That Person. Later on...

Hey people, here are two chapters… I thought it would probably be cruel if I just gave you one chapter and not this one, so without further ado, enjoy!

As always thanks for your comments and feedback.

Original:

The next day…

Three days later…

…….

…………….

The morning, five days later…

I'm fully recovered!! How could it be?! I'm completely recovered!! How to say it, I feel refreshed!! I feel invigorated!! Was the world this beautiful?! The chirp of the birds feel nice!!

… I got my tension a little up… I'm sorry…

But I cried a lot that day, I was feeling like an empty shell up until now but now I feel refreshed. I'm not just putting up a brave face!! … Let's calm down a little…

Fuuu… I can think calmly now. The thing about Aria was certainly shocking… If I just were to think whether to forgive her or not, obviously I wouldn't be able to forgive her. But I also don't plan on condemning her. Or rather, I don't think that I have the right to condemn her. The me of that time was just being a coward wating for her return from a safe place, and I even flee from that place afterwards. So what could I say now… Aria blamed herself but I think that's just the natural result, a result I think I let happen.

If at that time I had jumped out and said something, maybe something might have changed…

Or even if I had forcefully tagged along with them when they went to defeat the Demon Lord, it could have gone well too…

There's no end to thinking like that. In the end, I can't change the past. In reality, Aria is not by my side, and I'm not at Aria's side. This is the truth.

Now that I think about it, an older girl that lived in my neibourhood said once…

'The first love always fails… But because that is the first person you ever love… That person becomes unforgettable…' Or something like that…

I think I can understand the meaning of those words a little more. I probably won't ever forget Aria… But that will not be because I still love her… I will simply exist as a memory. Mine and Aria's path will never cross like that again…

I think I'm able to think like that thanks to meeting the girls, being with them, and because I made a promise with them.

Sarona's, Tata's, Naminissa's, Narelina's, Haosui's, Kagane's, Mao's…

I wonder if receiving their feelings of love to me made my heart stronger… No, that's not right, is their presence what supports my heart. I can feel the love they give me in my heart.

Severely, tenderly, kindly, sublimely, sternly, bravely facing fowards.

It warmly heals my heart…

Aria will live together with Hero-sama, and I will live together with the girls.

This is the path that Aria walks. I'm can easily accept that and thus, I feel like some weight got lifted up from my heart…

I raise my body after having slept all this time. I think my body got stiff because I can hear my joints cracking. Well it can't be helped since I have been wrapped up on the bed all this time. I make some slight stretches, get down the bed and change into my usual clothes.

While I was changing, I remember what happened in the last four days.

At that time I loudly cried my heart out but thanks to the isolation barrier Naminissa placed, it didn't leaked outside. Well, if it had leaked out I wouldn't be able to leave this room from the shame, so I'm grateful. And I also should thank the girls for taking turns at staying with me. Having someone near was really reassuring and I'm glad for it.

And that's what I want to say to them but, there's nobody here. I'm effectively alone right now. Eh? Even Meru isn't here. I want to caress her a lot!! The feel of Meru's skin is indisputably the thing that gives my heart stability the most… Where could she have gone? I desire Meru right now.

When I finished changing, I leave the room and from the living room downstairs I can hear voices so I go down the stairs and enter the living room. What comes to my eyes is the sight of the girls surrounding the table talking about something with serious faces. And over the table there is a banner standing, and that banner says:

[46th Hero's Party destruction meeting]

That's what it said. I can tell that some words were strongly written… I understand that but, what does it mean? Haven't they realize that I just entered the room? And I can hear the contents of their… meeting?

"No matter how I think about it, if we kill them normally, our feelings won't subside."

"You're right… It has to be the most gruesome and miserable death possible or…"

"And to do that we need to think of several ways to proceed."

"I see… Won't tearing their four limbs and throw them out do?"

"… That's too tepid…"

"Then how about stripping the hero nude, make him wear woman's underwear and have him walk around downtown?"

"And we can then hang him from a signboard with the legend 'I get sexually aroused when I wear woman's underwear and get looked at with scornful eyes'"

"""I like that!!"""

What on earth are you girls talking about?

I can't keep looking at them having that kind of conversation so I call out to them.

"Uhm… Good morning, everybody."

"""!!"""

The moment I say that, all of them get up their seats and gather around me… And with cheerful faces and shedding tears the greet me with a hug. I feel their warmth in my skin and realize something warm that resides in my heart starts burning. I also spread my arms wide and hug them back. And when I do that, Meru flies to my head and rides it as if claiming 'this place belongs to me', so I stroke her skin.

Ahh~… I'm feeling healed~…

——-

Author's notes: In some way, from here on is a "Restart"!!

We finally made it up to here… (-_-;)

When I started I never thought it would take this much. (-_-;)

193 (Soon)