If we reach 100 power stones, there will be extra chapters.
×××
It's not like the girls had started a bloodbath among themselves out of jealousy.
But they had forced Saya to spill every last bit of information.
How they became lovers. How far they'd gone. That kind of stuff.
Even though they were pretty offended that Saya had taken Yuu's first kiss...
Now they were calmly chatting as they walked along the cracked asphalt.
Saeko had suggested they train again. With Saya joining them and Shizuka's potions, they were better prepared than before.
The dead walked in the distance, ignoring the group of girls, after all, they weren't being loud.
At that moment, Rei remembered something.
"Hey, Saya. What happened with Komuro-kun?"
The moment she heard that name, Saya made a disgusted face.
"Don't suddenly mention that person."
They'd been childhood friends, the three of them. Back when they were kids, Saya remembered being attracted to Takashi.
But he was chasing after Rei, who never saw him that way.
Those were just childish crushes. Now it disgusted her to even think about it.
After all, now she truly loved someone.
And that someone was Yuu.
"By the way…" She slowly turned her head toward Saeko. "You mentioned something before. Something like me getting ahead of you all."
"Yeah, I remember. Why?"
Saya eyed them suspiciously.
"Do you love Yuu?"
Saeko nodded calmly.
"I love him."
Rei's cheeks were slightly pink.
"Me too."
Shizuka smiled brightly and made a victory fist, causing her boobs to bounce cheerfully along with it.
"I love Kami-sama so much!"
Jin-ah blushed, fidgeting with her fingers.
"It's too soon, but... I wouldn't mind being with him."
Saeko looked at Jin-ah.
"Does that mean you love him?"
Jin-ah lowered her head.
"Uhhh... yeah. I guess I do."
Saya looked at them.
One by one.
"You're all... in love with him?"
"Yes."
None of them hesitated.
Rei briefly glanced away as she noticed a zombie approaching, then looked right back at Saya.
"Why're you looking at us like that? Like we're your enemies?"
"Because you are!"
Saya shouted in frustration.
"You're bad friends! All of you want... you want my Yuu!"
"Your Yuu…" Saeko had an odd look. "I think Yuu-sama might have something to say about that."
"I don't care!"
Saya quickened her pace.
"I'm gonna train! I'm just gonna train until I'm so strong that... that...!"
"That?"
"That I can follow him anywhere! And then... then he'll just have to be with me!"
Shizuka giggled softly behind her.
"Saeko-chan, I think Saya-chan's jealous."
"She's definitely jealous." Saeko nodded with a small smile.
Jin-ah sighed.
"This is gonna be complicated."
But they all followed after her. Because even though they loved Yuu, they didn't want to fight each other over it. After all, they were important to Yuu, and he surely didn't want to see them fighting.
And they knew that, in the end, what really mattered was that they were all together.
However, Saya didn't know that yet.
She still believed she had to be chosen. The only one.
But Yuu's world didn't work like that.
×××
Yuu appeared on the couch in his living room, legs crossed and a calm expression on his face.
The air around him was silent.
At his side, Yue was sitting with her legs pulled up, chin resting on her knees. Her long golden hair spilled over the couch like strands of silk, and her crimson eyes watched him intently.
"Mm… Yuu, then... what should I do?"
She tilted her head slightly as she asked softly.
Before leaving for the Castle of Fate to answer Saeko's call, Yuu had stopped time across this entire universe.
Leaving Yue alone during his absence… no, he couldn't allow that. If time didn't move, she wouldn't suffer either. Or so he thought.
"It's for the best."
That's what he'd thought when he made that decision.
But now...
'I should've taken her with me.'
That's what someone who truly understood emotions would've done. Someone capable of empathy.
Yuu, however, only understood emotions. He could analyze them, recognize them, name them. But he couldn't feel them.
The passing of eons had snuffed out that spark inside him.
'I have to find a way to think emotionally again…'
"Ah, a few things happened."
Yuu raised a hand to gently pat her head.
Because time had been frozen, their last conversation was when Yuu had asked Yue:
"Wanna be the first to try it?"
Referring to the Blessing.
But while time had been frozen here, he'd already granted the blessings.
So Yuu began to tell her what had happened.
How he'd traveled to another world, met new people, and how the girls who followed him had grown little by little.
"..."
As he spoke, the light in Yue's eyes changed slightly. Her expressionless face darkened, and her lips pouted.
When Yuu finished, she moved closer without saying a word.
She raised her small hands and started lightly hitting his chest.
"Baka Yuu… you went to another world without me!"
"Yeah."
"And you met other girls!"
Her hits were weak. But there was frustration behind them.
"Yeah."
"And you didn't take me with you!"
She lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes.
"Would you leave me behind?"
Yuu looked at her. Her red eyes shone with emotion. Her small body trembled slightly with frustration.
He didn't feel guilt. He didn't feel remorse. But he knew he should feel something.
"No."
"Mm... no what?"
"I wouldn't leave you if I went again."
Yue dropped her fists.
"Really? Yuu promises…?"
"I promise."
She leaned forward and hugged him.
Her body was small and felt fragile. She'd stayed alone in the abyss for so long that she'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone by her side.
Yuu ran his fingers through her golden hair.
Looking at her like that...
"I'm sorry."
The words left his mouth. He wasn't sure if he felt them, but there was a faint ache in his chest.
Yue lifted her head and began to speak...
"When I look at Yuu, even though you sometimes smile… it doesn't feel real. Trying your best to laugh for real... but not being able to feel it. Wanting to say 'I'm sorry'... but not being able to feel it. Wanting to love... but not being able to feel it."
She looked him straight in the eyes and nodded.
"Mm... Yuu gives me that kind of feeling..."
He went silent for a moment. Even though it hadn't been long since they'd met, Yue could already reach that kind of conclusion.
"Yuu... I don't know your past, or how much you've suffered to have forgotten emotions... but I'll always be with you."
Yue smiled faintly and rested her head on his chest.
"If someday you wanna tell me about yourself, your past... and everything you've been through and suffered, I'll listen."
Yue would always stay by his side. She wanted to know everything about him, but she didn't want to force him to talk about his past. Maybe it was too painful for him.
She wanted that day to come. The day Yuu would open up to her and share his life.
When that moment came, she'd be there with him, to make him realize he wasn't alone anymore. That he didn't have to bear everything by himself.
"Thanks."
That was all Yuu could say.
The little vampire nodded in satisfaction, slid down, and lay on his lap.
"Mm…"
After a quiet moment, while Yuu stroked her head...
"Yuu."
"Yeah?"
"Do you love those girls?"
Yuu thought about the question.
"I think I'm learning how to love."
"And me?"
Yuu had spent maybe thousands of years alone, without connecting to anyone, without a single soul by his side. One could say Yue was the first person to get close to him. So close that he'd begun to see her as an essential part of his life.
So...
"You're the first."
The warmth of this small vampire, who'd said she'd always stay with him, made him remember something.
That even a heart that had stopped feeling… could start beating again.
"Mm... good."
Yue closed her eyes, and her lips curved into a small smile.
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