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Inaho was jealous, plain and simple. She was jealous of her best friend, Asseylum. Seylum was such a great friend, and Inaho's jealousy had gotten so bad, she had a dream of murdering her friend. She couldn't help how grating it was that she was marrying Slaine, but he was in love with Asseylum. He was so in love with her, that he could never love Inaho like that.

Inaho was jealous of Asseylum's light, long golden hair that seemed to wrap around her face. A look befitting of royalty. She was jealous of Asseylum's beautiful emerald eyes that were a reflection of the ocean. Something that Slaine loved. Inaho was jealous of Asseylum's innocent personality that Inaho could never imitate. She was jealous of Asseylum's confidence, and -especially -the pull Asseylum had on Slaine's mind and body. Her smile was his happiness, and it hurt Inaho.

She could never measure up to Asseylum, the girl who saved Slaine and so much more. But Inaho wasn't one to succumb to such emotions. If Slaine didn't love her yet, she would just have to try harder. At least in her mind, she could admit that she was in love with Slaine Troyard, not the advisor, not the count, just Slaine Troyard.

She was in love with his smile, his blushes, his laugh, his intelligence, his stride, his confidence, his hair, his eyes, his lips, his style, the way he walked, the way he cooked, how he eats, how he sleeps, the rise and fall of his chest, the way he arranges his shoes, the way he confides in her, and so much more. She loved him, and it was frightening. She had never loved someone like this before. Inko and Calm didn't even describe their love like this, and she was too afraid to say it out loud. She didn't want to jinx anything.

So Inaho returned to whatever task she had started: Asseylum's engagement party. With Klancain. A man who could never measure up to Slaine, in any aspect. Inaho was bitter that Asseylum still controlled Slaine, and that Asseylum would dare to reject someone as amazing as Slaine.

Stop idolizing him! It makes you look crazy. Rein it in, Nao. You're only setting yourself up for failure.

She nodded. If she kept being obsessed, she'd land herself in Slaine's position. Rejected by the one they loved, dependant on their presence.

Asseylum would want a nature type wedding. Anything with the sky and ocean in it. Seylum wasn't an alcohol drinker. Inaho didn't know about Klancain. It didn't really matter. Hard alcohol and professional, political parties did not mix.

Inaho had been a terrible friend to think any of those things about Seylum, who saw Inaho as her best friend. Inaho would make this the best party ever. Seylum could do some stereotypical teenager stuff. Inaho would supervise, and they would all forget about the EB and the war. It would just be friends together, having a great time.

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Slaine saw Inaho sitting on the porch swing in the backyard, reading a book from the doorway. She looked peaceful, alive. Her long brunette hair kept blowing every which way. She didn't even bother to tie it back, or hold it out of her way. She simply flipped a page with her short, thin fingers.

He wanted to know what she was reading so badly. It had to be interesting to hold her attention, or perhaps not. He held her attention, after all. He was no marvel, but to her, he was worth sacrificing for. He would keep being something important to her. He wouldn't use her like he had with Lemrina. He wouldn't blindly follow after her like Asseylum.

He didn't love Inaho. He didn't know if he could love without tainting it with a misunderstood meaning behind it. He respected her. She was so accomplished. She was powerful, intelligent, and honest.

And the only reason why he could observe her was because of her kindness. He wanted to comb his hands through her silky hair, he wanted to hide away in his room, he wanted to be beside Asseylum.

Slaine watched her eyes flick towards the backyard. It was a rather large backyard. It wasn't too hot or cold today. Maybe…

His legs moved without his consciousness being aware of it. His mouth moved before he could properly think.

“Hey, Orange; want to build a garden with me?” He asked, not really sure why he wanted to build a garden with her, but thankful his body didn't obey him.

She cocked her head, and made a small smile. It was a small mercy that he hadn't made her angry, but she had never gotten angry with him. It was always the other way around. Really? Why had he bothered her?

“Of course. Right now?”

He nodded. She closed the book, not marking her page. Maybe she just didn't have to because of her eye.

He was immediately enthralled when she stood up. How had he not seen what she was wearing? It was so different from her usual look, that it left him speechless. She wore a light green summer dress with beige heeled sandals. The summer dress had flowers and trees growing at random parts. The heels matched.

Was she going somewhere? His thoughts turned ugly quickly at that. Who could she be meeting? For what purpose was she meeting this person? Did he know them? Were they better than him? Did they know Slaine was her fiancé? He shook his head.

He would do the casual approach. “That's a pretty dress. It suits you.” Um… casual? That wasn't at all casual! He sounded weird saying that out loud. What if she got disgusted at his comment? Then he wouldn't get to admire her -uh, to find out why she was dressed up.

She had a light red color brush her whole face. She blushed with her face. It was adorable.

“Sometimes, I get confident enough to wear something like this outside of my room.” She sounded embarrassed. Why would someone like Inaho ever get embarrassed?

“I-if you get confident enough again… I wouldn't mind seeing you wear another dress. If you want, that is.” He read a scenario like this in a romance novel he found at the library. He thought it was stupid how flustered the male character was, but being in a similar situation made Slaine admire the man's courage. This was hard to say.

Inaho looked down, and made another smile. Clearly, she was pleased with what he said. She nodded. “Next time, I will.”

He had to change the mood before it was spoiled with awkward silence. “So… what do you want to plant first?”

“Tulips. I want to plant yellow ones.” She said, walking towards the yard. She turned to him. “What about you?”

“White tulips. We can plant more later.” She didn't need to know what they represented. She didn't need to know he wanted to be worthy of that smile so badly. She didn't need to know that he would never stop trying to be worthy of her.

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Asseylum was happy. Well, as happy as a woman being forced into marriage could be. Klancain wasn’t mean to her. If anything, he was actually quite considerate of her. She’d been taught and conditioned that a princess had a job: support and cater to the man who’ll be the next emperor. The only reason why she could dream of being empress was because her grandfather didn’t trust Klancain with the permission to properly use aldnoah as his –or her –knight. Klancain’s purpose was to secure the royal line; her job was to preserve it.

But all the same, she was better off than most of her people. They were confused, angry, hurt, and thoroughly frustrated. These people’s faith in royalty had been shaken off its pedestal. These past two years had been hectic. They all believed that she’d been murdered, that she was completely fine but still wanted to massacre a planet that did nothing wrong, and that now she was awake from a coma, she wanted peace. Nobody knew whom to trust for protection. They didn’t even know who to properly blame for the disruption of their, Terra and Ver's, co-existence.

Despite the obvious confusion and gratefulness towards a Terran called Kaizuka Inaho, her people didn’t trust anyone. They only knew that a Terran was more trustworthy that their government.

Asseylum wanted so badly to placate her people, but because of her previous naiveté and Lemrina’s manipulation, she was a part of the problem. No one wanted a little girl with no power, who didn’t even have the power to choose her own marriage partner. It wasn’t like her foolish belief for peace helped her position. Even the United Forces of Earth wanted nothing to do with her except for obtaining aldnoah. She honestly expected them to hassle Inaho to get Asseylum to over reach her fragile, puppet position for them. Either they were more patient than she was led to believe, or they were hassling Inaho, but Inaho wouldn’t do it.

Asseylum continuously gained respect for her best friend. Inaho was magnificent, the type of woman Asseylum wanted so badly to be. Inaho hadn’t even been a soldier two years ago, but now she was in the UFE. People respected her as a peace advocate and as a war hero. She was amazing and beautiful. Asseylum envied Inaho’s intelligence and leadership qualities.

While Inaho ended a war, Asseylum couldn’t do anything. So she smiled like she was told until one day she could seize the moment and do something.

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Surprisingly, many children kept coming to the door doing the trick-or-treat thing. Slaine didn’t know what parent could trust their child around a martian, but Inaho didn’t seem to mind. She didn’t dress up in a costume, but she was “helping” Yuki bake some cake. He didn’t know why they always baked for big events, but the sweet smell of strawberry and lemon waft through the air, stopping his thoughts completely. The smell was so enticing that his stomach grumbled a low, predatory sound. He was thankful that Inaho hadn’t heard. Otherwise, she would’ve made something for him to eat that he would never get to try that delicious cake.

Sometimes, Slaine believed that Inaho used his sweet tooth against him. It’s how she bribed him into eating Yuki’s cooking, which was a new, man-made organism… or bacteria.

Inaho’s friends showed up, collectively dressed as “ghosts”. All of them wore white bed sheets with circles cut around the eyes. They looked ridiculous, but he could tell they were having fun. Rayet didn’t wear a costume, but he figured that was because this was her first Halloween with them. Yuki ran from the kitchen –in the middle of taking a cake out the oven –and went to get on her outfit. She was wearing a pirate outfit with a fake peg leg. She had on a purple bandana, a red sash around her waist, and black pants and boots. She wore a baggy white shirt with a dark red loose vest to finish the look off.

“Come on, Nao! It’s movie time!” She called, completely forgetting that she and Inaho had been baking. Inaho nodded, and pulled a remote from her apron. Slaine hadn’t realized that she was wearing one. It had a skeleton on it. The picture looked cute on her. The television clicked on as Inaho finished icing the delicious cake, topping it with strawberries and little milk chocolate shavings. He really wanted to eat it now.

Inko pulled him into the living room in front of the television. The screen played something he vaguely remembered seeing. A girl with short black hair, and a boy with four strand of hair and a light blue blanket. They walked through a yard until they reached a pumpkin patch. Yeah, he remembered seeing something like this when he was younger. Back when his father wasn’t so absorbed in researching aldnoah.

Slaine remembered having a disc of the movie, watching it sometimes five times a day in anticipation of the holiday. He never got the chance to trick-or-treat, but that was fine. He, at least, got to spend the day eating candy with his dad. And now, he got to spend it with Inaho and everyone else.

At the moment when the characters went to the Halloween party, Inaho passed around slices of cake to everyone. Slaine received is plate, and almost drooled. It looked divine. He even smiled at the strawberry on top. Most days, he felt like this was a dream, but he was happy it was his life.

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Intimacy. A closeness. A familiarity or friendship between two people. How can someone show something they didn't understand? To show Intimacy was frightening. It was pouring one's heart out; baring one's soul to another. Slaine once believed that to show intimacy meant to have sex. It was what a lot of people said; so he believed it. He'd craved intimacy because he thought he could never achieve any level of intimacy with Asseylum. There were four different women he had tried to connect with, but they all fell apart. All of them couldn't handle something about him: his position, his birth status, his lack of assertiveness, or his dedication to Asseylum.

But as he sat on the couch, looking down at a woman who would scream at him for risking his life; never mind that it was for her. He looked down at the woman whose tears welled in her eyes, but refused to fall. Those tears were for him. And sitting on this couch, watching old cartoons with her sleeping on his shoulder, showed him intimacy. True intimacy.

This wasn't love. This wasn't love because he didn't feel that way, not yet. But he felt loved. Inaho may not think that he knew, but he could see it. Everytime he looked at her. She can't hide her love for him. He was slowly becoming addicted to how much she cared for him, down to the food she bought and made. He didn't want to disappoint her; to have her love disappear.

Not only did Inaho save his life, but she also saved him. This. This was what he always craved. Someone to be so comfortable with him. Someone he could share all his fears with. This level of intimacy was frightening, but he craved it all the same.

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Nina Klein was known for her kindness. She was nothing like Inaho or Inko. They were known for their prowess and intelligence. She was barely known. She had tried to get into their bubble, but she was never meant to own a pedestal like that. She found that while the woman she had loved fought, Nina was only able to assist the Deucalion’s flight. Her abilities in a kataphrakt was abysmal. It actually burned that she -despite all the practice she suffered through -could never stand by Inko’s side in battle. It also burned that when Inko’s father died, Nina had been immediately ignored her because her parents were alive. She was told that she couldn’t begin to understand. Just because she couldn’t empathize, didn’t mean she couldn’t sympathize. What would it have helped if she could understand anyway? Then she would be forced to watch and personally know how absolutely devastated her girlfriend was.

It helped that Rayet stopped by, that her presence actually did something. Nina wasn’t too selfish and self-centered to feel offended that Rayet could get Inko and her mother to eat. What made her angry was that Inko still subconsciously reacted to Inaho whenever Inaho appeared, but couldn’t remember Nina’s existence unless she was angry. It hurt, a lot. To know that nothing Nina did could ever amount to the things Inaho did, made Nina want to be particularly evil to both of them.

Before dating, Nina asked numerous times if Inko still loved Inaho, and Inko swore she didn’t. To know that she was competing for her own girlfriend’s affections stung.

She shouldn’t have been so surprised that her efforts paled in comparison to Inaho in Inko’s eyes. Inko had loved Inaho since they met. It’s always been like that. Perhaps it’s because she couldn’t fight the martians like the others could. Calm couldn’t fight either, but he was never shunned like her.

So Nina made Inko and her mother some comfort food. She set the food on a tray, and saw Inko staring blankly at the wall, unable to properly think about where she was. Inko was an extreme mess. Her shirt had belonged to her father. It was most likely from the dirty clothes pile Nina wasn’t allowed to clean. She wasn’t allowed in Inko’s mother’s bedroom either. Every time Nina cleaned up the house, Inko’s mother sought fit to destroy it. It was as if the sight deeply offended her. Inko had refused to go too far from the front of her father’s closet. Nina found her sleeping in it often. It was a relief that Calm decided to handle Inko’s work, while Nina tried to help Inko and her mother mourn in a way that wouldn’t make Mr. Amifumi upset.

Nina walked through the hallway until she reached Inko, and she set the tray on the floor beside Inko, but it was immediately smacked away. All of the carefully made soup spilled on the floor, promising to stain.

Inko glowered at Nina. Great, she’s in a really nasty mood. When Inko got like this, she said some incredibly scathing comments about Nina’s intelligence, looks, and worth. Really, it was anything that made Nina feel miserable.

“So that’s how you plan on making things better? Using all the food in this place for this disgusting mess? Stop wasting my time!” She shouted, throwing the bowl near Nina’s head, making the bowl shatter on impact when it connected to the wall.

Nina flinched at the deafening sound, and the unpleasant feeling of shards of glass in her hair. She didn’t dare look behind her for fear of Inko completely snapping.

“Well? Are you just going to sit there, looking stupid? You couldn’t begin to understand what real battle is like. The actual fear of losing your life being magnified. So why are you still here?” She sneered, eyes bloodshot and bruised. When was the last time Inko got real rest? When was the last time she bathed?

Nina generally ignored Inko when she became mean. She could understand why Inko only wanted to be alone, but Nina didn’t want to leave. She could only imagine the horrible things that could happen. She went to pick up the shards of glass.

“And now you’re going to be silent. Where’s all that annoying preachy crap you were spewing before? The whole “I just want you to not hurt yourself”. Huh? Why do you even bother? I can’t hurt myself anymore than I’m already hurt. You’re such a-”

The doorbell rang, saving Nina from hearing Inko’s next words. Nina stood to quickly get the door so she could thank the person that saved her. She opened the door to Inaho with Slaine. Lately, he hasn’t been been away from her for long. The public was eating their constant closeness up. Nina was selfishly happy that Slaine was there. With him around, it made things easier for Nina to douse her jealousy.

“Inaho.” Inko murmured, seeming to snap from her angry trance. Nina bit her tongue.

“Let me get you something to drink.” Nina said snappishly. All Inaho did was appear, and Inko turned into a sweet angel. As soon as Inaho left, Inko would cry for hours. Nina would have to get water so Inko didn’t dehydrate herself. Whenever Nina left to go to the store, she couldn’t even get so much as a glance. It was insulting that Nina’s presence held no weight. Even Rayet received better treatment than her, and Nina knew Inko longer!

She made the tea, and they all sat, sipping in hushed voices. Inko excused herself after conversing for almost an hour. Inaho stood grabbing the dishes to wash them in the sink. Slaine leaned close to her.

“Nina, are you okay? When was the last time you went outside? Inaho and I wanted to ask if you needed some time to yourself.” He looked concerned, which was weird because they didn’t speak to each other often, but he and Inaho still spared a thought for her.

She wanted to be prideful, to be the perfect girlfriend that was always there, but this was hard. Being stuck in the apartment with Inko’s anger and suffering neglect was hell. She didn’t know what to do anymore; she didn’t even know if she was doing the right thing. She was done. She wanted to leave so badly. Her throat constricted with a warning of the incoming onslaught of tears. She was done being strong. She’d forgotten that she didn’t have to face this alone.

“Yeah, I think I need some time to myself.” She needed to recuperate, and reevaluate her relationship. Maybe even wonder if Inko loved her as much as she loved Inko.

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After only a night of separation, Nina decided to just stop by and check on Inko. It wouldn’t hurt to see how things were going. When Nina knocked on the door, unsure if she was allowed to even stop by, she began nervously fumbling her hands. All last night she fought the urge to call, and eat all of her comfort foods.

She had to wait for three minutes before the door opened to show Inko, freshly dressed and more aware. She still had the bags under her eyes, but the redness of her eyes was slowly disappearing. Of course Inaho’s staying would cure Inko of some of her pain. Nina didn’t have a chance at helping. Why did she even come by again? She would just make Inko angry and ruin things.

“I shou-”

“Where did you go?” She started angrily, but immediately defused. “I thought you got tired of me. I know I’ve been impossible to deal with, and I’ll start doing better. I’ll do better, just… please don’t leave me.” She whispered, and Nina felt conflicted.

Could she just go back and silently suffer whenever Inko’s new epiphany faded away? Did this apology mean anything? Where did it come from? But no matter how much those questions needed an answer, Nina couldn’t leave Inko alone.

Nina felt herself on the brink of breaking down in tears. “Okay. I’ll stay.” She whispered, feeling like she was voluntarily ripping pieces of her heart out. Inko pulled her into a hug as she cried.

“Just say you love me.” Nina repeated, clutching onto Inko desperately. She just wanted to hear her, even if it was partially a lie.

“I love you. I love you, Nina.” Inko whispered once.

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Rayet was an emotional person. It was why she didn’t stay calm in many situations. People didn’t come to her for serious reasons like comforting or such. Despite her explosive passion, she could be incredibly withdrawn; so she barely understood how she was feeling. Her only friends were the people she’d met two years ago from a war she helped start. A crime she still hadn’t paid for. She patiently waited every day for the shoe to drop, for everyone to blame her like they should. Instead she was completely forgiven and accepted. A feeling her own father never gave her. In a twisted way, Rayet was more at home than she ever was with her family.

Don’t misunderstand, she loved her father. Loved him dearly. It was her experience with losing family that made Inko able to tolerate her comforting. Nina, despite all of her patience, couldn’t understand the immense loss the Amifumi’s felt. Inaho could, but Rayet wasn’t blind. She knew that Inko still unconsciously held deeper feelings for Inaho. Seeing Inaho engaged to Slaine made Inko act weird. It was like she tried hard to suppress the feelings but couldn’t.

Rayet sometimes felt like she was in the middle of a nuke and an erupting volcano. Both scenarios sounded really unfortunate, and she wanted to avoid them. That was how she felt when she saw Inko. She wanted Inko to know about the attack, the reason why Inaho didn’t use her arm very much, the reason why Slaine was extremely careful with Inaho. After hearing what those pigs wanted, Rayet felt the same. Everyone should know what was going on, but Inko couldn’t even remember to bathe or eat most days. The grief of losing her father, and having no way to channel her emotions was taking its toll on Inko. She couldn’t do anything but watch the explosion and burn from the guilt.

During all this mess, Rayet hadn’t had anyone to depend on. She couldn’t complain because everyone was dealing with something, or her problem was a secret. Except it was okay to tell Harklight, and if it wasn’t, oh well. She had begun telling him everything. She would come home from work, and immediately tell Harklight what happened. He was an amazing listener. Either that or he was really good at tuning her out.

It hardly mattered that he was a martian, and once upon a time, she would try to kill him for a crime he didn’t commit. Somehow, he had slithered his way into her life. It was one of the best forced decisions she’d ever made. Had Inaho not made her house martians, she would be all alone in her life. He was becoming something important, almost like a limb.

But there was one thing she could never tell him. This new problem of hers? What she was bottling up? It was something she was afraid to say aloud. She couldn’t tell anyone this. Every time she thought about it, her skin would get all prickly, she would have to take deeper breaths, and her legs would get shaky. It was a nightmare. She could only hope he would never find out what this all meant. She was too afraid to admit it, but someday. Someday when she was braver in this, or when she got stupidly courageous, she would tell him what this meant. But in the meantime, she would carry about her daily routine and enjoy his presence.

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Slaine hadn’t watched the leaves fall in a long time. He hadn’t experienced this weather either. Weather so… perfect. He preferred the snow, but Autumn had a beautiful hold on his attention. What made this weather so perfect was the scenery. He had a perfect view of nature. Of the yellow, orange, and red trees splayed across the wide expanse of an open field. Everywhere he looked was beautiful.

“I brought you this tea Lady Rayet showed me.” Harklight said, sitting beside Slaine. Slaine accepted the tea, thankful to actually spend time with his friend. To enjoy this peace with Harklight was amazing and unbelievable. They had met and bonded in a time of war. For a day like this to happen… it was truly unbelievable.

“Do you think Lemrina would enjoy a view like this?” Slaine asked. He missed seeing her. Despite her uncomfortable romantic affections for him, he had come to see her as a sister. He knew telling her would hurt her deeply.

Harklight, strangely, looked in his element when he wore a light, dark brown sweater and gray sweatpants. “I imagine that she would enjoy anything you present to her, minus a fiancee.”

Slaine laughed. “You sarcastic snot! You’ve been hanging around Rayet too much.”

“She’s good company.” He said with a smile.

“She’s good for you. It’s good to see you smiling and more relaxed.”

“Much like how Lady Inaho is good for you, I suppose.”

Slaine looked immediately at Harklight’s admission. What did that mean? Did that mean Harklight liked Rayet, or that he wanted to marry her? Did that mean that he thought Slaine and Inaho were in love?

Slaine felt his face burn. Harklight laughed heartily at Slaine’s face.

“What does that mean?” Slaine mumbled, admitting that he jumped to a lot of conclusions.

Harklight cocked his head to the side, and took a sip of his tea. “It means whatever you want it to mean.”

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Slaine had been hearing Christmas music for the last two weeks now. He had no idea that Inaho was a Christmas fanatic. As soon as it turned December 1st, she had hunted down each of the Christmas boxes she owned to start decorating. Calm, Yuki, Rayet, and everyone else seemed to stay far away whenever Inaho started getting into the “Christmas spirit”.

Slaine wasn’t so bothered, since all she did was put snowmen and snowflakes all over the walls and doors. Even the fridge was covered in a magnetic Santa with his reindeer, and Mrs. Claus in the back with the elves. The most frightening moments were when she wanted to hang stuff on the ceiling. She would find some chair, and balance in ways that made him panic.

And that’s how Slaine got roped into helping her decorate. He could hear Inaho singing to some song that had been revised for the millionth time. For some reason, she never got sick of hearing any of them.

Because of the intense temperature drop, Inaho pulled out the hot cocoa with marshmallows. Slaine had tried the concoction with Reddi Whip, and hadn’t liked it, but whenever Inaho made it, it was absolutely mouthwatering. Maybe it was because Inaho made it for him. He tried to remember the last time someone had made him hot cocoa when he’d been on earth before Vers. He couldn’t. He and his father traveled all the time. They never stayed somewhere too long, and because of that, Slaine could never remember exactly where he’d traveled.

But this moment of decorating with Inaho and drinking hot cocoa with her, was perfect. He didn’t want this moment to disappear. Sometime soon, when they were both free from their jobs, he would give her the gift he’d been thinking about. She would love it.

“Slaine, what’s the matter? You look like you were zoning out.”

He blinked and looked at her. She was wearing these reindeer fluffy pajamas with a long sleeved shirt that matched. Honestly, it wasn’t that cold in the house, but he enjoyed seeing her so relaxed around him. After their deep conversation, he wanted to really try and go all out in their relationship. Maybe he would even…

“You did it again. Are you okay?” She asked, putting the back of her hand on his forehead and cheeks. “You don’t feel hot. Maybe you should-”

“Don’t worry about me, Inaho. I’m just thinking too much. What’s next to be put up? Don’t we put up the Christmas tree now?” He suggested to take her mind off of him. He could have her investigating his every move.

She gave him a small smile. “No, the tree doesn’t go up until I rearrange the living room. Plus, I always decorate the tree with everyone around. And…” Lately, there hadn’t been a lot of time to bond with everyone. With Inko suffering from her father’s death, Nina suffering from exhaustion, Calm completely overwhelmed, Yuki busy with the Deucalion, and Rayet busy dealing with the repercussions of her father’s actions. He wondered if Asseylum would have time to come over. He wondered if Lemrina would want to come by as well. He already figured that Harklight would stop over. If not for Slaine, then for Rayet.

But he smiled at Inaho all the same. “Everyone will come around this year, too. Actually, even more people will be here decorating.” He said as Inaho gave him one of those rare, treasured smiles of hers.

“Yeah. Let’s go finish decorating the bathrooms.” She suggested, already leaving him behind. He jumped up after her, wondering if he could feel like this every day.

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Inaho saw Slaine perched by the window, staring outside. She saw him sitting cross-legged, leaning forward. She crept closer to see what was so entrancing, without disturbing the perfect picture Slaine created. What she saw was something that had become stagnant to her. It was snow. Just normal snow. It fell in little flurries that didn’t seem to stick. Slaine, however, was enamored by the sight of the snow. He probably hoped that it would stick.

Sometimes, Inaho forgot that Slaine lived on Vers for so long. Sometimes she forgot that he used to live on Earth and travel the world. So Inaho continued to observe the awestruck expression on Slaine’s face as he watched the snow fall.

“Slaine.” She called, and she assumed he was so focused that he hadn’t heard her, but that was fine. It would have been a shame if his concentration was broken. She went to the closet and retrieved their coats, snow shoes, hats, and gloves. She would grab his scarf later. For now, she would wait until he grew tired of only observing something that entranced him. Soon he would want to join in on the beauty of snow falling.

While she grew incredibly cold easily, she would suffer for watching Slaine play in the snow that looked to be sticking. If he thought it looked beautiful now, she couldn’t imagine how happy he would be before untouched, newly fallen snow.

Slaine suddenly whipped his head in her direction, eyes sparkling with joy. “The snow’s sticking!” He said in a child-like voice that made Inaho’s heart thump harder in her chest. How many times did Slaine get to act like his own age? He was only 18, and she didn’t think he ever had the opportunity to smile this brightly.

“It is, huh? Do you want to go outside now? Or do you want to wait until it’s completely done falling?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “When it’s done. I don’t want to ruin this.” He turned back towards the window. “Do you want to join me? I know how you don’t really like the cold.”

She knew he wasn’t looking, but she still smiled anyway. “Of course.” Wherever he went, she would follow him. It seemed to be her pattern to either save him or be saved by him. She strangely felt like she was saving him by allowing him this moment of peace. This peace is what she fought so hard to achieve. This peace isn’t perfect, like blemished snow, but it didn’t erase the pure color or the snow’s effort.

Inaho imagined having a forever filled with moments like this. A moment of her completely falling in love with Slaine all over again, and him not even trying to win her heart.

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Yuki didn’t know what to do. She’d always been a mother hen to Nao, but that stopped when her baby sister became an UFE member and got engaged. Yuki felt forgotten and useless. Having her sister call about the Christmas eve event was a breath of fresh air, and also a reminder of how much they had drifted from each other. As a 24 year old woman, she felt like she had accomplished a lot and also nothing at all.

While her sister was saving the world and imbibing in a dangerous romance, Yuki had steadily drifted from the public’s eyes and thoughts. She had drifted from the military life, only embarking on missions that the UFE ordained as important. Other than that, she just went by day-to-day without much purpose. How was she supposed to function? Her sister had never truly needed her, but the illusion had been enough. Now, she didn’t even have that anymore. All she had was a silent phone and no visits.

Sure, Yuki could visit Inaho, but she never knew when the little girl would be busy or occupied. Plus, Inaho had important things to deal with. What with the UFE breathing down her neck, and the Orbital Knights putting a hit on her.

The only person that truly spoke with Yuki was Marito… or Koichiro now. They’d known each for such a long time. She still remembered him as the drunken man on the beach when she’d been in her pre-teen years. It was just her luck that she started working with the very man who helped her get on her feet, while he fell off his own.

Yuki was still vacating Koichiro’s house, not that the man minded. He was drunk most days. It probably had everything to do with why Darzana came by during the holidays. It hadn’t been a pleasant visit either. It was more of her talking about him wasting his life and being pathetic. Whatever happened between them must’ve been pretty intense. Dr. Souma, on the other hand, let Koichiro indulge on the liquid toxins.

Yuki heard a groan from the living room, and walked into it with a glass of water. Koichiro laid on the floor, clutching his head, while looking like he hadn’t slept properly or bathed in weeks. It wouldn’t be a completely inaccurate assumption. She handed the water to him, and he stared at her for a minute.

“Why did you stay? You know you’re wasting your time, right? This is gonna last for a couple more days.”

“Why do you drink, Koichiro? You know, as well as I do, that it won’t change anything.”

“Thank you, Doctor Kaizuka. I already know this. I just… I just need to forget.”

“Is it about what happened almost 17 years ago? I remember what you said happened. Doesn’t seeing Souma help? I thought you’d accepted what happened.”

He snorted a bitter laugh, and pointed his glass in her direction. “You never get over survivor’s guilt. Not really. There’s no amount of reliving it that can take away the severity.” He must’ve seen a weird expression on her face, because he stopped his depressing admission.

“It is what it is. Sorry about that.” He finished.

“No… no, it’s fine. I’m sorry for asking something so personal.” She murmured embarrassed.

“Well, you should know since you volunteered to take care of an idiot like me.”

Yuki laughed. “Sure. The idiot that saved our lives during the war.”

“I think you’re confusing me with your sister, which is a little insulting.” He joked, and they laughed. For some reason, Yuki felt relieved. The feeling of needing to protect something was powerful, and she wasn’t ready to completely surrender it. She was twistedly thankful that Koichiro had problems that she could patch away.

“Why aren’t you with your sister, now that I’m sober, I guess I should ask.”

“She doesn’t really need me. I mean, she has Slaine and her friends. She’s so busy that I can’t possibly be of any help to her. It’s scary being like this.”

“What? Being like a mom? You practically raised Inaho… you guys practically raised each other. You’re scared because Inaho is flying the nest. This is normal. It’s natural to be anxious over what to do next.”

With all that wisdom, why couldn’t he feel better too? It was a sobering thought. She sat on the couch that he fell from. “I don’t want to go back there. I’ll start nagging and getting in the way. She’s engaged now, Kocchan. So I’ll just stay with you for the time being.”

“Wait. What? Kocchan? What are yo-”

She dismissed his questions. “Hurry up and sober up. With me around, you won’t want to drink.” She promised with a smirk that promised many scary things. Koichiro started trembling.

“I-I b-but…” He was at a loss for words, and that was fine. It was just nice to know that at least someone needed her.

Chapter Text

Inaho remembered Slaine telling her about his fears, but she couldn’t help but think about how attractive Slaine’s scars were. He was ashamed of them. She knew that she had caused them, and if she hadn’t stupidly rejected him, the war probably would’ve ended much sooner. He would’ve been saved from the humiliation and torture. But he wouldn’t be her Slaine. Maybe that made her a terrible person, but she liked the way Slaine was now. She liked that his scars didn’t defeat him. Instead, they made him stronger.

Inaho saw Slaine laying lazily on his bed, staring out the window lying upside down. He was drumming his fingers on his stomach, looking listless. He flicked his eyes towards Inaho and smiled. Inaho averted his eyes, trying to hide her blush, but she didn’t turn from him. Ever since their kiss on Christmas eve, Inaho hadn’t been able to look at Slaine without blushing or wanting to kiss him again. And now she couldn’t stop thinking about his scars. She was definitely becoming a pervert. But she didn’t regret doing something she normally wouldn’t.

“What’s going on?” He asked in a slurred tone. He was probably really tired. They were on vacation, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still at work. For some reason, he kept going on the phone checking his voicemail and looking really exhausted.

“Nothing in particular is going on. I was just wandering around.” She said, sauntering to his bed and laying beside Slaine. “What have you been up to?”

He gave her a grin. “Nothing that I shouldn’t put on hold. Why? Have you been lonely without me?” He teased, playing with her hair.

Inaho looked at him, but refused to avert her eyes. She didn’t know when the last time she would get to see Slaine. Whenever an EB attack began, Inaho always feared that she wouldn’t see Slaine again. She held his hand in hers and looked at his beautiful blue-green ocean-like eyes. Everything about him made her fall in love all over again.

She put her hands to his chest. He stiffened, and then slowly relaxed. “May I touch them?”

“Why would you want to? They’re disgusting.” He complained, and she turned to her side.

“They’re not to me. I can’t say anything fancy to persuade you, but you’ll always be Slaine to me. And you already know how much you mean to me. You could never be disgusting to me.” She said, not advancing towards him, but waiting for him to let her closer.

He looked her in the eyes for a while, and sighed deeply. “Fine. This is big to me, okay? But if you get squeamish, just tell me.” He brought her hand to his chest, directly over his heart where a massive bump lay. A scar…

How many times does he look into a mirror, or casually glance at himself? Does he think about how much he hated her? Her touch must’ve been feather-like. She knew that the area directly over the scars were numb to him, but around it would be sensitive. She was so concentrated on not hurting him, while also discovering a new side to him personally that she hadn’t noticed him looking at her.

He cupped her face and kissed her. It was a kiss that matched her touch. A kiss that wasn’t mingled in the tension between them, but focused on their intimacy. Perhaps it was a kiss that accepted her on a deeper level since she hadn’t flinched from him. She could never imagine flinching from Slaine. She trusted him more than almost anyone else. Yuki still came first, but she trusted and loved Slaine on a different level than anyone else.

No matter how much he despised himself, she would always love him.

Chapter Text

Slaine had reached his point of not caring. With the approaching wedding of Asseylum and Klancain, the silence on the successor, and the increasing tension of the Orbital Knights, Slaine was done dealing with people and emotions. Christmas eve and New Years had been really fun with Inaho, Rayet, Harklight, and Yuki. Of course it bothered Inaho that all her friends were too scattered that they didn’t come to see her, or want her to see them. He was half tempted to drag him there, but that would only upset Inaho more.

He stared at the increasing papers that the emperor signed without reading. It was Slaine’s responsibility to ensure the viability of the Vers empire, even though it was already fallen. If the UFE wanted, they could’ve forced the Versian royalty to surrender their aldnoah. But for Inaho, that would’ve already happened.

Slaine stared at the documents realizing that some were from the UFE, specifically from the African branch. Slaine remembered the African branch leader, Unathi Solarin. The man didn’t look like he cared for the peace treaty or for the usefulness in the Vers. It only made sense since the continent had been decimated because of its size. Many major cities had been taken over. The document had something to do with a relief mission in reinstating the continent into its former glory, if not better. The man’s government expected a miracle or war.

There was no way Slaine could ignore the blatant threat. A lot of countries demanded reparations from them as if they had anything to offer them. The demand was childish and in direct violation of the peace treaty agreement -that still wasn’t completed. And now wasn’t the time for repairing countries when the EB could easily destroy all that and more.

Slaine leaned back at his desk, staring at the ceiling watching his eyes adjust to something not on a computer screen. He rubbed his eyes and regretted it as they burned from being open for too long. He really hoped that the princess’ announcement wouldn’t be as dire as the emperor implied.

Slaine crawled out of his chair onto the bed. His face hit the pillow, and he immediately relaxed. He knew it was later than he usually went to sleep. Inaho would be asleep by now. He felt horrible for not even eating or speaking with her since his meeting with the emperor. He knew that if he explained, she would understand, but he didn’t want the emperor’s drama to become a habit that interfered in his relationship.

Slaine gave up trying to understand anything and fell asleep.

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Slaine woke up to something poking him on the head, and something on his chest. He opened his eyes to see Inaho nudging him and Junko on his chest, spinning around in circles while rolling around because of her pudgy body. He glanced at the amber furred puppy that wouldn’t stop trying to lick his shirt off his skin, and stared at Inaho in one of her nightgowns that he swore was see-through, but Inaho never believed him.

“Good morning, Slaine.” She said softly, picking up the hyperactive puppy.

This was his life. Someone who cared about him, waking him up with a smile. This was all he’d ever wanted: to be comfortable with someone. At first it’d been Asseylum. Now that he thought of it, he only ever wanted that desire with Asseylum. And now he had it from Inaho. It was strange how he never had to ask for anything but Inaho just gave it to him. This was why he tried so hard to make himself worthy of someone as amazing as Inaho.

“Good morning.” He said, but his voice was gravelly. He must’ve gotten a lot of sleep because that rarely happened.

Inaho stood up and gave a small smile. “Do you know what today is?”

He didn’t even know what yesterday had been. “No idea.”

She frowned a bit. Was he supposed to be somewhere? He couldn’t have forgotten a date. He always remembered those.

“It’s the 11th.”

“Yeah.”

“Of January.”

“Uh huh.”

She huffed, and looked away from him completely. “I know I’m horrible with dates, but at least I remember mine.” She mumbled, but set Junko on the floor. Inaho went behind the door, and pulled a plate off of a cart. Why they owned a cart in the first place was beyond him. He instead focus on the small plate with the decorated cupcake and Reddi whip topped mug.

Inaho set them before him, and he finally got a look at the items. It was a large cupcake -that could rival a full-sized cake. The cupcake had sprinkles and whipped icing on it. The icing was pink and smelled of strawberry. He didn’t know what flavor it was, but he could tell it was going to be delicious. The mug was warm and smelled of cotton candy. It had marshmallows in it and Reddi whip on top. It smelled mouthwatering. But he didn’t understand why she had gone to the trouble of making it. She did have a knack for making something to celebrate occasions. Perhaps something went successful at work?

“What’s the occasion?” He asked, but instead of a smile, he received a small glower.

“Are you being serious?” She asked.

“Very.”

She shook her head, and smiled. “Happy birthday. Don’t you remember your own birthday?”

He wouldn’t tell her that he didn’t bother to remember it because it was a worthless date. Yes, Asseylum had celebrated it, but the celebration had faded as she became increasingly curious in Earth. His father didn’t even remember to eat; so something as trivial as a birthday was definitely forgotten. He didn’t want to ruin her happiness with a truth that was unpleasant to remember.

“Thank you.” He set the plate beside him. “Share with me?”

Her face carried a small blush. “Sure. I haven’t gotten you a present though.”

“There’s no need. All of this is great present enough for me.” He said with a smirk. He wouldn’t be the one to remind her for the thousandth time that the nightgown she loved was especially see-through.

Chapter Text

It was February 6th, tomorrow was Inaho’s birthday. Slaine had the best present for her. Slaine hadn’t forgotten that Inaho was a major romantic. He wanted to give her something that she would love. He’d known on Christmas eve what he wanted for her birthday. He’d been in shops, sneaking around to find it, which wasn’t easy. The paparazzi were everywhere wanting to know everything there was to know about Slaine Saazbaum, fiancé of Kaizuka Inaho.

Sometimes he wondered if he had met Inaho in a different way, would he have had a chance with her? Once again, he was struck with the thought that he wanted to know everything about her. He could admit that he was hopelessly in love with Inaho. She made it so easy to get along with her. How could he have resisted?

Slaine saw her shutting down her laptop and stretching in her room. She preferred to do all of her work in her room where no one could see her. He didn’t know why, but he figured it was so no one could comment on how long she’d been working. “All done now?” He asked, leaning against her door.

Inaho looked over her shoulder, and nodded. She was exhausted. He couldn’t help but admit he loved when she was sleepy; she showed an adorable side of herself when she was. She would get clingy, and he never minded that.

“Do you want to go to sleep now?” Slaine asked, and she struggled to stand without falling over.

“No…” She mumbled, and held onto his arm. Someday, he was going to force her to sleep for a whole day. For someone who claims they only do the bare minimum, she always managed to wipe herself out.

“We can watch a movie until you fall asleep?” He suggested, while he took most of her weight, but he didn’t carry her. Inaho didn’t like to be picked up at all. He still didn’t know why, but he figured he’d find out someday.

“Su… yeah.” She said when they were halfway down the steps. He turned on the television to some opera that he hadn’t watched before. One of his guilty pleasures was watching operas and ballets. Inaho indulged him, although he didn’t know how she felt about them. The more he knew about her, the less he understood her.

They sat on the couch, and Inaho immediately fell asleep on his lap. Junko bounded into the room with the fastest waddle. The puppy’s tail was wagging hard, as she sidled up to Inaho on the couch. Junko’s favorite would always be Inaho. For some reason, she could never refuse Junko anything.

Slaine gave Inaho her present, and smiled. She was going to go crazy. He was happy he gave her present early. Yuki and her friends would no doubt be at the door before eight. Despite their ignoring each other, they always got together for birthdays and holidays.

He was never going to get tired of falling asleep peacefully with her in his arms.

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Inaho woke up on the couch, laying on Slaine. She didn’t know how she managed to go down any steps without tumbling to her death, but she was happy she was near Slaine. Junko was cuddled into her side. The little puppy’s ear flung upward, and her tail wagged at Inaho’s activity.

Inaho quietly chuckled. She rubbed Junko’s head, and froze at what she saw.

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Slaine was awaken to something hard falling on him. His eyes immediately shot open to see Inaho hugging him hard, and her face buried into his chest. He smiled, and hugged her back.

“How do you like it?” He said, and she turned her head further away from him.

“Who told you that you could get me a ring for my birthday? You didn’t have to.” Slaine could tell her face was completely red. When she got really embarrassed, she hid her face and sometimes she would hide in her room so he couldn’t see.

“Who told you to propose to me?” He teasingly said back. He lifted her face towards him, and saw how red her face was. “Happy birthday, Inaho.”

She looked at him, and then looked at her ring. It was designed like his pendant, but the color scheme was a reflection of her eyes. He always liked her eyes. It was a bittersweet feeling. He was happy she hadn’t seen the inscription inside of it. He would wait for her to see it herself.

Inaho leaned forward, and kissed him. Before he could follow the mood, they heard heavy knocks on the door -even though they had a door bell -making them both jump. Slaine almost got up to murder the multiple people outside. Inaho was finally taking the initiative, and he would have to wait a while for her to get that close again. She was incredibly shy.

“I’ll get the door.” She said quickly, and Slaine sighed as Junko whined.

“Yeah, Junko.” He didn’t know what he was agreeing to, but he figured it was either “man, that sucks” or “you’ve been up for about twenty minutes, and I haven’t been fed”.

Chapter Text

Back in December, Lemrina had visited Slaine. It was also back in December that she realized she was disgraceful. She’d always depended on her political status to get her whatever she wanted, and, why wouldn’t she? She was royalty, and on Vers that actually meant something. Once upon a time that meant something. Except no amount of being a princess could heal her legs, get her out of her engagement, or give her Slaine back. Not now or here on Terra.

Honestly, it was a little pitiful how much she wanted Slaine, and how often she compared herself to Inaho. Lemrina had managed to get home by herself, cold and exhausted. She was only mildly concerned with Inaho’s situation, but she was just going to nurse her ego by herself. She didn’t want Slaine to think she hated Inaho. She didn’t hate the woman; she just wanted to be her.

Lemrina’s chip on her shoulder always revolved around her differences between herself and the woman who beat her in every aspect. Marylcian walked in the house, looking like he could collapse on the floor and be perfectly okay with that.

“What happened?” She asked, feeling bad for ditching him, especially when he was always kind to her. His kindness made her feel uncomfortable. Was it him warming up to her, or was it all a joke?

“The emperor refuses to name his successor, and we’re scrambling to get some kind of answer before we go on a hiatus. Apparently, we’re under surveillance by the UFE, and we can’t meet without a UFE member present. I would say that this can’t get any worse, but the emperor naming some random person would just about do it.” Marylcian said, and rolled his eyes because that sounded like something her grandfather would do to spite his knights.

“Don’t give him ideas.” She joked, happy that she could without feeling awkward.

“I’ll try to be less sarcastic when I see him. How did your outing go?” He asked, taking off his coat and uniform jacket.

She fidgeted with her shirt’s sleeve. “I went to see Slaine at the library. He had to leave early for an emergency.” She could see Marylcian simply nodding, but she didn’t want to tell him everything. She didn’t know how he’d respond if she admitted that Slaine left her.

“What was the emergency?”

“Something about Inaho. He didn’t say much.”

“I hope she’s fine. I really don’t need the emperor and the UFE going crazy.”

“Why would grandfather go crazy?” She frowned. Was it because of the war? Inaho was the lynch pin to everyone’s life. Without her happiness and mortality, everyone would be in danger. It was grating how right Inaho had been when she said that she held all Versian life in her hands.

“The emperor really likes Inaho. She gives him a run for his money. When they met a while back, and he formally gave her aldnoah, they tested each other, and seemed to pass each other’s tests.”

Another reason to feel inadequate. Inaho had managed to impress an emperor so much so that he cared more for her than he even did his own family. Lemrina couldn’t even get him to acknowledge her existence. She was done with being this whiny about her short-comings.

“I want to walk again.” She blurted out, but she had no idea if she even could. Marylcian simply looked at her, and she expected to hear laughter at her illogical desire. She wasn’t a child anymore. She should know how unrealistic her request was.

“Okay. When do you want to see a doctor? I will have to investigate the cost and procedure.” He said, picking up his tablet and scrolling downwards. She just stared at him.

“A-are you sure? I mean, I want to, but-”

He didn’t even look up at her uncharacteristic stammering. She felt like she was learning a new side to him. “It’s what you want,” he said. “We’ve never been to Terra before. I say we enjoy ourselves before things get bad. If you want to walk, then why shouldn’t you at least try?”

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She’d seen her doctor often to work on building strength in her arms. She went through physical therapy, aka the prodding jerk session. Every session was filled with the doctor checking her nerves and doing scans. She would need surgery eventually, but first her doctor wants her to be prepared for it. Marylcian, or Jesper, would cheer her on.

It was hard to adjust to everything. Some days she would advance, and Jesper would give her a cupcake or do something disconcerting like singing. Sometimes things wouldn’t go so well, and she’d be angry at Jesper, thinking he was messing with her emotions. Every time he would hug her. She must’ve been touch starved because she always leaned into the touch. He was warm. He wanted her happiness. He cared for her. He thought about her. He knew she existed.

She remembered feeling embarrassed at getting mad and falling apart, but for as many times she fell apart and got angry, he did just the same. They’d fallen into a tranquil pattern of just being content with each other’s presence. And she thought that their companionability was better than forcing a relationship.

Chapter Text

Calm wasn’t a coward, okay? He was just… strategically avoiding the reporters. Who cares if he never really went home anymore because a paparazzo spilled information about his address. He wasn’t Rayet. He didn’t have an entourage of people blocking the press’ advances. Nope. He lived in an apartment before a paparazzo climbed through his window, and tried to record him sleeping in his underwear. He was so annoyed he “apprehended” his intruder, and the camera “mysteriously” ended up with new information and in their rival’s hands. Someone had to teach them how to do their job. Of course his aversion only made him public enemy number one. They started making articles about him being an “Unknown Bachelor”. He wasn’t the only single person in his friend’s circle!

Why were they griping about his relationship status anyway? Calm’s phone vibrated, and he stupidly answered without looking at the caller ID. It was his mother, and she was in her whining mood that, inevitably, led to him being berated for not being engaged to someone “proper”... or being engaged at all.

“Calm Craftman, you finally remember that you have a mother, huh?” Scratch that. They were going straight to the guilt trip about not going to college, and then they’d talk about him being single. He didn’t think he’d ever miss the military hounding the Deucalion to do missions back-to-back. Even though it cost him two “girlfriends”, who only called for a free meal, he missed having more to do than paperwork and solving conspiracies.

He was currently hiding in a Deucalion closet, avoiding his annoying coworkers that only saddled him with more work, and the wandering eyes of the paparazzi. For some reason, they had an amazing ability of catching the perfect angle from the window. Wasn’t this a military base? Did they not care because it was just celebrity paparazzi, and they were only hassling the paperwork guy?

At least he wasn’t being bullied like he’d been in high school before the war.

“Are you listening to me, you ungrateful child? You don’t visit me, you don’t listen to me, and you continue to be in the military! Why don’t you find a safer job, sweetie? Like a businessman? Go to a college, find you a beautiful woman, and get married. You know I only want you to be safe. How can you be safe in the military? I keep reading all these articles about those Martians. That pretty boy is a nice one, and your friend Inaho is getting married. Too bad that pretty boy snatched her away. She would’ve been-” At that point, Calm just muted her.

He more than understood her point. She was terrified that she would be like Okisuke’s parents. They’d sent their son away to school, and he was one of the first casualties in their city. She was tired of holding her breath, and he was tired of causing her to worry, but there was no way he could leave. The UFE was corrupt, and they would kill his mother. He didn’t doubt that her life was held in custody for his loyalty. He would never be a free man. There was no way he’d tell his mother that though.

He didn’t think he wanted to hear her rant about how amazing he would be with Inaho either. In a way, it was gross. He remembered having a crush on her, and then he felt more like he was an older sibling because of her personality. She was dangerously clueless. He wasn’t on Inko’s level of overprotectiveness, but he was very cautious of Inaho. She was his friend, and she’d already lost so much during the war. He knew that she wasn’t aware, but because of her war injury, people had stopped finding her attractive. He didn’t need to get into details about those bastards’ fates.

Calm snuck out of the closet, phone still on mute, and went into Inaho’s office. She wasn’t around today, anyway. He was about four steps into the room when he realized someone was already inside, but was in the connecting room. He stepped closer to the room, curious of who would be so bold as to intrude in the major general’s room.

He leaned closer, and immediately regretted it.

“Slaine,” Inaho admonished in the fakest voice, “you already know what I plan for tonight.”

Slaine laughed. Apparently, he was on speaker phone. “Do you want a massage as well?”

She lightly snorted. “Don’t think I’m so dense I don’t know that that’s a euphemism.”

“Where did you hear about it? I can still remember you asking for one l-”

“Stop.” She said, embarrassed.

Calm backed away from the door, wanting to crawl into a hole. He didn’t need to know what Inaho and Slaine got up to in their free time. He glanced at his own phone, lowering the volume, only to hear his mother still ranting about the order of his twins with his future wife.

Before he could completely escape, the door to the connecting room opened, and he wanted to disappear so badly. He turned to see Inaho completely blushing. Great.

“C-Calm, why are you here?” She asked, trying to find her usual stoicism. She failed. Calm decided to just hang up on his mother and deal with the wrath later. He needed an excuse for being here, after all.

“I was...you know, just checking to see if you were here.” He said, trying to assume a nonchalant stance. He was somewhat thankful that Inaho’s eye wasn’t as advanced as the last one. Otherwise, he would have been dissected and embarrassed.

“You know I’m not here on days like this. Are you okay?”

Great, she was looking concerned. Now he couldn’t blatantly lie about his problems. “You know, just the usual. Paparazzi infiltrating my life. What about you?”

Inaho blushed again, but looked away. “The usual. Dealing with adults that behave like children.” She must be talking about the UFE. She clutched her hands, and shot him a look.

What could she be so shy about if she had been discussing freaking euphemisms with Slaine not even ten minutes ago? No, he wasn’t bitter that he was stuck hiding from paparazzi and his mother, while she was flirting with her fiance.

“I wanted to know if I could hang out with you. To talk about stuff.” Translation: I wanted to know if I could gush about Slaine. Another translation: this is your ticket out of this awkward conversation.

“Oh, yeah. Sure. You just name the place and time.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll email you everything. Slaine says I should try text messaging, but I hate the informality of it. One day, I aspire to know slang and emojis.”

Calm desperately wished he could watch her attempts at understanding emojis and slang. It would be ten times better than watching his mother navigate social media.

But since he hung up on his mother during her spectacular rant, he could imagine he won’t live long enough to experience the joys of Inaho learning how to be 18. He would probably visit the Creator in less than three hours, and then the paparazzi wouldn’t be able to torture him anymore. All of a sudden, he didn’t know whether to avoid returning to his mother’s home for peace, or weather her anger until she sought him out.

After walking into his office to see his workload, he decided his mother should just end him already.

Chapter Text

Calm sat down across from Inaho, slowly blinking his eyes at his friend that ranted on about all kinds of nonsense. He couldn’t even say that he didn’t like it when his friend behaved immaturely. She deserved to behave like a teenager. The war had been especially hard on her. But here he was, entertaining the stupidly-in-love Inaho.

She was eating a parfait, which was strange because she didn’t usually like sweets. She was wearing clothes with more personality and designs. Gone were the days of plaid shirts and business pants. Her shoes looked like the heel was around three to four inches. Ooo, dangerous.

Why was he here instead of searching for a date or working? This was one of his rare days off, and here he was thinking so loudly the lady two seats ahead of them was pitying him. She didn’t look so bad, now that he was thinking about it. During his interrogations, he’d gotten better at reading people, and she didn’t look like the long commitment type. Whatever. It didn’t matter. He should keep his nose clean, anyway. Juggling his many workloads and Nina’s breakdowns put a harsh damper on any relationships he could’ve had if he were more approachable.

What was wrong with him that he couldn’t score a date? Was it his sense of style? There were alien kataphrakts flying around. Did his shirt -with grass and coffee stains -really matter? How did he even get grass stains on his shirt? And so what his pants were unhealthily faded? They weren’t going to tear… completely. Was he really so exhausted that this was his life? If he changed his style, then he’ll probably just score a “date”, have a mission, and get dumped… again. This is why it was best to be single. He was only 18! He didn’t need to be like Inaho and Seylum and get married.

He took a sip of his salt caramel whatever it was called, and gagged at how cold it was. Inaho stopped talking -she was still carrying on about Slaine’s “cute” snore? -and reached for her napkin. He could only imagine that, if Slaine found out, he would be upset about Inaho giving her stuff away. For some reason, Inaho and Slaine were creepily jealous and possessive of each other. He didn’t know why they tried to be shy around him. He’d once accidentally eavesdropped on their phone conversation, and it was really awkward.

“Are you alright?” Inaho asked, prepared to get close to him. He held his hand up to stop her movements. The last thing he needed was an ambiguous picture taken of him with Inaho. Just because he was the only other man she occasionally hung around didn’t mean they were sleeping around. They were only 18, damnit! So what he hadn’t successfully had a girlfriend! They didn’t need to keep making articles about the “Unknown Bachelor”! They didn’t know what he went through having to be scolded by his mother because he wasn’t thinking about giving her grandchildren. He was 18! A war didn’t physically age him up.

“I’m fine. Just lamenting.”

“Is it about Slaine’s nose that wrinkles when he concentrates?” Inaho said, like he would ever lament about Slaine’s nose. He could swear he saw a pink background with hearts and flowers floating behind her.

“No, Inaho. That’s just you.”

Inaho’s face darkened. Ah, man. Who pissed her off? Did he say the wrong thing? Maybe being sarcastic wasn’t the best thing.

“Just me and that worthless PA whose name I refuse to remember.” Clearly, she remembered the name. Amane Kai was a thorn in everyone’s behinds. The woman showed up to flirt with Slaine, and only left when Inaho showed her the door. Slaine seldom showed up on the Deucalion after the first time of nearly being assaulted by the woman. She often fought with the guards that didn’t get paid enough to deal with her.

What did she even get paid to do? Irritate Inaho to death? Doesn’t the UFE know that they can’t possibly suppress the Deucalion or Versian royalty if the UFE harmed Inaho? They were already catching heat because of their lack of action during the war, and their obvious power play with a teenager that wasn’t even 20.

“What did the person-we-do-not-name do this time?”

“It was horrible, Calm! She tried to come into my home with some report Ogura made. That old banshee can just email me if it’s that important, but anyway, that thing comes into my parlour wanting to see Slaine. She asked if he was still working out. I almost clawed her eyes out. She’s lucky her bodyguards dragged her away.”

Something about dating Slaine brought out the youth in Inaho. He can’t say he absolutely hates it. Honestly, he’d rather do anything but entertain gossip, but this used to be Inko’s job. Ever since Inko tapped out of their lives, shutting herself in grief and guilt, he’d assumed the role with opened arms. What girl didn’t need to vent about their relationship to someone they trusted? He felt like Inaho was a sister anyway, and Slaine treated Inaho with all the respect she deserved. He was happy for her.

“Next time, don’t answer the door. Just call the police saying there’s a lunatic outside your home. It’ll be so humiliating, she’ll make even more of a fool of herself.” And then the paparazzi will get off his back about being single!

Inaho brightened. How was it possible for her to be happier after the war than before it? He’d never seen her smile so much.

“Serious question: is it normal to use pet names?” Inaho asked, dragging the happiness from their prior conversation. He was wading through a minefield.

Why wasn’t someone competent doing this? He was so out of his depth. Okay, there’s only so many reasons she’s asking this. One, Slaine used a pet name, and she either did one of two things: froze or felt uncomfortable. Two, she heard that pet names were necessary for a relationship from those pathetic magazines. Three, she wanted to try a pet name. Four, she called Slaine a pet name, and received no response. He didn’t have any information on what happened, and could only be honest and salvage his answer if it was wrong.

“Yeah, most couples do use pet names, but it’s not mandatory. My parents never used pet names… around me. If they did, I don’t want to know why, really.” His mom had a penchant for having her adult girl talk with him because he wouldn’t bring her home her future daughter-in-law.

Inaho looked down. Thanks for helping me figure out what you were thinking. The table look really helped.

“Slaine sometimes calls me pet names, and I might call him one or two, but we don’t do it often. I saw a drama last night, while Slaine was with Rayregalia, that the lack of a pet name shows distance in a relationship. Do you think Slaine and I are too distant?”

“Of course not. Inaho, you’re both still in your teens and you’re fighting a war with aliens. Your relationship isn’t conventional either, but that’s okay. Measuring your relationship to a drama is pretty silly. What drama can encapsulate everything you’re dealing with? Just trust in your chemistry with Slaine. Don’t do what you aren’t comfortable with.”

Inaho brightened again. Is she almost done torturing him yet? He was feeling pretty drained hearing about Slaine. He never knew so much about someone until Inaho started gushing about Slaine.

“Okay. Thanks, Calm. I’m going to go home now. Slaine will be done with his meeting soon, and we’re going to the movies later.” Lucky.

“See ya Thursday.” He said, and watched her leave with a bounce in her step. At least one of their group could be happy.

He sighed, not even caring if the caramel what’s-it-called was settling at the bottom of his cup. He was tired of the mental minefield that was his afternoon. Who cares if it was barely past noon? He was going to sleep early.

Just as he was about to get up, a woman plopped down. Matter of fact, it was the woman from earlier who shot him pitying looks.

“Sorry to bother you, but you looked like you could use another drink.” He could probably go for some rest too, but a free drink never hurt… too much.

“Thanks.” He said, not really knowing why this woman was speaking to him. He looked like road kill, and probably smelled like trash and sweat. She was pretty, in a rebellious type of way. His mom would slap him silly if he claimed to be in a relationship with a woman who obviously wasn’t interested in the long-term commitment thing. Great. His mom was poisoning his mind. Not every woman he encountered was a considerable marriage candidate, and the press could suck a lemon about their articles. There was nothing wrong with him, and he wasn’t attracted to Daisuke Harklight.

“I overheard your conversation, sorry.”

“Not really your fault. She gets really excited when she talks about her fiance.” He said in a dismissive tone. He should probably apologize for being so noisy in a cafe.

The woman merely paused then smiled. “So… she’s not your girlfriend? Childhood sweetheart?”

Calm was so surprised he couldn’t help but laugh. “No. No. Just friends since before the world went to hell.” He was grateful she was facing Inaho’s back, and therefore, she couldn’t see that she was speaking of the hero of the war. He should be fortunate that his fame wasn’t worse off. He could be famous like Inaho, or infamous like Rayet.

She smiled even more. “So… would it be okay if we… I don’t know. Met up sometime. You know, when you’re less tired.” She joked giving him a smirk that was practically made for mocking people.

Did he just get asked out while looking like a nightmare? Obviously it was the effect of Inaho’s excitement. He’d roll with it. “Sure. Pick the time and place.” He could only hope he wasn’t called away for a mission before she discovered how much better she could do.

“My name is Haru Simmons. What about you?” He got asked out before she gave her name. Inaho’s power of love was long lasting and strong. “Calm Craftman.”

Her eyes flashed. “Like the guy who fought with the press in front of the fountain?” She said with a giggle. Yep, he was going to be with her for as long she would let him.

Chapter Text

Asseylum was miserable. Her life was a constant whirl of events happening, and everyone wanted to see her immediately react. It was stressful considering what happened just a day ago. Asseylum had her dream wedding day crashed by terrorists, and then the UFE actually blamed her best friend for causing it. Asseylum was happy she wasn’t the only one that petitioned the absurdity of Inaho publicly announcing her intentions of helping Asseylum only to kill her at the wedding. Inaho was a major general, not a moron.

But here Asseylum was, at her grandfather’s mansion, miserable because her address was leaked. She couldn’t spend the wedding night with Klancain, or use any of the techniques her maids and Eddelrittuo told her about. It was always Asseylum’s dream to have a wonderful wedding and reception with her close friends nearby.

Why did this keep happening? Every time she desired something, it was always ruined by a terrorist? She couldn’t have anything go right!

Asseylum thought going to her grandfather to spend time with him would stave off her growing anxiety, but all he did was investigate and push her away. He didn’t even acknowledge her existence. She knew investigating was important, but she just wanted to help. She only felt a burning shame that she was so incredibly useless that she couldn’t do anything right. How did Slaine and Inaho stay afloat all the current events?

After the rush of servants delivering information to her grandfather, things settled down. She watched her grandfather eat lunch without offering her any or acknowledging her presence. Asseylum didn’t know what she was doing wrong. She had taken the politics class seriously, and she was starting to understand a lot. Compared to before, she was excelling in large leaps. She wasn’t around Lemrina’s level, but she was finally earning her right to call herself a princess. Only the princess in those fairytales Slaine told didn’t know politics. They could never be empress, and she stupidly believed that the position would go to her without any effort.

“Grandfather…” Asseylum called, but he sighed in annoyance, which was new. He usually didn’t make any sound. He usually pretended that she didn’t exist.

“What could you want of me?”

She felt her stomach clench with anxiety. Why was it so hard to speak with this man? “I-I wanted to know i-if you wanted a massage. You’ve been wor-”

“Not from you.” He replied sharply and turned his body towards the window.

Asseylum felt numb and disappointed. This was one of her only surviving family members, and he treated her like she was nuisance. What did she do wrong? Why was he rejecting her so harshly? It would’ve been better if he had insulted her when they were alone, but an Orbital Knight was present. Did this not scream that she wasn’t worthy of respect or being empress? Did this not loudly proclaim that the first princess wasn’t in favor with the emperor? Asseylum was sickened at the notion that her grandfather would do this to her. She wanted to cry, but that meant showing vulnerability and weakness. She wouldn’t let her months of political training disappear because she’d been disrespected.

She was about to apologize when a servant knocked on the door. The emperor grunted loudly, and the servant rushed in. “Major General-”

“Let her in.” The emperor said, putting down his documents. Was this not a slap to the face? Inaho shows up and he drops everything, but when she showed up, she was ignored.

Inaho walked into the room looking beautiful in a form fitting dress with flats. Her hair was braided into ponytail. She looked simply amazing and breathtaking. Was she not the most beautiful person in the room?

Inaho flashed a small smile. “I brought tea from India. It’s the one I told you of last time.” She explained, and a servant rushed to take the stuff from her hands. Inaho looked at Asseylum’s grandfather with a mildly irritated look.

“You may leave.” The emperor said looking towards the servants, but Asseylum was ignored. She genuinely believed that her presence was forgotten.

“Emperor Rayregalia, you must watch over your health. I designated a physician for you for a reason. Your temperature is a bit high, and it’s not because of a fever. Have you been overworking yourself?” Inaho sounded like Rayregalia was her grandfather, and she had to deal with his unruliness often.

Her grandfather merely huffed. Asseylum was dumbfounded. Inaho watched over Asseylum’s grandfather, and Asseylum’s grandfather didn’t seem to find that annoying. Asseylum’s grandfather liked the attention, and Asseylum was shunned. She felt like an outsider. Even before the war, Asseylum wasn’t close to any of her family members. The only person she was close to was Slaine, but he had hurt their friendship with continuing the war.

But after taking all those classes that taught her basic common sense, Asseylum discovered that she didn’t have a lot of that. Was Slaine a monster for continuing a war? Yes, in Asseylum’s opinion, the war was pointless. Was Slaine deserving of forgiveness? Maybe. Asseylum remembered them speaking at her engagement party, but it was hard to let go of the disdain she felt. However, her ignorance was put on its knees when she discovered that the people responsible for the war was Saazbaum and Wulf Areash.

Wulf Areash was the man in charge of bombing Asseylum’s limo. He was the father of Rayet, who strangled her to death. Asseylum had forgiven that. Saazbaum was a high leveled Orbital Knight that used to treat her like family, along with Cruhteo, but she was starting to discover how much of a terrible person these two men truly were.

While investigating on her own, Asseylum discovered that Saazbaum wanted her dead because he’d lost his wife due to Heaven’s fall. The same battle that Asseylum lost her father. A battle that wasn’t necessary, and resulted in many deaths. The man who used to make her feel like her father was back, was the same man that shot her and put her in a coma.

Cruhteo was an admirable man that became a nightmare. He treated her well, too. He made her feel comfortable, and she always got to see Slaine when she was around him, so she hadn’t bothered being suspicious of the man. However, she didn’t know of his deep rooted hatred for Terrans. He tormented Slaine for years, and it all happened right under her nose. By that age, Lemrina had successfully found allies. Asseylum had merely dreamed of living another life, spitting on the face of her privilege.

Asseylum deserved to be shunned by her grandfather. What did she know about running an empire? Klancain knew more about the Versian empire than she did, and she was royalty!

Inaho was currently massaging Rayregalia’s shoulders, and Asseylum showed herself out the door.

She knew when she wasn’t wanted. Her grandfather only had eyes and aspirations for Inaho, and Asseylum wasn’t needed anymore. Perhaps she was never needed. The emperor did let her reach her teenage years without learning much diplomacy. She had filled her head with thoughts of earth and its people. Meanwhile, Lemrina had obsessed with politics and ruling. All Asseylum had going for her was being the princess. Klancain still treated her with respect, but what will happen when he hears about how slighted she’d been by her own grandfather? Would he be disrespected as well? Will he disrespect her? They hadn’t even been married a solid day, and Asseylum already wanted to run and hide. She felt like it was just fate for all of her dreams to be crushed by reality. She had reached too far with her delusions.

A door opened rather abruptly, and Asseylum jumped. She turned to see Slaine looking handsome in Terran attire. He wore black jeans that made him look taller, his dark green button up shirt was properly tucked into his pants. He walked around like he owned the mansion, and Asseylum was merely a guest of the guest.

At no point had Asseylum ever found Slaine attractive, and that was fine. He was more like a brother until he betrayed her. He’d been her most loyal servant and friend, but maybe she hadn’t been a very good friend to him. Slaine was in love with her at one point. He’d been so in love that he would do anything, and that was a frightening and amazing feeling. His love for me is gone though. It vanished when she stupidly tried to have him killed. She had demoted a Terran from the highest position, and then blindly expected him to fall back in line. She said he knew nothing on how to rule, but it was her that knew nothing.

Slaine looked to an Orbital Knight, Viscountess Libertina. She was a twin that had abstained from entering the war in Japan. Of course she had landed on earth for more land, but she and her sister didn’t try to kill Asseylum.

“Where is the major general?” Slaine asked, but his tone was more like a demand. He spoke with the Orbital Knights without a care. Asseylum couldn’t get them to acknowledge her. He had once been their emperor, providing for them and guiding them towards victory over earth. Then he brought them to earth to tentatively enjoy what the Versian had always desired.

Libertina looked like she didn’t enjoy Slaine’s tone and command over her, but he was still the emperor’s advisor regardless. A role that had been useless for decades until Slaine made it relevant again.

“Major General Kaizuka is speaking with Emperor Vers Rayvers.” She said in a stiff tone, but bowed her head in slight reverence. Her eyes glided over Slaine’s figure. She was finding him attractive, but she should beware that his fiancee would end her sad existence. A Viscountess had no business trying to eye the emperor’s advisor.

Before Asseylum could interrupt Libertina, the door to her grandfather’s room opened. Inaho sauntered out of the room with a small smile that didn’t seem so professional. When Inaho saw Slaine, as if he were the only one in the room, she walked quickly to him. He flashed her a small smile, and Asseylum felt her heart tighten.

She didn’t want to see this anymore, and it bothered her to have seen this at all. Her stomach felt like it was going to drop at the sight of Slaine brushing his fingers down Inaho’s face as they spoke softly to each other. Libertina’s face was red and giddy. She looked nosy, but not bothered. As if her early appreciation for Slaine’s appearance was just a passing thought. Asseylum had never felt like this before; like her chest hurt and she wanted to drag Slaine away from Inaho.

She may not have been a genius, but she knew that this feeling was jealousy. Asseylum had Slaine’s love, but she threw it away. It would’ve been her that Slaine was showing all of this adoration to, but she never appreciated it. Asseylum wouldn’t have ever felt alone or upset with Slaine’s love, and Asseylum stupidly severed their engagement. She was now married to the son of an abuser of her best friend. Did Slaine ever become sickened at the thought of her? She was a married woman, and not even one day into this new life, she was regretting not being married to her best friend.

Get yourself together, Seylum! That is Inaho’s fiance! She is your best friend, and she has done everything to help you. Inaho had sacrificed a lot to save Vers, including marrying Slaine. Seeing Slaine keep his word about honoring his engagement with Inaho was awkward for Asseylum. Lemrina was right, she was selfish.

Asseylum just wanted to steal Slaine back because Inaho already had good looks, high level of intelligence, and her grandfather’s love. Why did she also need to covet Slaine? Of course he wasn’t an object, but Asseylum always thought Slaine would be by her side until she died. She never pictured a day where he would look away from her.

Asseylum stepped back as a vicious thought entered her mind. Had she always been this way? If she knew Slaine would never leave her side, didn’t that mean that she subconsciously knew that Slaine loved her, and she used that against him? Slaine must’ve suffered unbelievable amounts of pain just for her, and she never thought about anything but herself.

She wasn’t Inaho, and she wasn’t Lemrina. She was just Asseylum, and she was discovering that Asseylum probably deserved to have her dreams crushed if she routinely crushed others’ dreams. She always knew that Lemrina wanted room to shine, but that would mean that Asseylum would have been outshined. So Asseylum purposefully manipulated all of the Orbital Knights’ time to her. Big named nobles like Cruhteo and Saazbaum were her greatest influencers. They had welcomed her presence, and her efforts were rewarded in being the hottest gossip. Lemrina didn’t exist, and even when she did get a moment to shine, it had to be through Asseylum image. I’m a monster. No wonder Lemrina hates me. Some big sister I am that I can only just now acknowledge how cruel I am.

She was no better than any other Versian she used to judge. She had once thought that everything a Versian did was malicious. She hadn’t included herself in that, but she was the biggest hypocrite around. At least everyone else could concede that they weren’t perfect. She had deluded herself into believing the compliments she received. No wonder the Orbital Knights were unimpressed with her. They must’ve seen through her disguise. Who had she been performing this disgusting act for? The public? Ever since she woke up, people have been finding disparities between coma!Asseylum and regular!Asseylum. People thought coma!Asseylum was better. People thought Lemrina was better than Asseylum, and that’s all the proof she needed to know that she had done her people the greatest disservice by neglecting them a competent princess.

She looked back up to see that everyone had already left her. She was a waste of effort if she hadn’t grown. If she couldn’t be a proper princess, then she would just be a proper wife. Lusting after Slaine and getting jealous was already a strike in her ledger, but she had to keep trying to be good to someone.