The concert was actually quite short, only one hour, with no interlude.
As soon as it ended, everyone applauded the artists with praise, and they bowed once more in gratitude.
"Kaito, did you like it?"
"It was... incredible", Kaito replied.
"Then..." Ai paused before smiling intriguingly "...do you want them?"
"Of course I do", Kaito replied with an equally intrigued smile, already planning how to obtain them.
"Thank you very much to everyone who came today", the pianist began, interrupting everyone's conversation.
"For months we did not perform, yet today, after so much time, we managed to fill this hall with more than a thousand people. For that, I want to thank you all for your support".
The pianist fell silent for a second before directing his gaze toward Kaito's VIP room.
"But above all, I want to thank one person.
Months ago, I learned that my current partner, Miyazono Kaori, had a terminal illness. At that moment, my world collapsed.
And when Gaia appeared, I thought... I thought I might be able to save her. But it did not take long for me to realize how foolish that thought was.
Statistics inside and outside Gaia are different. Even with ten percent, she remained the same, so I grew desperate.
I even tried to persuade her to stay in Gaia forever, but she refused. She said she did not want to bind me to a life inside Gaia forever, where I could only see her there.
Even when I begged her, she kept refusing.
But thank God, or perhaps thanks to the devil, we were saved. He, Lucifer, saved us. He healed her. Thanks to him we are here now, thanks to him she is alive, and I will repay his kindness by serving him eternally.
So, thank you very much, Lucifer".
As he spoke, Arima's eyes met Lucifer's, who simply nodded in silence.
"So, do you like it?" Ai asked at his side.
"Excellent", Kaito smiled with satisfaction. "So that is what he used the phoenix tear I gave him recently for".
"That is right. Both Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori are talents worthy of being recruited. Starting with them, Kaguya plans to open an entire branch dedicated to recruiting talents from afar without having to conquer their territories", Ai explained.
"Good, good, that is great", Kaito replied with satisfaction before looking around.
With everyone being Lords, they all noticed Arima's gaze. As a result, it was easy to guess his identity, and murmurs spread throughout the hall.
Seeing this, Kaito grabbed Ai and disappeared from the place.
"So, do you have anything to do today?"
"Spending time with my boyfriend, of course", Ai replied.
---
This time, Kaito and Ai were facing each other wearing normal clothes.
Kaito wore a white and black striped sweatshirt, with an open light blue shirt over it, black pants, and red sneakers.
Ai wore a black dress that reached her thighs, with an opening that revealed a bit of cleavage, and a jacket tied around her waist.
"Is not that your uniform?"
Ai opened her eyes in surprise for a moment. "Sometimes you scare me with how much you know. And no, it is clothing I made to resemble it, since I like the style", she replied.
"You like the style of your old uniform?"
"I like what it represents", Ai said, with nostalgia in her eyes.
"It sounds like there is a story behind that", Kaito said curiously.
"It is not an important story. When I started studying at the same academy as Kaguya, it was the first time I had my own identity beyond being Kaguya's servant".
"I thought you liked being a servant?"
"I like being a servant and being with Kaguya", Ai nodded. "I do not like everything else".
Kaito nodded, knowing that being a servant in the Shinomiya family was far from being as simple as cleaning and serving. A servant, especially from the Hayasaka family, was no different from an elite agent under the command of the main family.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked.
"You want to know something? That does not sound like something the omniscient Lord Lucifer would say", Ai laughed.
"Maybe I am just interested in hearing you talk".
"No one ever told you that you are a smooth talker?" Ai raised an eyebrow.
"Never ever", Kaito replied with a smile.
"...I will tell you about my childhood while we walk".
"Then, shall we have some fun?" Kaito asked, offering his arm like the previous time.
Ai accepted, wrapping her arms around his, but because of their clothing and the change of location, instead of looking like nobles as before, they now simply looked like a normal couple on a date.
Thus, Kaito spent the entire day having fun with Hayasaka. However, at the end of the day, when it was already getting dark, Kaito was somewhat worried.
"Ai, can I be honest with you?"
"Of course", Ai replied, holding onto his arm and smiling from having enjoyed herself, not noticing the seriousness in Kaito's voice.
"I think you should spend less time with Kaguya".
"What do you mean?" Ai replied seriously, narrowing her eyes.
"I do not mean it in a bad way. You simply know a lot about Kaguya, I would even say you know everything. But every time I asked you something about yourself, your answers were either 'I do not know', or something related to Kaguya.
I am not saying to abandon her, but you should live for yourself, have your own hobbies and preferences".
Ai sighed. "You know... when I was little, they told me my entire life would be spent serving others. I felt terrified", she explained, lowering her voice. "But I was smart. I tried to deceive myself into believing that I liked my fate, that I truly cared for the girl I had to serve.
But then I discovered that I did not need to force myself. Kaguya was completely adorable.
Serving her was fun, and watching her grow even more so. But that joy did not last long.
When I grew old enough, I learned about the darkness of the family. I was no longer being trained to be Kaguya's servant. I was a spy, an assassin, a tutor, and hundreds of other things I did not even understand at the time. But if there was one thing I understood, it was that I never liked them.
Out of all of that, the only thing I still wanted was to keep watching Kaguya grow. So she became my light. I focused on her to forget all the other things I disliked. I focused on her so much that I forgot about myself.
But that cannot last forever, right? I suppose it is already time to let her go".
Then she looked into Kaito's eyes, her eyes shining.
"So, as the first thing I like after serving Kaguya, will you help me find my own personality?"
"I will always be there for you", Kaito replied.
"Pffft, what kind of cheesy answer is that?" Ai laughed naturally.
---
When night fell, Kaito planned to return to Gaia. However, Ai said they should try something new.
That was how they ended up at a hotel they had passed by earlier. Kaito thought Ai had not paid it any attention when they saw it, but now he realized she had.
Thus, instead of Gaia or his home, Kaito and Ai spent the night in a hotel, enjoying each other's bodies.
The next day, Kaito woke up with Ai wrapped around him, completely naked, and a mess on the bed, so he decided to take a bath.
However, the bath lasted longer than expected when Ai barged in to bathe together with Kaito.
They lasted about two minutes before starting again.
In the end, they finished around noon, when Ai returned to Gaia and Kaito took another bath before heading to the guild.
{Author's note: I spent over an hour reading other R 18 fics trying to learn something and write it myself, but every time I wrote one or two paragraphs I was not convinced and deleted them. In the end I gave up, but so as not to waste that hour and a half, I added this just to use up words}
---
"What a boring job", at Makima's murmur, which was clearly disdainful toward her work, none of the other receptionists dared to respond. After all, Makima's position was far above theirs.
"Makima, do you really work as a receptionist?" an arrogant voice suddenly sounded.
"Tsk", the moment she heard the voice, Makima clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Mark, should not you be at least a continent away from me?"
"Come on, we are old friends. How can you talk to me like that?" Mark said playfully, trying to put his arm around her shoulder.
But she looked him in the eyes and spoke seriously. "Do not touch me".
For a moment, her eyes seemed to turn like gears, and Mark withdrew his arm, obeying.
"Your ability is still a total nuisance, huh?" he spoke irritably. "Better tell me about your position. What are you doing as a receptionist? Normally you should only have been here the first week to find out if there was anyone interesting. Why are you still acting?"
"It could be", he smiled with narrowed eyes, "that you found someone that interesting?"
"I do not know what you are talking about, I just thought it was fun", Makima said, denying the accusations. "Better tell me what you are doing here".
"Is not it obvious? Lucifer is from Japan. I was sent to hunt him, so I stopped by to see you since I was in the area".
"So you came to see Viktor. He is upstairs, you can go and stop bothering me", Makima replied with indifference mixed with annoyance.
"You are boring, and that is what makes you so interesting. We will see each other later", he said, waving goodbye as he headed toward the stairs.
"If I did not have such an annoying ability, I would have killed him long ago", she murmured once Mark disappeared from her sight.
"Why? Is he strong?"
"No, but he is a master of curses, so he is hard to kill without dying yourself as well".
______________________________________
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)