[Velvet POV]
The day after we finished hunting the king kobold, Luna was sending and Soleil to the capital. She told it was at Soleils request, though I think its more her idea than Soleils. Speaking of Soleil, she has been a bit strange after we killed the king.
It mostly started after our after-battle banter where she called cute out loud. After that happened and we went back to the shrine to clean up, the next ti she saw , she seed resolved about sothing. I did ask Luna about it, but she told that it was sothing that Soleil and I would need to discuss, leading to and Soleil going around the capital today.
Is there anything in particular you want to do, Soleil?
Not really, I dont really know what to do or where to go in a city, though I do want to try that shop that has that coffee stuff.
We can save going there for lunch today. Since you have no preference, we can go to the shopping district.
Good thing I brought money then.
I chuckled a little at her words and we headed off. On the way there, we bantered a bit. It was mostly Soleil asking what kinds of things I liked besides masks, and things I like to do. I answered her and asked the sa questions back.
It turns out that Soleil likes to ddle in blacksmithing and painting. She also told that she is great at chess and has only ever lost to Lord Deacon and Lady Amagi. When we finally arrived at the shopping district, we were bombarded by noise.
Im glad to have these sound dampeners.
Haha. I bet, when I ca here with Luna, she complained about the noise constantly.
Understandable, big sis has even better hearing that I do.
Really?
Yeah, she would be able to tell you the conversation of people three streets over, while I could only tell you so bits and pieces from the next street.
Thats interesting, I always thought that she had normal hearing for a beastkin.
No, we do have good hearing, but big sis is on a different level.
Does it have anything to do with a skill?
Not that I or anyone else close to her know. Though I do rember her dad saying that his family always did have really good senses, so maybe its just a trait of her family.
I guess thats reasonable.
We decided to go and look through a few shops that sold so rather nice clothes and jewelry. I even saw a nice looking necklace, but decided not to buy it since I didnt think it would suit . Soleil ended up buying so clothes that I thought really suited her and we left the shop. It was around noon that we left, so we decided to go to Mister Barts shop for lunch and a break. I brought us to the shop and led Soleil inside. It seed like Mister Bart was expecting us and he led us to a private area away from the main seating area. I asked him what this was about, but all he did was smile and walked away. I did hear Soleil mumble sothing, but she said she didnt say anything when I asked her what she said.
After a few silent seconds, Mister Bart brought us so nus. We decided what we wanted and ordered then were left alone again. We chatted about small things until our order arrived and we ate a little. Soleil was only taking small bites and sips of her lunch with a strange look on her face. Her eyes were darting around, and her ears moved as if they were making sure that no one was around listening. After a few minutes of this, a determined look showed on her face.
Velvet, I know this may seem sudden, but I think I like you.
Eh?
I know that we have only known each other for a small amount of ti, but I cant help feeling so attraction to you.
I didnt really know what to say. I knew that Luna wanted to get together with Soleil, but I didnt think that the person herself would confess to like this. In order to buy so ti to get my thoughts together, I asked her a question.
Are you only doing this because Luna wants us to be together?
No. I was thinking all of this over a lot last night and Ive had this weird feeling about you since you and big sis ca back to the shrine. Every ti you got flustered or acted cool, it made think that you were cute, and I voiced those thoughts out loud a few tis by mistake. After fighting the king yesterday, when I said what I did out loud and you heard , I decided to give it serious thought.
I dont hate you, and I think youre a cute and nice person that I dont mind being around. In fact, I like being around you. I dont really know if that ans I like you, but if thats what all this ans, then I dont mind it. Heck, I didnt even know big sis wanted us to get together until I saw her reaction to asking if you preferred n or won.
This was a lot to take in. If I had to voice my thoughts of Soleil, I didnt dislike her. I think shes cute and I did get to know her better today, but I dont know if I like her in that way yet.
You dont care that Im older than you?
Why would I? I an, look at big sis and the Goddess.
Thats true.
Not to ntion that Ill be immortal sooner or later.
You already know about that?
Of course, I know that mom, dad, Lady Amagi, and Lord Deacon are all Apostles and that I will beco one when big sis can make them. At that point what does age even matter?
True.
If this is all too sudden for you, then I wont ask you to answer right now. I an, even I dont know if what I feel for you is love or sothing else, but the worst you can do is reject . It wont change the fact that we are in the sa party and following big sis.
I dont dislike you or the idea of being with you, but I would at least like to spend so ti as friends first.
Thats understandable, just know that I will try to get you to fall for .
Haha. I look forward to seeing what you will do.
[Soleil POV]
After I confessed to Velvet and got her reply, I was relieved that she didnt reject . It wasnt exactly what I wanted, but she at least seems open to the idea of being with . We continued eating our lunch, we talked about what we were going to do after today.
Do you know what we will do next? Once we turn in this quest, I will have to take a rank-up test right?
Most likely, you will be raised to D-rank. Then you will have to go on an exam quest to kill so bandits to see if you can kill people. After that will be so normal quests to fill the quota as well as two other quests that can be completed easily with Lunas teleportation to get to C-rank. I dont know what the C-rank test is, but I think you will pass it easily. After that, well quickly clear the dungeon again to get you to B-rank.
I know big sis said that doing this will be good for , but what exactly am I getting out of this?
A blessing from the God of Adventure that will help your stat growth. Luna thinks that you might try doing dangerous things out of a desperate need to catch up to us in strength.
She is such a worrywart. Ive always known I would be weaker than big sis.
True, though Ive started to doubt if I wont be sowhat closer to her in stats by the ti I hit level 100.
What do you an?
Luna gave sothing that she was give by the God of Creation that took away my weakness to sunlight and raises my stats more every five levels.
Maybe she planned for this since she knew I would want to catch up with you, then.
We can think of it like that, but I think that she is acting out of an unnecessary fear.
So, its sothing like being overprepared for sothing that wont happen, then being underprepared for sothing that will happen.
Putting it like that makes you sound like Luna.
Its because she said that once.
Hahaha.
Hehehe.
We finished our lunch and ordered so coffee and pastries for dessert. I took my first sip of coffee and almost spit it out.
So bitter.
Haha. I was the sa way the first ti I tried it. Put so sugar and milk in and it will be better.
I did as Velvet said and tried the coffee again.
So much better.
I know right. I really dont get why Luna likes it without anything put in.
Big sis has always had weird taste. She really likes rich foods and soups.
No wonder she has so much of that in her inventory.
What kind of foods do you like Velvet?
Sweet things, grilled at, oranges. Im especially fond of steaks.
Good to know.
What about you, Soleil?
I also like sweet things, at, and fruits, but if I had to na my favorite food, it would have to be fried tofu.
It seems like you share that with Luna and the Goddess.
I think most kitsune like it.
I guess that explains why there was so much of it at the vanquishing festival.
We finished our coffee and pastries and tried to pay but were told it was already done. Velvet and I shared a look and left. We walked around so more and visited a few shops. Velvet bought herself a mask that looked like a bird and I bought a cute hat.
Before we noticed, it started to get late. We walked to the place that big sis said she would show up to bring us ho, but I stopped Velvet before we made it all the way there.
Hey Velvet, can you hold on for a minute?
Whats up?
I thought I should give you this before we went back to the shrine.
I pulled out the necklace that Velvet was looking at so intently at one of the first few shops we went to.
You got this for ?
Yep. I saw how you were staring at it when we were at that shop and bought it for you.
Thanks for doing that, but are you sure you want to give this, it doesnt really suit .
What are you saying? It does suit you, not to ntion that it will match mine. I said as I showed off the necklace that big sis sent so long ago.
If you say so. Mind putting it on ?
Not at all.
Velvet turned around and knelt down a bit so I could put it around her neck. While she was like this, I also took this chance to whisper into her ear.
One day Ill give you a ring as well.
Velvet shot up at my words and started walking to our destination. I could tell she was flustered because her ears were red, and she was walking faster than she needed to. I followed after her and found big sis waiting for us. She had a wide grin on her face that grew wider when she saw how Velvet was acting.
Fufufufufu. How was the date today? (Luna)
I got everything I wanted out of it. Now I just need to wait for Velvet to fall completely. (Soleil)
So my advice helped a bit? (Luna)
Yep. By the way, was it you who set everything up at that coffee shop? (Soleil)
Yep. (Luna)
How much of today did you plan, Luna? (Velvet)
The only thing I did was get the two of you a private table and pay for your stuff at Mister Barts shop. Everything else was all on the two of you, though I do want to know what made you so embarrassed when you stopped and let Soleil put that necklace on you. (Luna)
That will stay between us. (Velvet)
Fine. Lets go ho and get so rest then, we have a lot to do tomorrow. (Luna)
Right.
Big sis grabbed onto our shoulders and we teleported away. After I got ho that night, I must have had a good expression on my face because mom asked why I was so happy. I explained about what I did today which made her smile.
Good for you, Soleil. Make sure to get her to fall for you.
Just like you got dad to fall for you?
Just like that.
Ill give it my all.
Author's Note:
Luna: While I expected Soleil to take charge, I didn't expect her to be so smooth at the end.
Tamamo: I'm more surprised Velvet didn't figure out this was a date until Soleil confessed to her.
Luna: Sa here, she can be surprisingly dense.
Tamamo: Especially since she knew that you were going to try setting her up with Soleil for a while now.
Luna: There is that, but now that I think about it, I don't think she was expecting Soleil to take the initiative like this.
Tamamo: Did you have sothing to do with that?
Luna: You weren't listening when I gave Soleil advice?
Tamamo: No, I was taking a nap with the plush you.
Luna: I will put my jealousy of my plush self aside and explain. I told Soleil that it was best to make Velvet aware of her feelings at the start instead of dragging it out because that leaves room for both parties to overthink things and makes it harder to get those feelings across when they are bottled up for a long ti.
That's good advice. It really annoys people when that happens.
Tamamo: Speaking from experience?
No, but I have read a lot of stories like that, and all of them frustrate . Scenarios like that make want to look up spoilers, which then make lose interest. Get the feelings out early and build up to a mutual relationship, don't hide them the entire ti.
Luna: I get it. I got annoyed by those stories as well.
Tamamo: Good thing I was upfront then.
Luna: I fell for you at first sight, so it wouldn't matter if you kept your feelings from until we spoke again.
You would have figured it out by appraising the divine protection and Fated One titles anyway.
Luna: That's true.
Reviews
All reviews (0)