Ngghh I know I said I'd see you guys soon but that took too soon, sorry T_T This chapter, the idea given by AsulAgila3456u and Saterllizersama is used. Though they don't exactly fight over him, rather he wins them and everyone over ;) (New cover drawn by me btw)
You may skip if you wanna:
Saterllizersama: Thank uu
Marshall Cross Marian: Thank you lots!
Shin Hyo Joon: Lol agreed xD
Krikasu: That's Ais alright,,, Thanks partner, I'll keep that idea in mind!
maxasmata123456: Hehe glad you're enjoying them :)
ds hero: Noted!
Hayashinkage17: Ais will never change... That story idea sounds amazing and I'm definitely keeping it for future chaps ;)
Metropolismania: Thanks, rest assured I have something like that planned :D
dark-feel: Undoubtebly she one of my favs, so I put her in this chap!
Malgrath: Lefiya and Bell make a good couple indeed
Ghost-407: Absolutely crack-ish idea and I love it, definitely doing it xD
MarinaLuen: Here it is, sorry for the wait '^^
FeathersLight210: XD
(Guest): Yup, he gave them fitting reactions xD
Bell was, to say the least, very confused.
The moment he opened his eyes, he snapped them close again. A mild throb went through his body and his head hurt. Maybe the sudden light from the window was to blame for that. When he could adjust to it, he cracked his eyes open again and slowly sat up-
Oh, wow, he didn't remember his bed being so big! It felt so off, like he was missing a big part of his memory yet also remembering it in some way. The sheets barely hung over him, having fallen to the ground. He blinked, confused, and tried to move. That was when he realized the chill he felt through his body. He tried to get himself off the bed, nearly falling over when his small and tiny legs failed to reach the ground.
… wait, something was off. The room he was in was off. It was nothing like his own room, or his grandpa's room. Frantically, he tumbled off the bed and raced to the window to take a glance outside-
…. Oh, it was too high for him to reach.
He stared up at it, baffled and panicked. He held up his tiny hands, eyes slowly filling with tears and bottom lip trembling as fear finally set in. He couldn't stop the tears that came afterwards.
"G- GRANPAAAAA!"
His wail probably rattled and startled everyone in that house because moments later, the door slammed open revealing a short panicked girl with two ponytails, a worried renard with blond hair behind alongside a prum with chestnut-colored hair. He could hear more footsteps too but didn't get a chance to check who it was when the girl with two ponytails tripped in her attempt to step in the room and face-planted right in front of him.
He blinked, tears still sparkling in his eyes, taking a few steps back in fear. The rest at the door froze and gaped. No one would blame them. Seeing a white-haired and red-eyed boy probably and barely the age of five standing in the room with only a black undershirt to cover his body while looking at them confused and scared would surprise anyone. Well, specifically them.
"... B-Bell-kun?"
Haruhime was ecstatic, staring at the boy in her arms.
He was… he was the literal replication of cuteness.
It had taken a while for them to calm down, but after pinning down that the boy was indeed their leader but slightly (a big understatement) de-aged by some random miracle (she preferred to call it a blessing), chaos had erupted thereafter with Hestia and Lili trying to take him. Welf, thank his brotherly nature, managed to snag the boy away from the girls and handed her to the safest care-taker he could point in the whole Familia: Haruhime herself.
"It's better you take care of him." He said ruffling the boy's hair. "Otherwise… these two will eat him. I'm not exaggerating." He sweat-dropped. Lili and Hestia pouted at the acussion but didn't argue, trusting Haruhime enough to handle him gently. Besides, by the way he was staring at her with those large cloudy eyes and confused pout, they'd say he had already taken a liking to her.
"... Where is grandpa?" He asked with a trembling, unused to the people that surrounded him. The renard he was in the arms of hugged him gently, which made him less wary of her. The rest, however, were still strangers.
Everyone exchanged looks.
"Your grandpa… isn't Bell-sama's grandpa de-" Hestia immediately slapped a hand over Lili's mouth, preventing her from continuing further. She shot a smile at the confused boy.
"Your grandpa is here, of course! But he had some work to do, so he won't be back in a while!" The rest caught on- telling Bell, in his current state, about his grandpa would be cruel. "So you know who I am?"
Bell slowly shook his head. She asked again, this time to the people around him. He looked around, shaking his head again and starting to tear up.
"Okay okay, but tell me this-" She gently took his hand, smiling softly. "Do you know who you are?"
This time Bell noticeably brightened. "I'm- i'm Bell!" The sunshine radiating off of his bright smile shot through their hearts and made them swear to protect this bundle of joy no matter what the circumstance.
Since the boy had no idea who anyone was, they made note to introduce themselves to him. Lili and Welf's introductions were brief, as well as Mikoto's, but when it came to Hestia…
"... a goddess?" He murmured slowly, eyes filling with awe and admiration. Hestia mentally thanked her status as a goddess and cheered herself on for the win.
"Yup! Why, you admire gods and goddesses?" She already knew the answer to that.
"Mmhmm!" He nodded his head frantically. "S-someday, when i grow up, i want to travel to the city orario that grandpa told me about and- and become a hero!"
So pure…
Bell then turned to Haruhime, expecting her to say something. She smiled, tail swishing behind her. "I'm Haruhime, it's nice to meet you Bell-sama!" His attention, however, had turned to her tail instead. He reached out for it over her shoulder, managing to take hold of it and bring forth a small squeak from her. He didn't notice, scverming out of her hold while still not letting the tail go. The rest just watched as he nuzzled the tail, giggling and hugging it like a koala with a tree. Haruhime was blushing red at this point.
"... so, when are we getting him to healer for this situation- Lili-dono, why did you suddenly transform into a wolf?!"
…..
The Familia of five (plus a young boy) walked through the streets of orario, heading for the home of the miach Familia. It had taken some time, but after an hour of finding Bell the right clothes to fit since he had nothing else other than his undershirt, they were ready to visit the pharmacy of the god miach to find out the cause of why Bell was like… that. Not that they minded. But they really, really needed their leader back.
Welf and Hestia were in the front, Haruhime with Bell in arms (he was surprisingly light for his age and they unfortunately found no shoes his size) in the middle and Mikoto plus Lili at back. You know, precautions in case anyone decided to ask who the boy was. Bell wasn't exactly very… unknown in the city.
Speaking of him, Bell, now respectively dressed in a simple blue shirt with open jacket on top alongside brown pants that reached his knees, had grown attached to Haruhime out of all of them, preferably with her tail. Every once a while he would try to touch or nuzzle the tail. 'It's soft and I like it.', he had said. Haruhime didn't mind at all. Right now he was looking around himself in wonder, not recognizing the place.
"W-where are we?" He tugged on Haruhime's arm, looking increasingly worried. Haruhime smiled sheepishly.
He probably thought he was still in the mountains… "we're in orario, Bell-sama."
"Ora...rio?" The boy looked baffled. Orario. As in, the orario. The city with adventurers and Familias. The stories his grandpa had told him about the city were fresh in mind, making him surprised. "... ?! W-we're in orario?!" His eyes started to twinkle, amazement written over his features. The renard unconsciously started to swish her tail again. That smile of his was deadly.
"It's like he has his memories from when he was in the mountains, but noT about coming here and so on…" Lili trailed off, eyeing the boy. "... how old do you think he is?"
"Well," Mikoto spoke up, "probably around… 4? With how clearly he speaks!" Both started giggling when Bell started to ramble of the heroes in the city, what his grandpa told him and whatnot. His love for heroes ran deep.
As they passed the known hostess of fertility though, a certain elf caught sight of them. She rAised an eyebrow at the whole Hestia Familia outside- in a rather strange formation. She was aware they were dead set on keeping Haruhime, a renard, safe and hidden, but they shouldn't be that-
"Haruhime-san... what's this?" The squeaky, boyish voice cut off her thoughts, her eyes widening at the white-haired, red-eyed boy pointed at the pub. The renard turned to her direction and their eyes met. Instantly, she sweat-dropped and turned away quickly, trying to avoid conversation as to who that boy in her arms was.
"Wait!" She paused as the rest of the Familia turned their attention to her, also looking nervous. "Apologies for disturbing, but… who is that boy?" Ryu was blunt in her question, not wanting to play around the bush.
"Ryu, something wrong?" Another voice came, this time Syr coming out. She eyed the scene, finally catching sight of Bell. A pregnant pause. Moments later she was hovering over Haruhime and Bell, looking excited and fasicanted. "Bell-san?! Is that you? What a pleasant surprise!" She clapped with a wide smile.
Ryu blinked. She looked at the surprised Bell. Then at the giggling Syr. Surprised Bell. Chattering Syr. Bell. Syr. Bell-
"Ooohh, what's this nya?"
"White-hair turned into a kid nya?!"
"W-what-?" The elf was obviously baffled. Bell looking at her with wide, curious eyes wasn't helping either. As if sensing her confusion, Bell motioned for Haruhime to let him go and raced up to her, staring up at her and giving a tug to her dress.
"Can I touch your ears?"
"... ?!'' Before long the elven warrior was kneeling down and letting the boy poke her ears, face turning red at each of the pouts and giggles she received from her comrades. Her embarrassment was becoming obvious as the tip of her ears also turned red.
"Wow, white-hair sure is bolder with his actions as a kid." You could hear anya snicker and Bell, as if realizing he was touching an elf's ear he barely knew (remembered, in this case), immediately let go and turned embarrassed, stammering out a quiet apology.
"It's okay." Ryu smiled, heart soaring when he gave her a shy yet wide smile in return. He looked adorable, but she would never admit that, especially not in front of Syr. She stood up, turning her attention to the Hestia Familia. "Can you please explain why Cranel-san is like this?"
"Oh, well you see-" While the Familia got busy in explaining and the waitresses in listening, no one noticed the white-haired boy get his attention caught by a fleeting feather passing him and rushing after it into the crowd of people.
…..
It took the white-haired boy a good while to realize how far he had stranded away from the rest and how many strangers were walking past him, faces he didn't recognize at all. He couldn't spot the nice fluffy renard, or the nice brother blacksmith, or the twin-tailed goddess (who claimed to be his, weirdly). Neither was the stoic elf in sight. It clicked.
Bell was lost.
He looked around frantically, trying to guess where he was. The place was unFamiliar as well. In an open space, with many people passing by and doing their usual job. He was like a small rabbit between large horses.
His eyes teared up and he started to tremble. The quiet sobs that escaped him must have attracted attention from the passing people, because moments later he felt his hand snatched and he stumbled forward with a squeak, right into the gruff man that had grabbed him. Fear quickly settled in, glassy eyes clouding and a whimper escaping him.
But, before he or any of the people around him could react, a kick efficiently greeted the adventurer and knocked him around… 50, yeah 50 (Bell guessed at least) feet away.
"AHHH MORD!" The two other men in the crowd rushed after their fallen and wailing comrade whilst the pretty, long-blonde haired girl that had kicked the man gave a blank blink.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit that hard."
"Ais, why do you always have to overdo it." The also pretty green-haired elf behind her sighed.
"He… he looked like he wanted to hurt the boy."
"I WAS JUST CHECKING IF HE WAS OKAY DAMMIT!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have been so rough, you scared him even more." The long-haired amazoness spoke up with a frown. The short-haired amazoness, though, turned her attention at him with a big smile, kneeling at his level.
"Heeey there! Are you okay?" Bell was still too surprised to actually reply and just whimpered, shying away further. The amazoness pouted but didn't back away. "Are you lost or something? It's okay, you can tell us!"
Not sure what to do at this point, he gave a small nod.
"Let's leave him at the guild, likely his parents or Familia members would come pick him up or atleast report to the guild." The other amazoness said with a shrug.
He blinked and got scared at the thought of being left alone yet again. Against his will, he suddenly hugged the blond-haired princess who froze in surprise. The rest looked just as surprised.
"I don't… I don't want to be left alone again, please…"
"Aww!" He heard someone say but didn't open his eyes to see who. "Riveria, we can't leave him at the guild like this!"
"But the guild will be the best option Tiona. We can't take him home."
"Why can't we! Look at how he's hugging Ais, so cute!"
"Umm… Riveria-sama… not to interrupt, but he looks… very Familiar." A new voice suddenly joined in.
"Hmm? What do you mean lefi…" She trailed off, taking a second look at him.
Bell felt the girl he was hugging slowly pull herself out of his hold, instead kneeling down as he cracked his eyes open. She gave him an unsure but small smile, patting his hair lightly. "It's… it's okay. No one is going to hurt you.'' The boy was still not convinced. She bit her lip, giving a glance at Riveria. "... do you really want to come with us?"
Instead of answering, he latched himself to her arm. Right now, he considered her the safest to be around (considering she literally kicked the mean man away from him). Ais looked up at Riveria, giving her a sad pout. "Riveria…"
Riveria sighed and ran a hand down her face. "... Fine." She huffed out. "He can come along. But first, let me confirm something." Bell turned to her with a confused look. "What's your name?"
"B… Bell." Surprise fell around the group.
"Your Familia?"
"Umm… I don't know. Haruhime-san and Hestia-sama said I was with them."
Silence fell around them, the girls slowly taking in his appearance and words. Then-
"EEEHH?! ARGONAUT-KUN?!"
"Oh wow. You turned into a kid?!"
"Hnggghhh…" That whine/growl belonged to the other elf in the group.
"B-Bell…?!"
To say the least, Bell was yet again very confused.
"... the hell?" Bete stared at them confused and bemused, specifically at the white-haired boy in Ais's arms. They had just come back from the dungeon, but no one told him they'd kidnap a boy along the way.
Tiona gasped and covered Bell's ears. "Hey, no swearing around argonaut-kun!"
"... Bunny brat?" Bete squinted closer, seeing the many similarities. He let out a loud snort. "The guy turned into a toddler?!" By now the other members of the Loki Familia had noticed them. Finn had also joined them.
"... shouldn't he be with his Familia instead of here?" He sweat-dropped.
"I tried, but Tiona and Ais wouldn't let me return him to his goddess." Riveria gave out a sigh for the 100th time this day.
"Ais, Tiona, this is considered kidnapping."
"... No it's not. Bell agreed to come with us. Right Bell?"
Bell nodded silently, feeling bashful under all the attention and quickly turning to hide in the sword princess's hair. Ais looked delighted, to say the least. Finn quickly realized that she wouldn't let the cute boy go so soon and settled with just that.
"Riveria, you're dealing with the consequences."
"Don't push this on me you lazy pallum." Both of them disappeared down the hall.
"Ugggh he shouldn't be here...!" Bell heard the elf called 'Lefiya' mumble as she stomped past them, face red and looking upset. She was obviously upset with him, but what had he done exactly…? Tione and Tiona scattered as well, one after the captain and the other whining about Lefiya and Bete being stubborn. Before he could ponder on it anymore, Ais's gaze caught his attention.
"What… do you want to do, Bell?'' She smiled a small, affecTionate smile. He instantly took a liking to her, her arms and the safety she offered very much like Haruhime's. No one could blame him for growing shy and flustered.
"I… I don't know." He poked his fingers. "Can we… I…" His voice got even quieter as he continued, face flushing. Yes, Ais would admit, she did feel the way his adorableness threatened to damage her. "... go around the mansion…?"
"Mmhmm." They could settle with that. Although disappointed they could just sit back and let the sword princess play with his hair (they still looked inviting mind you), Ais also wanted him to have fun. Or, she just wanted to be with him. Because this boy in her arms was Bell and he was not shying or running away, instead readily hugging and clinging to her like she always wanted. She huffed triumphantly, mentally shoving that knowledge in Bete's face.
Bell tugged on her arm motioning for her to put him down. With a small pout, she complied and took his hand instead. Had his hand always been this soft? So tiny!
Oh, Ais realized, looking back at all the unnatural, out of character thoughts she was having. This Bell was doing things to her and she couldn't even complain. She was doomed.
They started walking down the hallway. Bell looked around in wonder and awe, his eyes increasingly growing wider and shining brighter as he took in all the surroundings. His steps getting bouncier, he slipped his hand from Ais's to try and look out the window- which, here too, was too high to reach. Ais let out a chuckle.
"Are you surprised?"
"Mmhmm! Grandpa and I lived in a small house, but your and Hestia-sama's houses are so big and colorful!"
Now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about Bell's life before he came to orario. He didn't mention it, and she didn't bring it up. That… kinda didn't feel right. She wanted to know, but maybe when he was back to normal.
"Wooow, you have such a big garden!" He giggled when finally pulling himself to the window. Okay, next destination, go to the garden. Before she could ask him though, a loud voice startled both of them. Bell immediately let go of the window and rushed behind Ais, who was glaring- pouting?- at the red-haired goddess who had ungraciously interrupted them.
"Aizuuu! I heard you brought a certain shrimp's brat home!" Loki sounded, to say the least, not pleased. She walked over as fast as possible, stopping in front of the sword princess with a huff. "And you didn't even ask me for it!"
"... Do I really need to?"
"Yes you do," She let out a sigh, looking at the boy who peaked at her a bit frightened. She scowled. "Eeeh, that kid really turned into a toddler?"
Bell wanted to say something, but kept it to himself.
"... Ais-tan, return him to that shrimp now."
"N-no..! he wanted to stay and you can't take him away."
"His goddess is gonna be complaining to me afterwards! And besides, why do you care so much about this brat!"
"Because he's… he's cute and not like you. H-his goddess will understand."
"No she won't!" As their small argument continued, Bell found himself growing increasingly uneasy and silently ran down the hall and away from them. Fortunately, they didn't notice. Yes, he felt bad having to run away from Ais, but the other woman was too scary.
And now, he was lost again. How many times was he getting lost today?
He turned another corner as silently as possible, finding himself in another hallway. Thankfully, he could hear voices down the hall, meaning someone was there. He started running, the voices growing closer as he spotted a slightly open down from all the closed ones. Stumbling to a stop, he leaned over and looked through the door.
Inside were three people in total. All three he had already met in the hall, including the werewolf, the elf who had been upset, and the bubbly amazoness.
"Oh come on! And you, Lefiya! Why are you brooding over argonaut-kun being here?" Tiona poked Lefiya's cheek, who was still pouting. Her cheeks turned red and she huffed.
"B-because that human should be with his Familia, in his own house!"
"For once, I agree with blockhead here. Ais should really think before bringing him over." Bete gave a small 'tch'. Bell noticed his tail swishing around. Was he like Haruhime-san? Before he could really think, he moved forward and snuck behind the werewolf, hands reached out for that tail-
"I want him to turn back to his actual age as soon as possible, he's too much of a competition in this state-"
"Wh- what the hell?!" Bete's shout silenced them both, glancing over to see the mentioned boy hugging his tail looking too adorable for his own good. "The hell are you doing bunny brat! Let my tail go!"
"B-but it's soft…" Bell murmured, eyes filling with tears. Bete could feel the waterworks coming if he pulled his tail away, but the kid wasn't a freaking baby, right? He could handle it-
"Don't you even dare Bete." The threatening aura coming from the usually bubbly amazoness stopped him though. He growled, ready to lash out but decided against it. He'll handle the brat when he is back to normal. That would be a more fair battle. He'd never admit it but the kid was growing on him with that kind of cuteness-
"Argonaut-kun! Weren't you with Ais?" Tiona asked with a bright smile. Bell gave a shy nod, slightly intimidated by her energy. "Why are you here then?"
"... this red-haired angry woman came and… Ais-san started arguing with her…" That gave them an explanation enough. Their medelsom goddess. "So I… ran away and got lost…"
"Let's return him to his Familia right now!" Lefiya slammed his hands on the desk and shot up, startling Bell further. "It would solve this mess immediately!"
"Awww i didn't even get to spend time with argonaut-kun!" Tiona whined instead, trapping him in a hug. Bete growled in exasperation, done with all the drama for the day. This was why the Familia couldn't have calm, peaceful days.
At the moment, footsteps echoed through the hallway and Raul arrived around the corner, looking like he'd run round the whole city. "Bete-san, Tiona-san, there's a Familia at the front door! They're demanding to meet Loki and i'm not sure what's going on,"
Without a word, Bete grabbed Tiona and pulled her outside with him, both following Raul and leaving Bell with Lefiya. Alone.
Bell looked confused, looking back at the brooding elf who gave a glance and then a huff. He really wanted to know why she was so upset with him, but didn't find the courage to go up to her and ask himself. Maybe, if the curious part of him took over, he'd do just that. Right now, though, he could think nothing more of her than a stranger. Which she was, if you looked at the situation in hand. So, sparing him the fidgeting, she spoke up. "... Ais-san really likes you, doesn't she." He blinked. "She liked you before, and she probably likes you even more now. You didn't even leave any room for competition." she looked depressed, he noted. "... You're so mean…"
Confused as he may be, he knew leaving her like that wouldn't be nice. His grandpa said so. If a girl is upset by something you did, apologize and comfort her. So he walked up to her and pushed himself on the chair beside her. She watched slightly confused and irritated, but then he stood up on said chair to match her height before putting both his hands on her cheeks.
Soft, crossed her mind. His hands were so warm and soft.
"I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you. D-don't be sad." He tilted his head, looking just as sad as she did. "I-I don't understand what you're saying, but I'm sorry."
Lefiya blinked rapidly, eyes stinging with tears. No matter how much she wanted to blame him, she couldn't help the warmth that spread in her chest. "Uuuhhh… You're so mean…" she took his hands in her own, repeating her words again as she gave a small sniff.
Before the heartwarming scene could go on, Bete walked in the door looking pissed. "Oe, bunny brat! Your Familia is at the door and your goddess is crying her eyes out. Come on, we're going." This alerted Bell and Lefiya, who immediately followed him.
….
When arriving at the scene, they noted the chaos unfolding.
"YOU KIDNAPPED HIM!"
"I'm… sorry."
"Goddess Hestia, please!" Eina sighed. "You shouldn't make a ruckus. Important thing is, he wasn't kidnapped by a bandit."
After the Hestia Familia plus the hostess of fertility lost the young boy, they went into panic and spread across orario to look for him. Going to the guild, they also got help from Eina and a few other guild members. On their search, they came across Mord who told them everything, hence how they arrived at the twilight manor.
The worried Haruhime immediately noticed the newcomers with Bell. "Bell-sama! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Nothing happened, right?" She had picked him up her arms by now.
"That… that's Bell-kun?!" Eina lost her composure for a split second, sure, but no one blamed her. Except maybe Hestia.
"We can assure you, he was safe and sound when we found him." Riveria spoke up. "And… my sincere apologies. Ais and Tiona were the ones who insisted on taking him and Bell Cranel didn't have any objections either." Mentioned girls didn't look one bit sorry.
"T-to be fair, Bell should stick with us. You lost him, didn't you?" Ais had a small pout on her lips. "He'd… he'd be safer with high level adventurers, wouldn't he?" Everyone paused at the suggestion, some growing skeptical at her words. She did have a point.
"I absolutely agree!" Tiona waved her arms around, just wanting to spend some time with him. Lefiya timidly raised her hand, as if asking for permission to speak.
"M-may i ask if he stays longer too? I... I also think he'd be safer him. I-isn't everyone in your familia below level 3 and so?"
"In that case, me and my comrades would take care of him." Ryu stepped in, Syr and Anya blinking when she spoke. In truth she really just didn't want to leave Bell to the Loki Familia, call it jealousy or protectiveness. "We are above level 3, so he'd have no problem with us."
"Ryu is right nya!"
"You all just want to steal him, that's the truth!" Hestia, having been only listening, burst out with a cry.
"Wouldn't it solve your problem is you asked the brat himself?" Bete had no idea what he had unleashed on poor Bell. All the girls turned to Bell, who jumped in surprised.
"Who do you want to go with Argonaut-kun? Us, or Hestia-sama?" Bell didn't have an answer, instead hiding behind Haruhime's hair. That was, until big sister Eina stepped in looking rather murderous.
"What… do you think you're doing?" The argument disbanded at that, none wanting to deal with an angry guild advisor.
"Well, fine! Thank you. For taking him before anyone else could. But i'm not forgiving you wallenwhat'syourname! You had bad intentions!"
"My Aizu did not!"
"Haruhime-san, are we going home?" Bell asked the renard whilst the shouting competition between Hestia and Loki continued. Haruhime nodded with a smile. "Can… Can I say goodbye to them?"
Ais watched Loki and Hestia continue their argument, not noticing the boy running up to her. She did, when he tugged on her dress. "... ? Bell?" She kneeled down, only to stumble back when he threw himself on her in a hug. As soon as the hug came, he let go and went to Lefiya next, doing the same exact thing with her. The rest watched in bewilderment, before Tiona started to whine as he went back to Haruhime.
"No fair I want a hug too!"
"We'll take our leave now." There was a bite in Ryu's words when she bowed, and no one was blaming her. After watching that, all the women subconsciously wanted a hug too.
Luckily for Haruhime, he stuck with her the rest of the day.
…..
Bell would remember what went on the day before. That was what naza said while cradling the boy in her arms in an excuse of 'checking and finding out why he was kid'. Apparently, it was a curse likely placed on him when he came in contact with a magical item. Fortunately it would only last a day. Which is why when Bell woke up to Haruhime's peaceful, pale sleeping face, he couldn't help but yelp and fall off the bed. Next came all the memories. The rest of the day was spent with him going to everyone who had seen him in that state and apologize profusely for his actions.
"That's okay, Bell Cranel." Riveria chuckled lightly. "You were quite cute for your age." That made his face go instantly red. Ais wanted to say something only to be pulled away as Tiona dragged them back home, saying something about training (the amazoness was jealous she didn't get a hug).
He spoke up before Lefiya left. "... I-I meant what I said yesterday."
"... I guess." She gave a slight smile, before walking inside as well. Slightly disappointed at her response, he turned around to Haruhime, who had come along. They started their walk to join the rest in the dungeon, Haruhime silently giggling as they did. Bell tilted his head at her in confusion.
"Something wrong Haruhime-san?"
"No, it's just that… you really like fluffy tails, don't you?"
Yes, Bell regretted remembering that day.
... Yaaaa I just wrote this without a specific plot in mind, but man I need to give poor Eina some loving! Who knows, might write a sequel if i feel like it xD Bell might have been a bit out of character with his boldness but that's me throwing in that childish curiousity every kid has so don't mind it too much. Apologies for the late chapter and hope you enjoyed! Until next time! (❁ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆