatening to take over her features made Kazuma feel even more confident about his little idea. Truthfully, he'd been thinking about the idea of spending the first night there with Megumin and Komekko for around an hour or so; it just sounded fun, Especially since it would be perhaps his only chance to experience living in the house without Aqua there to give him headache after headache.
Though, to his surprise, the hopeful look on her face quickly fell, being replaced with a slightly disappointed countenance, "There… isn't any food here, Kazuma."
His eyes widened - momentarily - before he nodded, slowly, realisation spreading across his face, "Right, forgot about that. I forgot that I'm gonna have to get some groceries tomorrow."
Megumin then walked over to the other side of the room, to the small kitchenette area, with Kazuma and Komekko following along behind her. "Yeah, I thought as much," She spoke back to Kazuma as she went through the completely empty cupboards, "There's no pots or pans or trays or… really anything to cook with here."
"Well, I mean, we could alway-".
"Mhm, yup," Megumin nodded to herself as she shut the final drawer, "No plates or utensils either."
"Agggggh, shut up! I get it," Kazuma grabbed at the sides of his head with a mix of shame and annoyance, "Are you done now? Is that everything?".
She seemed to be in thought for a few seconds before raising a finger into the air. "We also don't have any spare clothes to wear to bed," She remarked, almost proudly.
The older teen, by this point thoroughly dejected, slumped forward with an audible groan. "Fine then, never mind," He leaned against the furthermost end of the kitchen counter, "Lets just go back to your place."
"Th-that's not what I said! I want to stay here tonight, a-as well," Megumin fidgeted with her hands a little before furrowing her eyebrows, clearly trying to think of something, "Urgh, alright! Hey, can you check something on your phone for me? There's gotta be, like, a cheap takeout place nearby, right? They're pretty much everywhere."
Kazuma sent her an odd look before turning on his phone and scrolling through his home page, "Yeah, I mean, we even passed by a place or two on the way here, so there's surely something around here, and I guess that would pretty much completely solve our food issue for us."
"Exactly!" She pumped her fists, getting very much into her idea, "Oh, and - don't worry - I still have my purse with me, so I don't mind paying for the food just this once. Think of it as my treat, okay?".
"Well, if you say so," The green eyed boy shrugged, releasing a small puff of air from his nose as he continued to scroll through his phone, "If we order online, I don't mind going to pick up the food. I can get us some stuff from your house while I'm at it if you want."
"...I'm sorry," Kazuma dejectedly mumbled as he kneeled down onto the carpeted floor, a guilty expression on his face.
Megumin glared down at him, a thoroughly creased bra and panties clutched in her balled up fist. "I can't believe that I let you go into my room all on your own. Of course you'd end up not being able to control yourself with my laundry," Her tone was harsh, clearly unimpressed with him, "I thought that you promised that you wouldn't do anything funny with my underwear while you were getting a spare change of clothes."
"I did promise that…".
Sighing, the dark haired girl leaned down and began going through the remaining contents of the bag of essential items that Kazuma had picked up on the way back from collecting their food, "I can't believe you… Did you at least get everything that I asked you to bring?".
"Your tracksuit, a spare set of clothes for tomorrow, Komekko's pyjamas, a spare set of clothes for her," Kazuma listed off on his fingers, a smug grin on his face, "Toothbrushes, toothpaste, a hairbrush, three pairs of chopsticks, soap, shampoo, conditioner and three towels. I even filled up Chomusuke's food bowl for her. That is everything, right?".
"Just so you know, th-this still doesn't make up for whatever it is that you did with my underwear," Megumin growled, slowly shaking her head and returning her face to a neutral look, "Nothing I can do about it now, I guess. Let's just eat already, I'm hungry."
"She already started," He blankly stated, pointing over at a spot on the floor behind Megumin. Komekko, having long since become bored of their back and forth, had already taken the lid off of her order and began tucking in, already getting a decent amount of food stuck around her mouth.
"Ah, Komekko! What did I tell you about waiting for us before you started eating?" She rushed over to her little sister and took the box from her hands, "And please don't eat it on the floor, Kazuma just got this place!".
"Um umgry, gibeit back! " Komekko whined, not even bothering to swallow her mouthful and spraying crumbs onto the carpet.
"Honestly, when I paid extra for furniture, I don't think it was that unreasonable for me to expect to get a proper table and chairs included," Kazuma complained aloud as he made his way over to the two sisters, scratching the back of his head, "I guess we're just gonna have to eat off of the coffee table for the time being."
"That shouldn't be a problem," The red eyed girl remarked, moving her little sister's food over to the coffee table, with Komekko no more than a few paces behind her at all times, "Compared to digging through the trash outside grocery stores, sitting on the floor to eat is barely a inconvenience."
"Y-you haven't… actually done something like that before… right?".
Megumin sharply turned her face away from him, her expression unreadable.
Despite how - to put it lightly - barren the house was, and would probably continue to be until Kazuma got his hands on his next pay check, they still managed to have a fairly enjoyable meal; ignoring that fact that they ended up having no other option other than to drink water directly from the kitchen tap.
Even if it was just the three of them, and even if it was just the exact same company he'd been around almost constantly for the past two weeks, Kazuma couldn't help but have fun, viewing it as a very very small - and low budget - moving in party of sorts. At least, it would tide him over until he got the money to actually celebrate properly.
After dinner was over, and Megumin had ushered her little sister into the bathroom to get her washed and ready for bed, Kazuma found himself lazily sprawled out on the couch, a position that he'd grown rather fond of during his time staying at Megumin's house. His old apartment didn't have the luxury of a couch, or the space to even fit one.
It wasn't all too long until, finally deciding to turn on for the night, Kazuma and Megumin found themselves in Kazuma's new room, dressed in their tracksuits and standing only a few feet away from the bed.
"Uhm," Megumin started as she regarded the bed, probably coming to similar conclusions, "I kinda forgot to even consider the size, to be honest."
"Well, it's not really a problem," Kazuma crossed his arms as he squinted down at the bedframe, barely big enough to fit two people, "It should still be big enough for both of us. There just won't be much… extra space."
The younger of the two teens shrugged, barely hesitating before she made her way under the covers, "I don't mind. Oooh, this mattress is super comfy, Kazuma!".
"O-oi, quit messing around on the mattress like that! You might end up breaking one of the springs," He scolded her, a strangely contemplative look on his face, as if something much more important was going through his mind.
Megumin let out a loud sigh and flopped back onto the bed's only pillow, seemingly enjoying the rare comfort of a slightly more high quality bed, "Just get in already."
Slowly, following her request, Kazuma made his way into the bed, finding himself right up close with Megumin. From their close proximity, her wide, red eyes took up almost his entire vision, almost glowing in the darkness of Kazuma's room. Unlike the bed they'd been sleeping in for the last few nights, cuddling close together was a requirement, not an option, if they wanted to both fit into the bed. It simply just wasn't big enough for them to both sleep on opposite sides, not that such a detail really bothered either of them.
Taking the initiative, Megumin pulled her boyfriend into a tight hug, one that was just loose enough to not actually be painful, and rested a hand against the back of his head, rubbing her fingers against the tips of his hair. A second or so later, she felt an arm wrap around her upper torso, while another was brought up to the back of her head. Megumin was more than used to this by now, but it still felt as comfortable as ever to her.
Megumin wasn't sure how long they stayed there for, but regardless of how much time had passed, she didn't really mind either way.
On the other hand, Kazuma's thoughts were being taken up by something else; something very different. Sure, he'd definitely wanted to spend the night at his new place because it had seemed fun and because he thought that Megumin and Komekko might enjoy staying over somewhere new, but that wasn't his only reason, far from it.
Trying to hide his obvious intent, he moved his hand down to gently caress Megumin's cheek while his legs locked around hers, an action that she didn't seem to have much of a reaction to, aside from an almost negligible change in her expression. Kazuma couldn't really describe it as particularly positive or negative, more so just acceptance, if he had to describe it.
"H-hey, Megumin," He whispered, instantly getting her full attention. Quickly, he ran through a list of different 'sexy' lines that he could use in his mind, all of which felt far too cringe-worthy for him to ever actually say, before eventually settling on the very unromantic, "You, um, you know, you said that if we weren't in your parents' bed…".
There was a period of silence; that wasn't surprising. He could only assume that her response would be something indignant, calling him out on the fact that he'd totally planned for this situation to happen or saying that she'd really only been joining with what she'd said the night before. While disappointing, they wouldn't exactly be unexpected answers.
"Are… are you really that pent up?".
That, on the other hand, was definitely an unexpected answer.
"I know that we can't have, like, sex… yet, especially since I don't have any condoms, b-but you said it yourself yesterday, didn't you? That you had needs too, y-yeah? There's still… o-other things that we can do, a-and don't you dare start acting all innocent and clueless now, I know that you know what I mean," Kazuma rambled, his nervous energy coming out in the form of word vomit, and not even really answering her question in the first place.
Megumin gulped. While she wasn't, and never would be, a total pervert on the level of Kazuma himself, she wasn't gonna lie and pretend that she didn't have any interest in doing… that kind of stuff, especially if it was with Kazuma. No, scratch that, only if it was with Kazuma. Even before they'd started dating the thought had sometimes, briefly, flashed inside her mind.
She'd already have more than enough time to think about it. She was nervous, definitely, but she wasn't scared. Although she wouldn't ever let anyone else know it, in that moment, Megumin was just as excited for something to happen as Kazuma was.
Her mind already made up, she brought her head up towards and past Kazuma's face, her mouth mere inches away from his ear. She didn't want anyone else to hear her, even if they were the only ones there, it was far too embarrassing. Before Kazuma could question her actions, or before she could lose her nerve, she spoke up in a voice so quiet that even at their close proximity, the brunette couldn't still only barely hear her.
"...I d-don't mind helping you out as long as you d-do the same."
Just as she thought, Megumin instantly found herself dying of embarrassment, quickly pulling away from his ear the moment the words left her mouth.
Well, that was all that Kazuma needed. After hearing something like that, from her of all people, there was no way he could hold back any longer. "A-alright, that's it. I'm helping you out, right now," He sped through his words, as if the mere act of speaking itself was prolonging the time between the present moment and what was to come next.
Despite his hurriedness, he found himself pausing, unsure, as he reached out to grab onto the zipper of Megumin's tracksuit jacket, tugging it down a few inches before he froze, looking up at her. "This… is okay, r-right? I'm really gonna…" Kazuma mumbled as his eyes landed on her beet red cheeks and heavy breaths.
"Nmn," Megumin slowly nodded, forgoing an actual verbal response.
Feeling his nerves slowly creep up onto him, Kazuma tried to mentally shake them off as he clumsily unzipped her tracksuit jacket, taking a few attempts to fully unzip the bottommost part, and allowed Megumin to do the work of shrugging it off of her shoulders, revealing the white t-shirt that she always wore underneath.
Tossing off the cover from them both, Kazuma moved over a little, moving up onto his knees and indicating for Megumin to do the same, which she obliged without question.
At that moment, Kazuma couldn't help but wish that his new room had a lamp of some sort. Sure, he could just go over to the other side of the room and turn the light switch on, but he didn't think that he physically could move himself away from Megumin, he wanted this too bad. The visibility wasn't too bad, but he couldn't deny that the extra light would've probably made him feel a little more sure of himself.
Face to face with her, both on them sitting on their knees in a tense silence, he felt a single bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Kazuma gulped, a worrying, almost pathetic, thought making its way to the forefront of his mind.
What… what the hell was he even supposed to do?
Did he make her go first? No, he should get her off first, right? The same time, maybe? Should he go for some form of foreplay? Did he even need to do anything like that if they weren't even having sex? Did it matter? Why had no one properly explained these things to him? In all the adult videos he'd watched up until now, they always just got straight into it, but he didn't even know where to start.
Seeing the complex expression on Kazuma's face, one that she knew all too well by that point, Megumin finally spoke up, her voice small and uneven, "I can, uhm, I c-can u-use my hands to… help you out, i-if you want…".
"Eh? You, uh… s-seriously?".
"Y-yes, seriously!" The glint of nervousness that Kazuma saw in her eyes was suddenly joined by a new emotion - determination, if he had to take a guess, mixed with a small amount of impatience - "I w-wouldn't say something like that if I-I didn't mean it!".
Those words were the last push he needed. He wouldn't back down now, no matter what. Feeling a new wave of determination wash over him, Kazuma reached down and grasped onto the hem of his pants, before hooking his forefingers around the waistband of his underwear. One firm tug was all he needed to do to ascend onto the first steps of manhood. Swallowing the residual saliva inside his mouth, Kazuma flicked his attention back over to the fidgeting girl and-
"Big siiis," Komekko's voice drowsily rang out from the other side of the room as she stood in the doorway with a blank expression, barely even awake, "I need to go pee."
Kazuma froze, having been about a second away from pulling his pants down. Instead of reacting, or even moving his hands away, he just stayed in place, staring blankly at Komekko. Thankfully, after being in a very similar state to him for a few moments, Megumin eventually snapped out of her daze and ushered her little sister out of the room and towards the bathroom, her face tinted with a deep shade of red.
Once he finally felt himself come back to his senses, Kazuma flopped back onto his mattress with an exaggerated groan, dragging an open palm down his face in frustration as he felt his body become completely drained of energy.
"Fuuuuuu… I just got cock-blocked by a four year old girl!".
"I can still hear you, Kazuma!" Megumin's voice rang out from across the house.
It was safe to say that, to Kazuma's immense disappointment, nothing ended up happening that night.