CHAPTER 20: DATE NIGHT P2
~20.2~
*****
“Came up with a Japanese name yourself, eh?”
“I did! Do you like it?”
“It’s very cute!”
Everyone’s eyes widened, except those that already knew. Kye explained the situation that had just wrapped up, starting with the part where she had kids. She told them about adopting Kaede, then having Rei and Joey, Adele and Michelle having the redhead trio, and Liliana and Aliana having three between them. She withheld her pregnancy, but told them about the kidnapping, which came as a huge shock given how unprecedented crime was in the empire.
Everyone could see the sword shaped void in the mountain and giant hole on the other side of the mountains caused by Allison’s Severance and Rune of Annihilation attacks. Even the older royals had forgotten just how absurdly strong Allison was, so finding out she did those things herself really reinforced the message she gave at the start of every school year.
Kye and her family were in the void during Allison’s display of power. When Layla showed Kye the footage of the fight, she admitted that even she had a hard time believing it.
“Allison really is strong, huh?” Kye said with a smile.
“Yeah, but momma is stronger!” Joey cheered. “Just wait!”
Many girls started fangirling over Joey. “She’s precious!” “She’s so adorable!” “Look, she’s sticking up for her mom!”
Meanwhile, the boys were making their own comments. “She’s a mom?” “Holy shit.” “Who’s the father?” “Wait, she’s married to girls!”
Alethea froze upon hearing that last part.
Please no!
“Hey, how did that happen? You’re all girls! Did she ch-”
Alethea snapped out of it. “Don’t you dare say my beautiful Shi-chan cheated! She would never do such a thing!”
Kye and Michelle were trying to wade their way through the crowd of girls to come to Alethea’s rescue. Adele was frozen in place.
“But how could that even happen?”
“We aren’t dumb, Alethea. There’s gotta be a father. But you’re all girls!”
Alethea couldn’t stand them questioning whether or not Kye cheated on her and blurted it out. “It was me! She didn’t cheat on me! She had Rei and Kana with me! I’m the biological f-”
Kye finally got to her and clapped her hand over Alethea’s mouth. “Hey hey hey, you don’t want to say the ‘f’ word.”
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“Everyone else, you’re prying too much!” Michelle said. “Kye has explained enough, you don’t need to know-”
“But it’s too late,” said Colton, their classmate. “Alethea already said it. But, that’s alright.” He stepped closer, looking Alethea in the eyes. “What you were born with does not define who you are. All I see is a very beautiful girl, and I’m sure everyone here will say the same.” Several cheered.
Adele sighed and added, “And some of you should remember about me, too. I started my first year with a different name, you know.”
Everyone was shocked. They had grown so used to Adele and had forgotten she had transitioned in her first year.
“Indeed,” Colton said. “I remember, but all the same, I see only a beautiful girl. You both have my support, Lady Alethea and Lady Adele.” He smiled. “My little sister is like you.”
Alethea and Adele were taken aback with Colton. They wanted to meet his sister.
*****
On the day of the battle, a bright blue light had blinded everyone for hundreds of miles. By the time the light faded, all that was left was a gigantic crater where the beast once stood. Earth was pushed up around the edges and stopped the sea from flooding in. Half the mountain range was caught in the attack and was just... gone. Nothing was left in the area except Allison and Seijin Shichi.
Allison looked on at the crater she created. “Damn. And I was trying to avoid rewriting the map too much.”
“You don’t know the definition of restraint when you use your Radiance.”
“Hush. That was an SS-Class, and it could’ve been much worse.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we’re done here. Go get some rest. I’ll be ready anytime you need me.”
“Thanks, Seiko.”
*****
After she basically announced to all seven of her classes about her kids, Kye let Joey stay to watch the class. Putting all the classes in one place was not typical, but she just didn’t want to have to explain everything she wanted to explain more than once, much less seven times. But how did she get around the normal school schedule? She had them come after their last class of the day.
Using the aftermath of the battle, she meant to spread the word that even if someone discovers how to commit a crime within the empire, that it would not go unpunished. The students cheered when she finished the story. Rei was recovered and the bad guy’s plot was destroyed.
After the large class, Kye had other things in mind. She wanted a short reprieve from everything. Normally, a person would spend their weekend relaxing, but she had too much work to catch up on after the battle. And what little free time she had over the weekend was spent with the kids.
“Hey, wanna go for a date night?” Kye whispered to Alethea when they returned to their residence in the Arslade palace. Alethea beamed and hugged her. “Can I take that as a yes?”
“Of course!” The pink-haired girl was all smiles. “I love you, Shi-chan. Where do you want to go?”
“Is there any place you’d like to go? I have a few places in mind, if not.”
“Hmm...” Alethea held her hand to her chin and made the stereotypical “thinking” face. “Somewhere new. I wanna see a planet I haven’t been to yet.”
Kye swiped a hand around in the air and pulled up a few of the ideas she was considering. “So, one place is-”
“Elea!” she said with a slight cheer. “I haven’t been there, other than that one meeting room and your residence in the church. That planet is civilized, right?”
“Yeah, they’ve got a bunch of places.” Kye sent a picture to her over the NeuraPhone. “What do you think of this place?”
Alethea opened the picture and saw a large tree with houses and other places built right on it, all up and down the trunk. “Oh, that’s scenic.”
“That’s a nation of cat people. I haven’t eaten there before, since I haven’t really been around Elea much yet myself, but both the church folks and the vampires I met told me I should go eat there at least once.” Kye smiled while making pretend cat ears with her hands. “Whadaya think?”
Alethea smiled. “That sounds great! Let’s go!”
*****
Revision: 2024-7-26