Now let us review.
Guest - Well, there's Calamity Dimensions, a fanmade expansion mod that adds Goozma as a boss.
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"Rise and shine, Worm Boy!" The Desert Scourge announced, kicking open the door to Kuraima's room.
"What the fuck, Matilda-san?!"
Oh, yeah, that's her name. Forgot to mention that over the course of at least 6 chapters before this one.
So it was either now or never, I suppose.
"You can't just kick down my door whenever you feel like it!"
"It's twelve in the morning, kiddo! You've got a date in four hours!"
"But why would you wake me up at twelve?! What the hell do I do with the two or three extra hours?!"
"Dunno."
"...At least knock on the door you prick! You don't have to actually kick it!"
"Haha, duly noted~"
Donning a pair of khaki shorts and a simple short-sleeved polo shirt, the Astral Champion of Earth was ready for his first date. Ever.
As Kuraima left his house, he pulled out his phone, checking his messages.
He'd gotten her number before they had left the cafe, and decided via text that they'd meet up at the local park.
The Astral Student noticed he'd received a text message from the Gremory Devil.
Rias - Hey, Kuraima, you awake?
He quickly typed out a response.
Kuraima - Yeah, leaving the house now
Kuraima - Something important happy?
Kuraima - gdi even when I turn off autocorrect
Kuraima - *Happen
Rias - haha lol
Rias - Anyways, the firefighters were mobilized yesterday.
Rias - Turns out there was a meth lab explosion on the eastern outskirts of town. The entire warehouse went up in flames.
Kuraima - looks like fried chicken isn't the only thing Kentucky has exported
Rias - lol
Rias - Anyways, I had my associates do some digging and apparently there's a gang of Sacred Gear users that's decided to settle into town.
Kuraima paused mid-step, processing this information.
Kuraima - Should I be scared?
Kuraima - i'd really not like to suddenly hear piano music
Rias - Honestly, I'd be on guard.
Rias - Apparently, whatever it was that caused that meth lab to explode, it might not be human.
Rias - Shortly before the incident occurred, there were reports of some of the men involved being launched at high speed through the walls. Hence, why everyone involved only go away with light wounds/burns.
Rias - Except for one
Rias - They found him on the other side of town, unconscious. Name: Cru Stasion. He had a Sacred Gear, which according to him, was known as [Perfect Infestation]. Some kind of fungus-based ability that manifests...crab parts, of all things.
Kuraima - LMAO WHAT
Kuraima - PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING ABOUT THE NAME
Rias - I'm not joking, lol.
Kuraima had been informed about this strange incident in the Sacred Gear business if you could call it that. Recently, a string of brand new Sacred Gears had begun to appear— his [Stella Dominus] included— after many hundred or so years of no new Gears. It was really throwing the factions in all corners of the world for a loop as they scrambled to gather as many as they could.
Luckily for him, as long as he remained in Rias' territory, he'd be pretty safe from recruiters.
Rias - So yeah, be careful.
Rias - BTW, good luck on your date ;)
Kuraima - haha, thanks. you know I'll need it
Upon entering the park's central area, he saw the woman he had come to meet.
There she was, wearing a cute white dress with a blue mini-skirt. Formal, yet with a hint of casual. Very modest, yet attractive. Combined with her adorably freckled face and equally adorable pair of glasses, she was a sight to behold.
"Well…uh...hey there."
"...H...Hi…"
He took a seat next to her, basking in the warm air.
"So...how are you doing?" He said, trying to stir up some small talk.
She looked away shyly, twiddling her thumbs. "I'm...fine."
The two awkwardly sat there.
"Say, uh...can I get a name? I kinda forgot to ask. I'm Sensou. Sensou Kuraima. Please, just call me Kuraima."
"Helenski...Helenski La Sola."
"Huh. La Sola...La Sola…" He leaned back. "I like it...it has a good rhythm to it."
This caused her to blush.
'God, she's like Asia except much shyer…and socially awkward.'
"Hey, hold on, I'll be right back."
The Astral champion got up, pulling money from his pocket as he approached a vending machine.
A few moments later, Kuraima returned with two cans of Coca Cola.
"Ah yes, one Cola for La Sola."
"W-Wh?!"
"Sorry, I took the chance, and I saw it."
Kuraima had spent around 400¥ on some soft drinks just so he could say that.
"Heh…" She began to giggle at that. And soon, the laughter spread to him.
'Charisma 10.'
"Say, wanna go get something' to eat?" Upon asking that, her eyes lit up.
"Y-Yes! I'd love to!"
Sometime later, the two were now sitting at a local pizza joint.
"So, uh, Sola-san. I'd like to, well, y'know, know a bit more about you."
"W-Well…there's...not really that much to talk about…"
"Come on, just...something, I guess." He shrugged.
One of the best ways to do things on a date was to talk about themselves. Well, in moderation, at least.
"Ah...well…"
They...were kinda having trouble with that. Kuraima didn't really have any interesting life stories, and she was really, really hesitant.
"...You know, if you don't really feel that comfortable, you don't have to talk. We could just enjoy each other's company if you'd like…"
"Nono, it's fine! I...uh...just…"
"Want me to go first?"
"...S...Sure."
"Well…"
He leaned back, putting a quizzical hand to his chin as he thought to himself for a moment.
"For starters, I grew up in the States. More specifically, the state of Kentucky. Might've heard of it, might've not. We're...actually kind of historically important. Well, depends on the kind of history." He shrugged.
"We've got the Kentucky Derby and the birthplace of Bluegrass music. We produce like, so much coal that we could probably power the US on coal alone for like, what, at least a few decades if not a hundred years?"
"Woah..."
"Yeah. We're pretty cool, I suppose. So anyway, my parents? They're pretty good. They're devout Catholics, but they're the good kind who actually respect my choice to be...uh, non-catholic."
He wasn't sure what the right term was. He had proof that there were indeed gods and other higher deities, so he couldn't be agnostic.
Was he an atheist? He didn't really want to admit it, he didn't really like that idea because atheism was riddled with neckbeards.
Oh well.
"Anyways, I'm here because one of our family traditions is to send the kids overseas to complete highschool in our ancestral homeland."
"Wow…"
"So, uh, how about yourself?"
She nervously twiddled her thumbs.
"I'm adopted."
Kuraima nearly choked on his soda.
"Achk! S-Sorry…" He lightly pounded his chest in an attempt to clear up his chest. "I….I didn't expect that right off the bat..."
"No, no! I'm sorry...I…"
"Look, if you don't want to talk about it…"
She began her tale.
"W-Well, you see...I'm…actually on r-really good terms with my biological f-father...but...legally I'm adopted...b...because…"
"...Because of what?"
"F…Father did…..nnn…nnn-n-naughty things…! With…the woman who w-would become my mom! He...He gets with women all the...the time...a-and…"
…
…
…
"Oh. Ooooohkay."
…
…
….
"Well, uh...surely there's more to this?"
"Y...Yes...b-both were really i-important people...and if...if it got out that I was their child…"
That...wow. Kuraima didn't expect that at all.
"Oh, I see. You'd get caught up in all kinds of nasty stuff."
…
…
…
"But hey, if life is good for ya, that's all that matters. Oh, well, I'd say pizza's important too!"
The waiter came by, delivering a nice large hot and steamy pepperoni pizza, fresh out of the oven.
"Shall we?"
"Y-Yes…!" The way her eyes lit up…
...truth be told, Kuraima was actually starting to fall for her.
This girl knew a good meal when she saw one.
However, neither of them notice that they were being stalked, as a small, sickly green little blob hiding in the rafters, watching them.
Kuraima remembered something, just as he was about to bite down. "Oh, your father...he wouldn't happen to work with Nyke-san, would he?"
"A-Ah…"
"...S-Sorry. My curiosity got the best of me—"
Then he realized something else.
"Wait, you're the adopted daughter of the manager at the cafè, right?!"
"Y-Yes, why?"
"So that means...you get to hang out with Jenny Hallows?!"
"W-Who?"
"She's the creator of World Adventures of Ren!"
…
…
…
"W-Wait? She is?!"
"Yeah!"
And so, the two bonded over their favorite cartoon and their meal.
With stomachs full of pizza, the two decided to enter the shopping district.
"Kyaaa! Kuraima-san! Look at all these cute plushies!" Sola exclaimed, pressing her face up against the glass window of a nearby storefront.
Kuraima snickered. So she liked cute things and food.
…A fine combo.
"Hey, uh...there's a candy shop around the corner, they've got a lot of cute plushies there. Wanna go check it out?
She turned to look at him with that look. "Y-Yes! L-Lead the way!"
When they entered the candy shop, they immediately set about picking their confectionary delights.
Suddenly, Kuraima noticed a familiar face.
Or, at least, the upper half of one.
"Oh, hey there Koneko-san. I didn't know you worked at the candy store."
"..." She just stared at him for a bit, her eyes barely passing over the countertop's height.
"...you don't, do you."
"Not at all."
"Then why are you behind the counter?"
She looked away. "...Not telling."
Kuraima shrugged. "...You do you, I suppose."
He then picked up a box of pocky. "Oooh, Azur Lane collaboration box art. Don't mind if I do!"
Walking out with bags full of candy and a plushie of a chibi-fied Hatsune Miku, Sola wore a big, blushing smile on her face.
Kuraima had some bags of candy of his own and a noticeably lighter wallet.
Having come out of her shell, lured out by food and sweets, Helenski seemed to become an entirely different person.
The Astral student smiled. Sure, "love at first sight" wasn't a thing, but perhaps love on the first date?
Perhaps.
Perhaps it could happen.
He scrunched his nose.
'The fuck is that smell? It smells like...fuck, I can't even describe it with words.'
…
…
…
"Hey, Sola-san. How about some ice cream?"
"Y-Yes!"
The two, now walking closer to one another than before, approached the fountain in the middle of the park, where the two had met up hours before.
"Hey, Kuraima-san?" Sola asked, pausing to look at the fountain, with her back turned to him.
"Yes? What is it?"
She turned towards him, smiling. "I...I had a really good time today…"
The third-year student shrugged. "Me too. I didn't think it'd work out, y'know…I kinda only did this because my friends were teasing me about it. That, and I didn't really have much of anything going for me, because, uh...it's tough to explain."
He sighed, smiling.
"But you know what? I think we really hit it off. I'm already lookin' forward to our next outing together."
She blushed, looking away and once more twiddling her thumbs nervously.
"Y-Yeah, me too…"
Kuraima sat down on the bench, Sola eventually joining him. The two sat there, enjoying one another's company.
"So...see you soon?"
"Y-Yeah…see you around, Kuraima-san…"
As Kuraima walked away (with a noticeable spring in his step), Helenski watched until he turned the corner and left her sight.
She continued to sit there, in a lovesick trance.
"There you are."
The white-haired girl yelped, then relaxed when she saw the voice of the otherworldly voice; a white, round bird.
"Um.."
"I will never truly understand how you mortals work. You've let that human worm his way into your mind, and now all you can do is fawn over him."
"A...Ah...well..."
"Yet, I cannot help but feel a sense of familiarity from him. I have felt this energy before, but…"
…
…
…
"No, 'tis only wishful thinking."
"H-Huh?"
"Think nothing of it. Let us return home."
"...A-Alright…"
The bird then looked at the bags of candy that Helenski carried with her.
"...Are those...are those gummy worms?"
"Y...Yes…"
"I implore that you share them with me as soon as possible."
"That's the guy, right?"
"Has to be. The odds that he's got some kind of vigilante body double is incredibly fucking low."
"Aight. We found our guy. We gonna go after the girl, too?"
"Yeah. She must be worth a lot if they have to legally register her under the name of some random schmuck."
"Heh. We'll teach this town what it means to mess with Eden's Sinners!"
That night, Kuraima lay in bed, irresponsibly browsing on his phone at roughly 11:30 P.M.
Kuraima - hey rias
Kuraima - are any important people I should know about besides you and sona?
Kuraima - well, besides Jenny Hallows at least
Rias - not that I know of, why?
Kuraima - uuuh
Kuraima - i don't know if i can tell you
Kuraima - it's about the girl i went on a date with
There was a good, long pause that spanned at least five minutes, maybe more.
Kuraima - i don't feel like talking about it anymore
Kuraima - I kinda feel bad just talking about it now, like I'm treading on her feelings.
Rias - I understand.
Rias - But if it's something that might be dangerous towards me, my territory, or my peerage, you NEED to tell me
Kuraima - K, gotcha.
Kuraima - BTW do you know any good places for a second date
Rias - Hm…
Rias - There's a carnival coming around next weekend. How does that sound?
Kuraima - Nice
Kuraima - anyways gonna try to sleep now
Kuraima - good night
Rias - good night