"Sorry about that," I told Raphtalia.

"It's alright," she said, though the magic of the moment was gone now, leaving the two of us to just stare at anything other than each other for a few minutes.

"So uh, I'll get back to you on whether or not that SwordMaiden character wants to fight," I told her. I hadn't sent the request yet. "So, whenever you're free you know..."

"Right, right," Raphtalia said.

"And I heard you and Eclaire making plans, that's nice," I told her. I really meant it.

"Ah, that was just... I mean, she seems like a nice person," she told me. "Well, other than the weapons and the gunpowder..."

"Yeah..." I told her.

"Come to think of it, everyone is very nice," Raphtalia said. "You've managed to attract quite an interesting crowd when you think about it, Mr. Naofumi."

Right- Eclaire, Melty, Raphtalia, Filo, and Fitoria- the odds that I would've been able to meet even one of them would be near zero if you'd asked me about it before, but, here I was, hanging out with all of them. "Yeah, fate is weird, isn't it?"

Raphtalia nodded. "Perhaps..." She began saying something, but didn't finish as she trailed off. "Oh! I have to get going home!"

"Right, right," I said. It was getting really late. "Want me to drop you off?" I offered to do so even though she had declined multiple times in the past, just because it was the middle of the night, or close to it. Come to think of it- she could've just asked Fitoria or Eclaire to drop her off, I didn't think either of them would've refused.

Unless of course, she had wanted to be alone with me... my face flushed slightly as I came to that realization.

"Um, it's alright," she said. "I'm just going to the nearby bus stop, but if you're offering..." She didn't finish her sentence, though she hadn't needed to as we both walked towards the bus stop.

At this time of night, it was strangely peaceful- though this was also because the main noise-makers, Filo and Shindo, weren't around anymore. "Man, it's been quite a day, hasn't it?"

"Indeed," Raphtalia said. "You seem to get into a lot of trouble now that I think about it, Mr. Naofumi."

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult," I said.

"It's neither, just an observation," Raphtalia said. I had to say she was right there, given everything going on, I very well couldn't say that it was all normal. Perhaps someone had placed a curse on me? If that was true, it had likely been that woman. I didn't believe in curses though.

I thought about Raphtalia as we proceeded on. I hadn't thought that our relationship would reach this point yet, and it had. Come to think of it, the bus stop was entirely empty except for us.

The bus wouldn't arrive for a few minutes- and my heart began to beat so fast it felt like it was almost vibrating like a phone in my chest. Should I... make my move here? It wasn't a bad spot, and she had leaned into it just a while back. Maybe some of the magic of the moment was still there?

And yet, I hesitated a bit. My gut told me that the time was right if I wished to make a move, but still...

Flashbacks to everything that had happened before with that woman came back. What if Raphtalia didn't want to go for it anymore? What if she took it the wrong way? My hands froze even as I reached out to her.

Damn it- words could not express how much I hated her. She had not just ruined my earlier life, but also caused so many problems for me even now! There were many fish in the sea, and yet I hadn't approached anyone after our breakup specifically because I was terrified that it all might go south.

I was sure I wanted to be with Raphtalia, and I was also pretty sure she felt the same way. It had been a bit awkward knowing she was still in high school, but she was way older than a normal high school student. I didn't know what 'incident' had caused her to be held back a few years, likely it was related to something back in her home country.

The meal had been great- though I wished I could've had a beer or two to loosen my nerves- though I remembered as I thought that that I couldn't get drunk!

Well, it looked like I would have to prop up the courage to do so. She had already tried once before, I figured that I owed it to myself to also reach out to her as well.

"Raphtalia," I began.

"Yes?" she said. There had been a curtain of silence between the two of us before my voice had interrupted it, sounding more like the croak of a crow than the confidence I had wanted to instill in it.

"You ah," I began. "I love what you've done with your hair today."

"Ah, I haven't really changed it that much," she said.

I stepped forward. "I guess I just hadn't noticed before." As I got closer, I noticed that her eyes weren't entirely brown as I'd earlier thought. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but I could swear I saw a hint of violet within then. "I hadn't noticed how beautiful your eyes looked like either."

She seemed to understand my intent by then, and blushed deeply, but she didn't withdraw.

At the last second, my confidence wavered, and instead of kissing her on the lips, I gave her a light peck on the cheek. Even that though, seemed to startle her, as she jumped back, like she had just been electrocuted.

"Ah... I'm sorry if that was too sudden," I said. I couldn't gauge what her reaction was.

"No-No, that isn't a problem it's just that..." she began. Again, I could almost see a tail wagging behind her, but that had to be a trick of the light. "You almost kissed me on the lips- what if I got pre-pergenant?"

"...eh?" I said. Of all the things I thought she might say, that was the last one. "Wait, Raphtalia, you do know that kissing doesn't make you pregnant, right?"

"Huh?" she said. Really, just how sheltered was she? "It doesn't- then how?"

I didn't know how 'Sex Ed' was handled in her school- in my old, basically it was nothing but a biology textbook that didn't really explain anything.

However, I one hundred percent did not want to be the person to tell her how babies were actually made. "Uh, Raphtalia, it involves something... else..." I didn't want to go further- how did you even go around explaining this to someone else? I didn't think I'd have to deal with this until I had my own children!

Before either of us could process this, we were interrupted by a loud "WAAAAAAH!" that came from the nearby bushes.

Both of us turned in the direction of the noise to see someone suddenly leap out from them. "That girl just cucked me!" a voice whined. Though I could only make out a faint silhouette, I recognized that voice.

"Atla?" I said, sighing, knowing that things were about to become even more annoying.