Out of the huge building where Maddie and Scarlet lives, on the ground floor, Meldia circles the superbike, looking at it from every angle she could. She made all sorts of strange facial expressions while she analyses every curve and gear of the machine.
Meanwhile, Maruti had stars practically sparkling around her face, filled with pride. Her grin never wavering for even a second.
"Those dwarf bastards. They had something like this and never gave it to me," Maddie sighs, taking a step back and looking over at Esdeath and Maruti.
"What's its name?" she asks.
"David Putra 2000cc. Just call it David," Maruti answers.
"Hmm..." Maddie was silent for a few seconds. "It's a good thing that a mana crystal merchant also lives here. Scarlet should be on her way now with the mana crystals," she says.
Just as she says it, Scarlet came running from behind, holding a storage-type essence stone in her hand.
"Here, this should be enough for you to go back in one piece," Scarlet says, handing it over to Esdeath.
"Well then, we'll be departing now. We have too much to do," Esdeath replies with a light smile, walking towards the bike and sitting on the back.
Maruti also waves her hands energetically, taking the front seat and starting the superbike.
"You sure you aren't staying for even a day? I thought I might show you a bit more around the Awakened Kingdom," Maddie asks, slightly disappointed.
"No. Like I said, we're in a hurry. And also, be ready to depart to hell. It won't take any longer than a month," Esdeath answeres as a matter of fact.
******
Meanwhile on the other side, The decision is made.
A date.
Without Maruti.
It sounds simple enough when Kailith says it.
Yet, as the four of them stand outside Maruti's house a short while later, there is a strange silence between them.
Kailith looks at Alice.
Alice looks at Brenna.
Brenna looks at Ravenna.
Ravenna looks back at Kailith.
Nobody seems entirely sure what they are suppose to do first.
"We could just go into the city and decide what to do once we're there?" Ravenna suggests, a surprisingly good idea from her.
Kailith thought about it for a moment.
There was actually nothing wrong with that.
They didn't have a strict schedule, and none of them had anything particularly urgent to take care of today. The entire point of this outing was to spend time together, so perhaps planning every single part of it would defeat the purpose.
"That works," Kailith says.
With that agreement, they went outside for an unplanned date, walking around the streets, with people busy with their work. Everybody having their own life and stories that others would never know.
Kailith was quite glad for this walk as well. She had been away from Anastasia for more than a month now, and it felt quite refreshing.
"Should we like... h-hold hands?" Alice suggests hesitantly, her voice barely a whisper.
"Dang, good idea, Alice," Kailith praises her, a bright smile spreading across her face.
All four of them were walking side by side anyway, so it was easy. Ravenna gently took Brenna's hand in hers. Then Brenna, with her usual calmness, held out her right hand to Kailith, who took it with a playful squeeze. Lastly, Kailith reaches out and took Alice's hand, whose cheeks turns a light shade of pink.
Together, they were blocking almost half of the street space, walking side by side. Although no one dared to call them out for it.
Traveling around, they went to fashion shops, jewelry shops, and even visited a garden where they did some morning workouts just for fun.
It all was proceeding quite fast but was surprisingly peaceful.
They sat on a nearby bench to rest a little. It was already afternoon by now.
"I thought things would go chaotic soon, but it is surprisingly peaceful. I was worried for nothing," Brenna sighs in relief, leaning her back against the bench.
"True. I guess Maruti is the common link among us, but most of the time we fight is also because of her," Ravenna adds, her voice soft but thoughtful.
"Well, she's worth fighting for," Kailith says with a scoff, though there was a warmth in her eyes.
Alice chuckles at her line as well but didn't say anything, just enjoying the moment.
"So true," Ravenna replies, a small smile on her face.
Kailith then shifts forward a little on the bench, as if something had just popped into her mind.
"Now that I think about it, me and Alice did approve of you two to be in this relationship, but we never asked how you fell for Maruti anyway?" she ask, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Alice also sat up a little straighter, her eyes now focused and paying full attention to their answers.
As Brenna ponders for an answer, her face couldn't help but turn a soft shade of red. She shyly turns her head away a little before she answers.
"It was love at first sight," she answers,her voice quiet but clear with a dreamy smile on her face.
"I don't really believe in love at first sight, but sure, whatever," Kailith says back with a small shrug, then turns to look at Ravenna, waiting for her answer.
"It's kinda hard to explain. Rather than her making me fall for her, it's more like she won me over. I'm her possession," Ravenna answers, a strange, excited glint in her eyes.
"Huff... I should've never asked," Kailith sighs in disappointment, not getting the clear, simple answer she was hoping for.
"T-then what about you two? Especially you, Kailith. I never imagined you even talking straight to someone, let alone being in love," Ravenna questions with genuine curiosity in her voice.
This time, Brenna leans forward, her interest clearly piqued as she waits to hear Kailith's side of the story.
Kailith coughs lightly first. "Ahem... Well, it was just curiosity at first. I liked her bravery and her open personality. So I wanted to be friends with her. But she always spent most of her time with Esdeath. 'Esdeath this' and 'Esdeath that'... I thought there was something going on between the two of them, and and..."
Kailith's voice turns slightly serious as she squeezes her fist. "I realized that I was feeling jealous. I wanted her to be with me, not Esdeath."
"And her carefree style... She doesn't have any guards up at all. How could anyone resist that body if you go around teasing with it like she does? I tried controlling myself, until I just couldn't anymore," she exhales, trying to calm herself down from remembering all those frustrated moments.
She couldn't help but grope the empty air a few times while she was remembering her body.
The same went for the other three as well. They were all imagining similar things in their minds, their expressions changing as they got lost in their thoughts.
"True," Alice was the first one to say, her voice a little breathless.
"So true," Ravenna adds, her eyes wide with agreement.
"I can totally understand," Brenna answers, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Kailith couldn't help but scoff dryly. "I guess we do have something in common," she says, a small smirk on her face.
"Yes! The way she choked me with her butt, it was the best~" Ravenna almost shouts, a small line of drool dripping down her lips with a perverted glee.
But hearing that, Kailith immediately stands up from her seat. "You were talking about her butt?" she asks, her voice a little high.
"Yes? What about you?" Ravenna asks back, looking confuse.
"Chest, of course," Kailith replies in a slightly high-pitched tone, as if she were stating a simple, obvious fact.
Both of them then turns to look at Alice.
Alice immediately felt the sudden pressure on her to choose between chest or butt.
But true to her own feelings towards Maruti, she just couldn't lie about it.
"Feet and armpit," she answers in a tiny whisper, her face turning bright red as she hides it with both of her palms.
None of them judges her for her weird fetish and immediately turns to look at Brenna.
"Umm... Thighs?" Brenna says nervously, her cheeks flushing even more.
"Oh my god," Kailith groans, rubbing her forehead as she sat back down on the bench with a little frustration.
"I guess we don't have that much in common after all," she sighs, shaking her head.
But then, shaking her head again as if to clear it, she immediately went back to the topic. "Fuck that, where was I?" she pauses for a second before continuing, "Well, lucky me. She takes intimacy quite lightly. She didn't have any partner at that time either, so she didn't mind much me liking her," Kailith says, finally ending her side of the story.
"Holy shit, that's a lot of chemistry. I would love to hear everything in detail someday," Ravenna exclaims, overacting a little as she tries to forget whatever had happened just a few seconds earlier, a slightly flabbergasted look on her face.
But just as Kailith's part ends, Alice could feel their gazes all shift to her, waiting to hear her part of the story.
"Well..." Alice hesitates for a few seconds, her hands fidgeting in her lap, and then she continues, "Actually, my side is quite the opposite. It was Maruti who fell for me. All I did was accept her love for me."
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh?"