What does a kiss feel like?
I never knew.
I did not bother about it.
Even when I came to this world, I did not think of romancing others. The threat of honkai looms above our heads. Beyond the Honkai, there is also the Aeon Wars in the near future.
That changed when Bronya spoke to me.
I realized the "liking" Kiana and Seele had exceeded admiration.
It is love.
I did not know how to respond to that.
I want nobody to get hurt. The "liking" I have for them is not romantic. I view them as best friends.
This was true… until I saw Kiana in her Finality battlesuit.
Something else changed.
I did not "romantically" like them due to my mental age. It feels weird to do so. A million-year-old monster is better off picking up a similarly old immortal, or so I thought.
Things are different after the things developed unexpectedly.
Kiana is twenty eight years old if I count Sirin's life. Even if we subtract the time Sirin was offline, she is twenty one years old.
Then…
Isn't it fine?
That thought began to gnaw on my mind. It is akin to an inner demon that kept whispering bad things in my ears.
It's just that…
I never expected Kiana to make the first move.
Her shoulders trembled. Her eyes are kept closed. The flashbacks ended when she moved her lips away from mine. Her opened eyes kept evading my gaze.
"W-what? You can't take it back…"
Kiana's eyes started to turn teary. I could not give her a reply. The shock I experienced far exceeded anything else.
"Do you… hate me?"
Her voice trembled.
My frozen expression was misinterpreted.
I need to do something.
She started moving away from me.
"...Sorr—"
The [Cloud Seeking Steps] allowed me to close our distance.
Her eyes widened.
It is my turn to attack.
"..!"
I held both of her arms in place. My face drew near to hers, our lips touching.
Her irises shook.
I could not relish this sight for long. A unique scent came to my nose. Being so close to her, I caught her natural scent.
I don't know how to describe it.
It is fragrant with a hint of sweetness.
I slowly fell into a daze… only to remember what's going on.
Five seconds later, I let her go.
Our eyes met.
For a while, only silence remained.
*****
Kiana and Shi Tian forgot one other person.
"..."
Sirin's mind stopped working.
Ever since she was sealed inside the Herrscher Core, she was left powerless. Her connection to the Herrscher Core itself was isolated. The barrier made of [Sword Light Refraction] trapped her to death.
By the time the sword light barrier was weakened, she could no longer wrestle control over the Herrscher Core. Kiana firmly took control of it, leaving no way out for Sirin.
Shi Tian's return spelled her eternal imprisonment. He strengthened the sword light barrier again.
Sirin is now a Tuna on a cutting board.
Worse, her senses are connected to Kiana unilaterally.
It worked to her advantage at first. Whatever Kiana experienced, she did.
Siegfried's prior abandonment, his acceptance, her journey to the outside world…
There was nothing that escaped her sight.
Then, a huge change occurred when Kiana met Shi Tian. The existence of 'immortal cultivation' is a brand new concept to Sirin. She knew nearly everything about the honkai.
As such, her first reaction is to take hold of such power.
She failed.
Immortal cultivation is for those who awakened their Spirit Roots. Though Sirin and Kiana share the same origin, they are not a single soul. They are two souls with zero differences.
Kiana's soul has awakened Spirit Roots; Sirin has none.
That was when the crisis struck Sirin. Kiana started to become stronger. The longer time passes, the stronger Kiana becomes—the smaller Sirin's winning chances would be.
It led to her orchestrating the huge mental flaw Kiana had during her Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
She failed again.
Their senses being shared now became her absolute disadvantage.
Sirin could see how Kiana cared, longed, and looked forward to every single meeting with Shi Tian. Worse, Shi Tian truly cared for her, just as Cecilia did to her.
Kiana, Sirin's other self, found love and happiness. On the other hand, she was stuck with hatred, distrust, and disgust towards humanity.
Never had she felt the world being so unfair… until now.
Her mental state experienced drastic changes during the time of her confinement.
Jealousy, envy, and longing.
"...Why me?"
The two people did not stop after two kisses. They began to get caught up in their own world. Nothing was said between the two, but their actions carried on.
Sirin took the first place when it comes to being showered with dog food.
"Why..? Heuk…"
Her tears started to fall.
"Why won't you let me disappear…"
The young girl's cries echoed within the darkness.
*****
I am the first one to bail out.
Kiana's soft breaths rang in my ears. Her face dug deep on my shoulder.
I don't know how long we were like this. Kiana attacked, I counterattacked, and a cycle formed. It was the lips at first, then the cheek, neck…
The last thing I wanted to do is head to the late third grade bed. Who knows what will happen once we are there. We stayed on the stone platform.
The scent of her hair wafted to my nose. My mind is close to being filled with nothing but this Tuna.
A sudden urge came. I moved my right hand from her back to her head.
Her shoulders jolted before she calmed down. The head pat works wonders.
Another round of silence came. This time, it is more serene.
It continued until Kiana spoke up.
"...Hey."
"Hm?"
"Never leave my side again."
"I won't."
Her head looked upwards. Our height difference was magnified as time went on.
"That's a promise."
She let go of me.
Just then, her expression changed. The previous contentment is replaced with guilt.
"It's her."
Sirin..?
"She's crying…"
Kiana sounded lost when she described Sirin's current state.
For well over a year, the two did not bother with each other. They did not talk again. Kiana could not sense her thoughts, either.
It is different this time.
Sirin's extreme thoughts alerted the Tuna.
*****
A/N: Alert. Dog food overload. A certain magical girl began to self-destruct...