Before the first ray of sun touched the dungeon city of Orario, I woke and threw myself out of bed with uncharacteristic energy. I crossed to the window and slid the curtain aside, gazing down at the sprawling city below. An embarrassingly giddy laugh escaped me.
"Hehe," I laughed—probably sounding like a complete idiot, as I thought back on the previous day.
The girls' answer to my confession. Their beautiful faces lit by moonlight. The way they'd said they loved me. The soft press of their lips against my cheeks. My own kisses in return...
Heat crept up my neck and into my face with each memory.
I slapped both cheeks lightly, forcing my expression into something resembling normalcy. "Get it together," I muttered. "Ais is probably already waiting." As I thought about her, my expression softened again as I thought about being able to spend time with her now as more than just friends.
But even thinking about her made my composure crumble. Spending time with her now—not as friends, but as something more… The grin returned, unstoppable. I gave up fighting it and started getting ready. It didn't take me long to get dressed, mainly because of my enthusiasm. As I made my way through the city streets straight to the walls.
We had no plans to spar or anything like that, as we are already tired enough after our fight with the dragon. Most of all, we didn't even talk about meeting up today, but Ais would be here. I knew it without doubt, as she always had.
The alley opened onto the street near the wall. The morning air was crisp and clean, the city still quiet in that brief window between night's end and day's true beginning. A few early risers moved through the streets, but most of Orario still slept.
I approached the wall and crouched slightly, then launched myself upward. The leap that would have been impossible weeks ago now felt natural, effortless. The wind rushed past as I ascended, the city spreading out below me in the growing light. I landed softly on the wall's broad surface and looked up.
There she was. Ais is standing there, gazing at me with those golden-honey eyes, her head tilted to the side, blonde hair falling off her shoulders.
"Arin…you are…here?" she asked, her cheeks slightly red with a small smile as she looked into my eyes.
And I returned her gaze warmly. "Yes, I am," I replied, "I thought you wouldn't come, since all the recent events had been pretty tough, especially regarding your mother. I left the last part unspoken, though Ais clearly understood my meaning. "But then decided to check just in case." That was a lie; I just knew she would be here.
Ais nodded once, "Um…I came because I thought you would be here…as well" she said, her eyes carrying a brightness I rarely saw there, but as she continued, her eyes fell towards the floor, "But you are right. I…still don't understand what I could do…about my mother." she went quiet, then lifted her face back up.. "But I do know that I need to be strong if I want to help her," she concluded resolutely, standing atop the wall, as the first ray of the sun rose from behind her, filtering through her blonde hair, rustling in the wind. The sight stole my breath.
Ah…I knew it. She is just so strong…and determined… My chest tightened with a mixture of pride, affection, and something deeper I couldn't quite name. As I stepped forward and extended my hands. Ais looked confused at my action, but I didn't care and scooped her up in my arms.
As I sat down at the edge of the wall, with Ais on my lap, she was stiff for a few moments, but soon relaxed as she leaned her head on my chest. One of my arms was holding her slim waist, and the other was patting her head.
"I know you could do it, Ais, and all of us, me, Ryuu, Riveria, Asfi, and everyone else will be there with you." Ais again nodded, her head still leaning on my chest. She remained silent for a while, her breathing so peaceful I suspected she had fallen asleep, but almost as if to deny my doubts, she spoke up.
"Arin," she said eventually, her voice muffled against my chest.
"Mm?"
"Yesterday... when we all confessed. When we became..." She paused, searching for words. "When we started our relationship. I was happy, really happy."
My hand stilled in her hair. "I was, too. I still am and always will be."
"But I was also…scared," she admitted quietly. "Because I don't really understand these feelings yet. How to be…in a…relationship. What I'm supposed to…do or…say." She pulled back slightly to look up at me, her golden eyes searching mine for answers. "I'm not good with…emotions like this."
I cupped her cheek gently. "Neither am I, to be honest. I've never been in a relationship before either."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Really?"
"Really, and I think it's the same for others as well, so we're all figuring this out as we go." I leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. "But that's okay. We don't have to be perfect. All we need to do is be honest with each other."
"Honest," she repeated, seeming to test the word. Then she nodded. "I can do that. I'm…good at being honest."
"You are," I agreed with a chuckle. "Sometimes a little too honest."
"Is that bad?"
"No. It's one of the things I love about you." Her cheeks flushed pink at the word 'love,' but she didn't look away. Instead, she studied my face with that intense focus of hers.
"Can I... can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
She was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts with that careful deliberation she applied to everything. "How do you love all four of us?" Her golden eyes searched mine. "Do you love us... equally? Like dividing your heart into four parts?"
She paused, then added more quietly: "Doesn't it get confusing? Knowing who you're with, what you feel?"
It was the question I'd been expecting—though I'd thought it would come from outside our relationship, not from within it. But Ais asking it made sense. She approached emotions the same way she approached combat: methodically, seeking to understand the mechanics. I thought carefully before answering.
I thought carefully before answering.
"It's not about loving you all equally—not like dividing my heart into quarters where each piece is identical but smaller." I searched for the right words. "It's more like... each of you occupies a different space in my heart. A complete space, not a fraction."
"What I feel for you is different from what I feel for Riveria. Which is different from Ryuu. Which is different from Asfi." I cupped her cheek. "But different doesn't mean less. Each bond is whole and complete in its own way."
"So you love me for being me?" She asked it like she was confirming a hypothesis. "Not for being one-fourth of something?"
"Exactly." I couldn't help but smile at how thoroughly Ais she was being. "I love Riveria for being Riveria—her wisdom, her strength, the way she cares for everyone while pretending it's just practicality. I love Ryuu for being Ryuu—her faith in justice, her gentle kindness, the way she believes in people's goodness even when they don't deserve it."
Ais listened with complete focus, absorbing every word.
"I love Asfi for being Asfi—her brilliant mind, the way she challenges me, how she worries while acting annoyed. And I love you for being you, Ais." My thumb brushed her cheekbone. "Your strength, your honesty, your determination. The way you're trying so hard to understand emotions, even when they're difficult. The way you never give up, never compromise who you are."
I leaned closer. "All of it, Ais. I love all of it, every part of what makes you who you are."
Ais was quiet for a long moment, her face growing redder. Then, suddenly, she buried her face in my chest again. "That's... that's too much, my heart feels weird now."
I laughed softly, resuming my gentle stroking of her hair. "In a good way or bad way?"
"...Good way," came her muffled response. "But still…too much."
The wall beneath us was still cool from the night, but warming gradually as the sun climbed higher. I could smell bread baking from the bakeries below, hear the distant clang of a blacksmith's hammer starting the day's work. Ais's breathing had slowed, her body completely relaxed against mine in a way I'd never felt from her before. "Well, Ais, we should get going now." Ais remained quiet, but as I shifted in place, she spoke up. "Five more minutes."
"Okay, sure," I replied, but then the five minutes became ten, then fifteen, then twenty. But I really didn't mind it, or rather, I enjoyed our time a lot after all. But as they say, all good things come to an end, and mine came with Ais separating herself from me.
Finally—reluctantly—Ais pulled back slightly. "I'm fine now." The words sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than me, but I let it slide.
Standing and offering her my hand. She took it, letting me pull her to her feet.
She nodded once, decisive and final in that Ais way. Then, before I could react, she rose on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek—mirroring what I'd done in the library the night before.
"Now we're even," she said, her expression serious but her eyes sparkling with something that might have been mischief as she ran down the wall.
We made our way back down to the streets together, hands still linked, as Orario woke fully around us. The day stretched ahead with all its possibilities—training, quests, whatever chaos would inevitably find us.
But for me right now, in this moment, everything was perfect…