The Mandate of Khaos: Hatred (ch. 19)

Stepping into the kitchen, my gaze was immediately drawn to Sakura's silhouette against the morning light—her figure curved gracefully as she stirred a pot, the apron strings accentuating her waist before flaring over the generous swell of her hips. The second thing my increasingly baleful eyes locked onto was the floating Magical Girl Rod, waving back and forth, likely communicating with Sakura.

In a way… I could almost understand Sakura's reasoning. She was a deeply broken girl, who had been raised under the thumb of Matou Zouken. At the chance to live the 'normal' life she had been denied until then with the brother that she… well… l-loved, she had seized it. At the same time, she had no intention of ever ending up in a similar situation, powerless to decide her own future, her own fate. And so, she had explained to me, she had struck a deal with Ajuka. I had come to learn that the Beelzebub was deeply invested in my continued survival, far more than I previously believed, for reasons I couldn't fully understand just yet.

I'd only obtained Fertility Calibration after I had met him for the first time, so it couldn't be that. Perhaps my power itself? But was I to believe that Ajuka Beelzebub was the type of man who wouldn't simply kidnap me and do as he pleased with it?

Was I overestimating him? Underestimating him? Thinking too badly of him? Too highly?

Gods, this is why I hate geniuses.

And yet—as Sakura turned, her smile blooming like dawn breaking through storm clouds—the resentment evaporated. Not gone, but suspended. For now.

"Good morning, Sakura," I said, voice warm, smiling back.

"Good morning, nii-san." She turned back towards the balcony and dipped a spoon into the miso soup, tasted it, then frowned at the rod. "Amethyst, nii-san is here. I've already told you to communicate in a way that he can hear when he is present."

Amethyst stilled momentarily, as if recalibrating. "Aye, aye, captain," a saccharine, cutesy voice squeaked from the kaleidostick. I had a decent grasp on Nasuverse lore, so I knew what it was when I laid eyes upon it. Fortunately, my fears that Zelretch was actually present in this universe proved to be unfounded. He was dangerous, of course, though my fear wasn't so much him as what his existence would imply about what else I would be finding in this world.

"Ddraig says good morning too," Sakura added, and by the way the Red Gauntlet suddenly materialized on her hand, its green jewel pulsing intermittently, I could assume he had, in fact, done no such thing.

I couldn't help but worry about the risks, but at the same time… since we already had the attention of a Satan, and were living in the same city that the supernatural world unreasonably enjoyed using as a battleground, the benefits of having the Boosted Gear on our side outweighed the downside of how much attention having the Red Dragon Emperor (Empress?) with us inherently drew.

"Hey, pst, jackass, hey," Amethyst drifted closer, poking my cheek with its crystalline tip. "How about you stop aimbotting her ass with your eyes and go plant a good morning kiss on her, eh?"

That… I was prepared to scoff at the idea, but the more I thought about it… it wasn't actually…

Pushing myself up, I approached Sakura from behind, and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"N-nii-san?!" She squeaked, startled by the sudden contact.

Gently, I cupped her chin, tilting her face upwards. Her eyes widened, pupils dilating, lips parting in soft surprise and anticipation. She smelled of miso, fresh scallions and something uniquely Sakura.

I kissed her.

Sakura melted against me, a soft sigh escaping into my mouth as her fingers tangled in my shirt. Time stretched, the world narrowing to the heat of her mouth, the frantic beat of her heart against mine, the way her body molded perfectly against me. The soft sounds she made—little hums and hitched breaths—were muffled against my lips, fueling the intensity. A full, breathless minute passed before we finally parted, gasping for air, our foreheads resting together.

A slow smirk curved my lips as I looked down at her flushed face, her lips slightly swollen. "Hmm," I murmured, my voice rough. "Think the miso soup might be a touch too sweet… or maybe," I added, tracing her lower lip with my thumb, "that's just your taste doing it."

Sakura made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a scoff, her blush deepening to crimson. "Nii-san!" she protested, mock-hitting my chest with surprising force before immediately spinning away, her back to me as she started plating the food.

Yeah, I decided, as I pinched Sakura's behind and was treated to the cutest 'yeep' in the universe. I guess I can cut Ajuka some slack.

Enough thinking about another dude though, now… how do I broach the date subject?

Shit, maybe I should have asked Serafall for tips while she was here.

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When Sakura descended the stairs, it was with a light, happy skip in her step and a smile so radiant it would have left the girl she was a mere month ago utterly dumbfounded. Beside her, nii-san walked with a relaxed ease she wished would never disappear.

They could have taken the elevator, but instinctually, they both knew its enclosed space was a dangerous temptation. Stopping there risked reigniting the desperate intensity of moments ago, devolving back into trying to suck each other’s souls through their mouths.

On top of that… he hadn’t forgotten. The weekend had passed in a chaotic blur, with the planned date falling by the wayside, but… he hadn't forgotten it.

{Of course he hasn’t forgotten, you idiotic girl,} the grouchy dragon’s voice rumbled within her. {He is a male, and you've made it clear that you're more than willing to put out after the date, so he's not about to let that chance slip.}

Sakura rolled her eyes internally, a soft tut echoing in her mind. 'Nuh-uh. If nii-san truly desired that, he could have had it already. He’s waiting because he knows, deep down, that this slow dance, this anticipation… that’s something I truly crave, and so he will provide.'

He's just that type of lovable fool, Sakura thought in the way that the Dragon could not hear.

She felt Ddraig's exasperated groan vibrate through her consciousness. {You don't reckon he is—}

'What?' Sakura pushed open the front door, stepping out into the crisp April morning air. 'Afraid? No. Not anymore. Everything nii-san does for me, he does it out of love.'

Though, the reason his fear has vanished isn’t ideal… I’d much rather he believe there’s zero chance I wish him harm, rather than his current reasoning—that it’s useless to ruin whatever fragile happiness he might grasp by holding onto such doubts.

That, however, was a fixable problem. It would only take time. Coincidentally, time was now the only thing that seemed to stir any flicker of fear in him regarding Sakura.

The fear that time will, like it erodes everything else, slowly wear away my feelings for him… utter foolishness. He hadn’t spoken the fear aloud, not directly, but Sakura knew it all the same. She felt it, in the way he looked at her when she laughed at Rias' jokes, when she whispered secrets with Akeno.

She glanced down at her right hand, the image of the Red Gauntlet momentarily superimposed over her skin, its green jewel pulsing faintly.

{Boost!}

Time, after all, by its very definition, could not erode a perpetual motion machine. And this one? This one was built to love her brother better and better until the universe itself met its end in a Big Freeze, a Big Rip, a Big Crunch, a Big Bounce, a Big Slurp, or whatever other Big Thing could be theorized—

And beyond.

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There's something wrong.

The thought hammered against my skull like a nail.

Sakura walked ahead, throwing a smile over her shoulder—a smile that crumpled into worry the moment she saw my face.

There's something wrong.

My left eye had begun to itch, not around it, but inside it, as if a dozen hyperactive fire ants had decided to tap dance right on my retina.

I scanned the crowd, cursing the fact that at least ten percent of the fuckers here had anime hair. It made it hard to distinguish who was important and who was not, unlike in other similar settings. What kind of bullshit went wrong in the genetic code—

The itching intensified, becoming almost unbearable. It took all my willpower not to claw my eye out.

"Nii-san? Nii-san?!"

Sakura's voice cut through the buzzing in my ears, but I couldn't focus on her. I couldn't focus on anything.

It was as if my left and right eyes were seeing completely different realities.

With my left eye, I saw a white-haired, four-armed man bursting from the crowd, two of his arms being normal, the other two being silver and metallic, emerging from his back. Each arm gripped a sword, and he swung them towards Sakura.

With my right eye, I saw Sakura kneeling beside me, saying something, I heard something, but I couldn't make out the words over the image of Sakura’s blood that stained my left eye—

Bleeding, bleeding as she desperately tried to protected me, bleeding, bleeding as she fought against a foe far beyond her, bleeding, her very life bleeding out of her body.

Something exploded, and I whipped my head to the left, where the sound had originated. There was the same white-haired man, but he was now sitting calmly at an outdoor cafe, one hand holding a cup of coffee, the other resting on the handle of what I presumed was a sword.

I say presumed, as the handle was all that was left. The ground was littered with shards of what I hazarded had been the blade.

Either way—I cared not.

"You."

I had never hated anyone more, in either my past or current life. Never despised anyone more. Never wished death so vehemently on anyone.

"Me."

The Artificial Human, Siegfried, smiled. He raised his coffee cup, as if offering a toast.

Shinji Asutaroto uttered only a single sentence in return.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you."