Nicole took a deep breath.
Kairos’ eyebrow couldn’t help but twitch, as he felt a strange foreboding sensation.
Without warning, Nicole suddenly spoke up.
“You… really are a good person. There’s no way you could be inferior to me.”
Kairos responded almost instinctively.
“I don’t even have anything good about me.”
Nicole seemed personally offended, even when he was talking about himself.
“That’s not true! It’s not!”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“…And how can you be so sure of that?”
Nicole pulled him a little closer.
“You are way smarter than I could be, with how you just seem to know so many things.”
Kairos couldn’t help but interject.
“That’s because you’re an airhead.”
Nicole giggled.
“That’s why you can’t be inferior to me! Plus… you’re so much stronger than me.”
She continued shaking him, almost like Kairos was actually a vending machine and the snack she bought wasn’t falling.
“Plus you always planned things so well. When I forced you to go on trips with me, you were always the one that remembered what we would have needed. I still haven’t forgotten when we went camping, got lost, and you were the only one with a phone!”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“…I think it’s more like you are forgetful.”
Nicole smiled.
“Not to mention, you were always so brave!”
Kairos tilted his head to the side.
“Well… I wouldn’t say that.”
There was a strange serious undertone when he said that, but Nicole didn’t catch on to that, thinking he was just denying it for the sake of doing so.
She continued on, as excited as ever, almost like she was praising her own achievements rather than someone else’s.
“Somehow you always remain calm no matter how scary it looks! And even crazier, is how everything always looks like it’s under your control, almost like you can see into the future!”
Kairos’ face twitched, though he didn’t say anything.
Nicole got completely lost in her ramblings.
“And you were always a natural leader! Even when we were just children and had no idea what we were doing. It just seemed like whenever there was a decision to be made, everybody turned to you.”
She scratched the side of her head.
“I-I almost thought that as you grew up, that side of you disappeared…”
She then smiled brightly.
“But it’s still you! With your lead, we were able to fight back against the monsters instead of helplessly dying to them.”
Kairos opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, Nicole cut him off.
“And you are always so kind, tolerating people’s mistakes. And despite being so harsh to people verbally, you’re always looking out for them.”
Kairos was waiting for a point to cut in, but Nicole really just wouldn’t stop.
“And even though you prefer being distanced from people, you are willing to close that distance when they need comforting. Oh, and you always know how people are feeling! And you always respect that people may have been acting more on their emotions than rational thought!”
Kairos got a little distracted when he heard the last part, wondering when Nicole had noticed that. At that time, the words she said began to start sounding a little strange.
“And your hair feels so soft that I just want to rub it all the time, but I can’t really because I’m too embarrassed to. And your eyes are so sparkly, it makes like I’m staring into a starry sky when it’s the middle of the day. And you’re also so warm, especially when I wrap my arm around your shoulder, making me feel like I’m at home when we’re outside!”
Kairos shook his head, breaking out of his stupor.
“Stop, sto-”
Nicole didn’t seem to hear him.
“And you look really cool when you adjust your glasses!”
For both of their sakes, Kairos did his best to try and wake Nicole out of her strange state.
“I get it! So jus-”
Nicole seemed to forget he was there.
“And you smell really really nice even when you’re all muddy!”
Kairos began shaking Nicole rather violently.
“Nicoleeeeeeeeee!”
She had difficulty speaking, yet didn’t really realize that.
“And when I held onto your shoulder, I would always sneak my hand in to touch your chest because it tur-”
“NICOLE!”
Kairos screamed rather loudly, which finally broke her out of her stupor.
Nicole blinked a few times and was taking in deep breaths as though to make up for all the words she expelled. At first, she didn’t really comprehend what was happening, but it did not take long for her face to flush red.
Kairos wished that he took a more forceful approach before it came to this, but he was also too afraid of hurting her, even if he could stop himself after seeing the results in his future vision.
Though, what surprised him was that Nicole didn’t look away from him despite obviously being incredibly embarrassed.
Instead, she looked up at him and smiled.
“So… that’s why you can’t be inferior to me. And… also why I love you.”
Kairos chuckled.
“I guess if you say all that, then I have to accept it.”
He took a deep breath.
“If you really are willing to say all of that unabashedly… then I guess I have to say it.”
The corner of his lip turned up.
“I love you too.”
Nicole immediately threw herself at him, hugging him as tight as she could. Kairos still didn’t feel that comfortable with a hug, but there was a part of him that relaxed, which made it not as bad.
The hug made him feel claustrophobic, which was how hugs always made him feel. However, it was also a little warm.
Nicole whispered in his ear.
“I’m so glad…”
Kairos let out a soft sigh.
“But…”
He pushed her a little back so that he could look at her face.
“It’s not really a good time to have a relationship. There are still too many things to deal with, especially with the apocalypse and all.”
Nicole looked at him with a bit of confusion.
“Eh? But… we have these walls right? And there doesn’t seem to be a problem with food or water either…”
Kairos shook his head.
“It’s a little more complicated than that. Frankly, the situation is far better than one should expect in an apocalypse. However, there are still many holes that need to be taken care of. Honestly, with the way the city is now, it will probably only last a month before the people working the farms won’t be able to take it anymore.”
Nicole scratched the side of her face, still slightly confused.
“O-Oh. I still don’t really understand, but I guess it’s not a good time…”
Kairos nodded.
“Sorry. For now, let’s just keep it as friends. When the situation begins to calm down a little and we don’t have to worry about fighting, then maybe we can think about something else.”
Nicole pressed her lips together.
“Alright. I will work hard on becoming stronger in the meantime.”
She definitely looked dissatisfied, but was understanding that the situation wasn’t the best for a relationship.
Kairos patted her head.
“Thanks.”
Nicole slowly got closer and hugged him once more.
“But… I still want some hugs every so often, ok?”
Kairos’ face twitched.
“…Ok.”
Then, he also wrapped his arms around her.
“Ah, this was where you were!”
Out of nowhere, Tiana appeared, with one hand on the door. Her expression was quite serious.
“Sorry that you’re in the middle of something, but I need your help. Something seems to be attacking the city.”
Kairos similarly put on a serious expression. He would’ve expected Tiana to at least tease him about it, but it seemed like she really wasn’t in the mood for it right now.
He let go of Nicole, picked up his spear, and rushed out. While trying not to slip on the ice, Nicole called out from behind.
“S-Should I help?”
Kairos focused on running, but still took the time to respond.
“You are too weak to contribute personally, but you can try watching from a higher floor to get a better idea of how battles go.”
Nicole slipped on the ice, but caught onto the side of the door before she fell.
“A-Ah, I got it!”
Kairos caught up with Tiana and asked as he ran.
“What’s the situation?”
She clicked her tongue in response.
“For some reason, there’s a swarm of them being led by these giant ones rushing over to the city wall.”
Kairos smiled bitterly.
“Seems like it was bad timing to exercise. At least my stamina wasn’t hit too badly.”
Tiana sighed.
“I imagine you are going to be using your spells mostly in this situation, to be honest.”
Kairos nodded.
“Alright. Should we get some other people to help?”
Tiana pressed her lips together.
“I don’t think anyone else will be that much of a help, but I called the other people you brought to. In fact, they are up ahead right now.”
Kairos saw a few faces he hadn’t seen in a while up ahead.
Eric was running forth, but spun around to flash him a smile, running backwards. His striking white hair moved around in the wind, while he was still twirling the ball on a string in his hand.
“Hey, after this you gotta listen to one of our newest songs!”
After saying that, he turned back around and continued moving forward.
Nick looked over his shoulder, flicking his green hair to the side, and waved using his microphone stand.
“Seriously, it’s an actual banger.”
Jenny chuckled, turning to the side, causing her long blue hair to swish to the side. She stuck her tongue out slightly while playing with the paddleball, and stuck out one hand in the shape of a handgun.
“It’s a song that inspired us to rise in rank!”
Kairos let out a soft sigh.
“Maybe for a little bit!”
As he was running, he noticed a familiar old man working on a farm. It was Ling’s grandfather. When he watched the others rushing forth, he almost looked like he was going to join them, but ended up stopping.
It seemed as though he didn’t have the will to fight anymore. And as such, he continued to tend to the farm he was working on.
In the distance, deep and loud roars resounded, loud enough to be heard throughout most of the city.
Quite a few of the people tending to the farms were shaken up, freezing in place. They were quite afraid because they had never heard something like that before.
Kairos furrowed his brows.
“Do you think that monsters might be attracted to a large number of people clustered together?”
Tiana frowned.
“…This isn’t the first time I had to fend off monster attacks, so maybe. If that’s the case, then this will probably be a huge pain for a long time.”
As they got closer to the wall, part of it expanded outwards to make a rough staircase. The individual steps were much taller than all of their actual heights, but it was still more than enough for people with their kind of stats.
Kairos and the others hopped up with them, while above them Tori was carrying Chase, and flying through the sky with her wings. They landed on the top of the walls, while the rest got next to them right after.
Then, everybody got to take a look at exactly what they were facing.
Nick muttered to himself, with a finger on his chin.
“Crap… this reminds me of that one anime. Was it Assault on Titan?”
There was a large swarm of monsters, numbering to be at minimum a few thousand. In front were three massive monsters, each at the height of ten meters.
Eric let out a whistle.
“What do these things eat to grow like that?”
Tiana sighed.
“Well, I’m not letting them eat the people in the city.”