Megumin walked over to Kazuma's room, her hand held over her chest as she knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Megumin opened the door to see Kazuma sat at his desk writing on some paper. "Whatcha doing there Kazuma?" Megumin asked as she walked over, looking over his shoulder to see a bunch of strange diagrams that he was drawing.
"Just some ideas for Vanir to start producing. What's up Megumin?" Kazuma asked as he put down his pen, turning in his chair to face the mage.
"Nothing, I just wanted to hang out," Megumin replied as she sat on his bed. Picking up Chomusuke, who was lazing around on the bed, and placing her on her lap.
"You sure? You seemed bothered by something,"
"It's nothing…"
"Hey, if something's wrong you can tell me,"
"..."
Kazuma stared an Megumin with unconvinced eyes, before turning back around to continue working on his invention.
"Hey Kazuma,"
"Yes Megumin?"
"Do you like big breasts?"
Kazuma suddenly felt an immense pressure on him, feeling as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders. "I should be careful with my words here," he thought to himself. "She'll see right through my lies, I should just tell her the truth, but sugarcoat it,"
"I can't say I dislike them,"
"I-I see,"
The pressure didn't leave him as Megumin replied to his answer. "Why do I feel like I picked the wrong dialog option here?" Kazuma thought to himself as he built up the courage to turn around.
"You must not like my body very much then huh?"
Kauzma turned around to see Megumin wearing a fake smile as she chuckled to herself.
"Megumin, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, really,"
"..." Kazuma stared at her with unconvinced eyes, causing Megumin to crack under the pressure.
"Geez, nothing gets past you huh,"
"It's not really that hard," Kazuma thought to himself.
"I wish I had a more mature body, like Darkness. I get a little self conscious sometimes, especially with Aqua and Darkness around," Megumin confessed as she looked down at Chomusuke in her lap. "Sorry that was a bit silly, forget it"
"Megumin," Kauzma got up and grabbed onto her shoulders, causing Megumin to lean back slightly in shock, Chomusuke running off in fear. "There's an appeal to your body type too!"
"K-Kazuma?!"
"Sure it's not voluptuous and curvy like Darkness, but your petite, flat body is nice to look at too!"
The two stared at each other for an awkward amount of time, Kazuma immediately regretting his word choice.
"Kazuma, you really don't know how to talk to girls," Megumin stated bluntly, getting up to stand.
"S-Sorry,"
Megumin wrapped her arms around Kazuma, who responded by lowering his hands and embracing Megumin in return.
"But for some reason that made me feel a lot better, thanks," Megumin confessed as she rose up onto the tips of her toes, and placed a small peck on Kazuma's cheek in gratitude.
"K-Kazuma you should know about something," Darkness declared as she entered the room. She noticed the intimate scene in front of her and immediately turned red in the face, as did the two party members in front of them as they noticed Darkness' sudden entrance.
"S-S-Sorry! But this is important!"
"R-Right!" They both responded in sync, breaking the embarce.
Darkness explained Raemis' previous profession as the two both had blushes adorned on their faces.
"I mean, it's not a problem right?" Megumin asked, "It's not like she still works for the Demon King,"
"Right, but the problem is what happens when the Demon King finds out where Raemis is," Kauzma explained, "He doesn't seem like a very forgiving man,"
"And she could be lying about breaking ties with him," Darkness added.
"You're saying she'll only attract trouble if she stays," Megumin clarified, crossing her arms.
"W-Well, maybe not as mean as that," Darkness replied.
"Okay, we can try something out," Kazuma stated, "Let me go ask her in private when the situation appears, and we can see if her story changes,"
"That's not… the worst idea," Darkness pondered as she held her hand to her chin.
"Cool," Kazuma said as he began to walk towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Megumin asked as Kazuma opened the door to his room.
"Creating a situation," he answered as he closed the door, leaving the two alone in his room.
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"Did you see me kiss Kazuma?"
"I-I-I saw that it was only the cheek!"
"Damn it" Megumin said as she clicked her tongue.
"How dare you get the lead over me!"
"Suck it up slow poke, that's what you get for rubbing yourself all over him yesterday"
"H-Hey! I was injured! And I know you do the same when he carries you after explosions!"
"Yeah duh!"
Darkness sighed defeatedly as she sat down on the edge of Kazuma's bed, Megumin following by sitting next to the crusader.
"I better catch up soon… and I haven't even thought of something to do for Valentine's day…"
"Same…"
They both sighed as Megumin leaned back onto her hands behind her, looking up at the ceiling.
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"Hey Darkness?"
"Yes?"
"Are you worried about Raemis?"
"A little bit. She's definitely strong, but seem seems like a nice girl,"
"No, I mean love wise,"
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"Just a bit,"
"Yeah same…"
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"That body of hers competes with yours Darkness, and she's always clinging to him… Kazuma definitely seems like the kind of man who falls for any girl who gives him attention,"
"Don't think so lowly of him…
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But I agree,"
They both sighed again as Megumin continued to stare at the ceiling and Darkness buried her face in her hands.
"Damn…."
Kazuma walked into the living room, and spotted Raemis enjoying the last bits of her sandwich. The demon spotted Kazuma out of the corner of her eye, perking up and smiling at him.
"Kazuma! You're back!"
"Hey Raemis," Kazuma replied as he walked into the kitchen and began to prepare himself a sandwich for himself.
"What are you doing?" Raemis asked as she got up, looking over Kazuma's shoulder, hands behind her back.
"Just getting some lunch, You want some?" Kazuma asked as looked over his shoulder to see Raemis leaning inches away from his face. "Ah!" he screamed in shock
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you," Raemis apologized as she stepped back.
"N-No it's alright," Kazuma clarified as she returned to making himself lunch. "You just scared me, that's all,"
"Am I scary, Kazuma?"
"N-No," Kazuma replied as he stopped what he was doing, unnerved by the sudden question.
"Even though I worked for the Demon King?"
Kazuma froze, he didn't know how to respond. How did she know that he knew, how would she react if he told her the truth, what would she do to him if he replied with his true feelings about her.
"H-How did you know?"
"Kazuma, I'm not a fool. I could see it in Darkness' eyes as she left the room...
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The fear,"
"O-Oh,"
Kazuma didn't dare turn around. He didn't want to show Raemis the fear he was currently feeling. The fear that manifested into beads of sweat running down his forehead, his hands, his face.
"I'm a demon, Kazuma. I was born to invoke fear, it's the only thing I can do,"
"..."
"Do you wish for me to leave, Kazuma?"
Kazuma didn't know what to do, his hands shook as he felt the pressure placed on him to respond to her.
"R-Raemis, I don't want you to leave," he lied.
Kazuma felt her hands slip around his waist, her body pressed up against his, her tail wrapping around his right leg. her warm breath on his neck, her soft breathing in his ear. Her hands interlocked with each other as she began to speak.
"Kazuma, I can feel it, taste it," she whispered, sending a chill down his spine. It suddenly felt so hard to breathe. Time seemed to slow to a standstill as she began to squeeze tighter. "Your fear,"
"R-Really," Kauzma choked out as he began to genuinely fear for his life.
"That disgusting taste… fear,"
They stood there for a moment. Kazuma feared that this might be the last few moments of his life.
"Sorry for leaving in the middle of lu-" Darkness apologized, walking into the room before getting cut off by the two's embrace. The two turned to see Megumin and Darkness standing there in shock. Raemis quickly let go of Kazuma, much to his relief.
"W-W-What are you two doing?!" Darkness stumbled out as she turned red.
"Y-Yeah! R-Right after I thought we had a moment!" Megumin added, also blushing.
"Help," Kazuma mouthed, not making a sound as he shook. Raemis stared at the two.
"I can taste it from them too,"
"H-Huh?" the mage questioned.
"The fear," Raemis' eyes began to grow sharper as she looked directly at the pair.
Raemis' eyes seemed to glow slightly red, before blinking back to yellow. She clutched her head as she fell to one knee, groaning as she grit her teeth.
"Raemis! Are you okay?" Kazuma kelt down at her side, grasping her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around Kazuma, burying her face in his neck as she began to hyperventilate. He attempted to soothe her by rubbing her back with his right hand, his left placed gently on her head.
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"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes," She whispered, not moving an inch.
"Do you… wanna try getting up?"
"Y-Yes,"
Kazuma helped her up, a worried look on his face. She looked down at her feet, trying to avoid eye contact.
"I-I'm sorry Kazuma,"
She walked over to Megumin and Darkness, still avoiding eye contact.
"Thank you for the food, Darkness. It was delicious,"
She walked towards the door, stopping at the doorway.
"I want to be alone for a while, I'll be in my room if you need me,"
"..."
The party stared at Raemis as she walked out the room. They looked at each other, their faces adorned with a variety of emotions.