Rhea and Ryuji walked side by side through ruined streets under the night sky. The air still smelt burnt and probably would for some time considering the still smoldering hole next to the city. Ryuji had to hand it to the Commander. He had never seen destruction on a scale such as this.

'Even high gods might have trouble creating something as dangerous as that.'

He looked over to the beauty next to him. Even in the night, he could make out the fiery hair that reached her hip. She had come up to him at the party and requested that he follow her somewhere. The drunk him agreed readily, having impure thoughts. Now that the drink was starting to wear off, he was wondering where exactly they were heading.

"Um, Rhea?"

"Yes?" She looked at him with her head cocked inquisitively.

"What are we doing?"

"Oh right! I didn't tell you, did I? My bad..."

He felt like he practically could hear her blushing. "It's not that big of a deal. Any guy would be stupid to turn down a secret rendezvous with you."

He felt a light punch graze his arm. "Jeez, how am I supposed to respond to that?" She didn't seem uncomfortable, but she definitely didn't sound pleased by his comment.

'Did she punch me trying to imitate Jessy and Queen? Cuuuuuute~.' With his inherent thoughts out of the way, he focused on the path they were taking and how he recognized it despite the destruction. And sure enough, after a few more minutes, they arrived at the villa they were staying at. The place wasn't nearly as decimated as the rest of the city, thanks to it being on the outskirts. In fact, the only thing wrong was how all the windows were shattered.

"What are we doing here?"

"It was so chaotic yesterday that I never got to get around to it, but I got you a gift."

Ryuji was moved. 'How long has it been since I've gotten a gift from a friend? A gift that wasn't a prank! Wait, it surely can't be a prank, right? Rhea's too nice...right?' Absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't notice Rhea entering the building. Shaking his head, he entered in after her.

"Wait here."

Rhea pointed at a chair, and Ryuji obligingly sat down. After a few moments, she returned with his gift, a sword. The sheath was fancy beyond belief. Gold adornings that resembled phoenix's taking flight ran up the side. The hilt held none of the fanciness the sheath did, but Ryuji could still tell how well crafted it was.

"I got this made just in case you actually came. Think of it as a present for passing the academy." She sounded off, and Ryuji couldn't figure out why. "Your sword broke, didn't it? Then this is perfect! I took a long look at your old one while you were asleep and studied it. I think the blacksmith did it right, and the metal it's made from is super hard, so I don't think you can break it."

Rhea's sentences kept running on, and Ryuji was worried she might make herself go into a tizzy, so he reached for the sword and took it. "Thank you." He wanted to sound respectful, but it came out a little too sullen. 'Huh, guess I miss that old thing I lugged around.'

When he woke up, his sword was only about an inch long. The explosion carried off any pieces that were lying about, and without those pieces, he could never hope to fix it.

With a careful touch, he unsheathed the blade. It was perfect. The metal was skillfully battered into the correct shape. Unlike his last one, there was no sign of breakage or weakness in the alloy. The ore itself looked to be the same as Rhea's armor, meaning this cost an arm and a leg. He tested out the sharpness on the battered fence outside. He didn't even have to do anything at all. Just laying the edge on the wood caused his sword to glide through it like butter.

"This is seriously amazing, Rhea! I love it!" Ryuji turned and looked at the nervous Rhea with eyes gleaming excitement. He was basically on the verge of tears from receiving his first sincere gift from a friend.

But instead of being ecstatic and happy like he thought she would be, Rhea seemed melancholic. "I'm glad." She seemed like she wanted to say something.

"What's up?" Ryuji sheathed his new sword and put it around his hip. He tried to seem as concerned as possible so that Rhea would crack.

"I'm sorry, Ryuji. I would've gotten you something nicer, but..."

"It's plenty nice, Rhea. I couldn't want something better than this, so don't be so hard on yourself."

"That's not it!" Rhea's scream startled him. "I didn't get you something nicer because... I didn't think you would show. I thought you were leading me on and that there was zero chance of you coming here. I didn't want to get my hopes up again. It wouldn't be the first time someone went back on their word. So I told myself I would just wait here for a few weeks before moving on."

His eyes narrowed after hearing the source of her outburst. He sighed. "Anyone would feel that way. It's only natural to doubt someone you don't know. I had my uncertainties that you wouldn't be here waiting, but here we are, together like we promised. So why don't you cheer up?" He tried smiling for her, but she was too busy looking off towards the fire from the party.

"Ryuji, you're amazing. So amazing that I find it hard to believe you're the same man I met a year ago." She sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "The day after we reunite, you have to face some of the most terrifying people in the world. And what did you do? You smiled and took charge! You even came up with a plan that gave you one of the most dangerous jobs!" Rhea stopped and breathed for a moment before letting out a self-deprecative laugh. "Meanwhile, look at me. I'm the Sword Saint, a bastion of strength, and all I could do was barely win my fight. I let my pride get the better of me, and because of that, someone close to me is dead." She let her words hang in the air, stiffening the atmosphere before continuing. "A man I hardly know, A man I thought would abandon me, A man I thought was near worthless is now the only reason I can stand here and have this conversation. Not only that, but he managed to convince three people to come with him despite the dangers that occur because of me." She clutched her chest with a pained face. "I feel a shame so deep in my heart that just looking at you is enough to make me want to vomit."

Ryuji looked around, uninterested, before resting his eyes back on her. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"...Yes."

"Then let's make one thing clear." Ryuji breathed in deeply while Rhea was wincing in anticipation. "Everything you said was true."

"Huh!?"

"I was debating pretty heavily about halfway through the academy whether I should just get up and leave or not. Every day, I was beaten black and blue in my mind and then made to study. My teacher was an asshat and didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. I was forced into a tournament that made everyone see just how pathetic I was, and I almost ended up in tears over it. Needless to say, I was not having fun. If my three teammates weren't girls and we weren't living together, I probably would have quit."

Rhea said nothing at Ryuji's admittance of being a lowlife.

"As for abandoning you, the only reason I didn't is that you're attractive. Super duper ultra attractive. If you weren't a bombshell beauty, I definitely wouldn't of come here. I would've made up some excuse to take a few extra weeks on the road, come here and then realize you had already left, then act like I was super upset before moving on and doing something else."

Ryuji mulled over the rest of what she had said.

"As for the three who came here with me, let me just say that I got blessed, and that's about it. I'm not amazing. The only thing that could be called amazing is that I somehow lucked into the only three people in the world who would be willing to adventure with me. Now moving on to how I performed so fearless the other day. That was a complete act. Truth be told, I was ready to piss my pants and run for the hills crying. The only reason I didn't is that I wanted to look cool. So yeah, everything you said pretty much sums me up perfectly."

Rhea said nothing at the end of Ryuji's speech. She seemed at a loss for words and possibly upset about the things he told her. Just when Ryuji was about to attempt another dialogue, a voice cut in.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Ryuji and Rhea both turned to see Jong and Rosey eyeing them scrupulously. "What are you guys doing at Rory's house?"

"Ah, Rhea was just retrieving something she left in here."

"Is that so?" Rosey looked as if she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, but for whatever reason, she didn't pry any further. Jong remained quiet and wouldn't even meet his gaze.

"Wait a second!" The pair was turning around to head somewhere else when Ryuji called out to them. "Rhea, wasn't there something you needed to talk to Rory about?"

"Huh? ...Well yeah, but he's..."

"Then can you tell them what it was about? It seemed pretty important, and thinking about it logically, any business left undone by Rory would pass down to his companions, right?" Ryuji looked over to the two, and Rosey simply nodded.

"True enough, please tell us, and we'll help."

Rhea seemed reluctant, but after seeing Rosey's resolve, she spoke. "Rory and I were going to be assigned a unique duty. I had come to this city, in part because of Ryuji, but also to discuss the matter with Rory in more detail. We were commissioned by the world conference to deal with the growing threat of the Freiheit cult."

The name hung in the air. Ryuji audibly gulped upon hearing it. Rosey also looked conflicted but nodded after a second. Ryuji had no idea why the name stung him so much. This wasn't the first time he had heard of them, seeing as though they're considerably famous, but for some reason, hearing about them now made him shiver.

"Are they really such a big problem that the world has to use two of the strongest people they have to deal with them?" Ryuji voiced his doubts, and Rosey looked like she reciprocated them. Jong was still listless and hadn't said a word or moved.

"The god they follow is apparently very real and very strong. The amount of havoc they've been causing has also frantically started to pick up. If something isn't done about them soon, they're bound to cause a calamity."

Both Ryuji and Rosey stayed silent while looking at the cityscape. Needless to say, they both were pretty sure they never wanted to witness a calamity again.

"Well, I suppose it's our duty to help you with that endeavor then. If we run into the cult, we'll do our best to exterminate as many as possible."

Rhea slowly nodded with concerned eyes, and once again, the pair made their move to walk off, and once again, Ryuji stopped them. "Wait. You guys will be in serious trouble if you run into them alone, not to mention your party doesn't have a leader anymore." Rosey's face cringed when he mentioned the vacant seat in their party. "So how about you guys join us!" Ryuji extended his hand towards her.

"What..."

Rosey was dumbstruck and just stared at his hand without moving. Rhea appeared much the same way, but after a few seconds, she snapped out of it.

"It would be my pleasure to look after the pupils of my colleague. I implore you to join us."

"..."

Rosey simply stared at both of them before looking at the man holding her. She rubbed his hair with a thoughtful look before reaching her hand out and firmly grasping Ryuji's. "We would love to. The thing is, we have to go and get the other two who went on ahead. We also want to stay here for an extra week to... process." Rosey turned her gaze back to Jong after speaking that last word.

Ryuji nodded and grabbed Rhea's hand. "Well, then we'll be out of your hair! See you tomorrow!"

"S-See you!"

Without much warning, Ryuji dragged Rhea away. They both waved their goodbyes and quickly departed. It was only after a few minutes of fast-paced walking that Ryuji realized he was still holding Rhea's hand.

'Have I done this before? I don't think I have, but all those different worlds make it kind of confusing.' His thoughts raged on, and after a while, he decided to focus on the contact. Her hand was roughly calloused. His was no different considering all the harsh sword training he went through, but hers was a different story altogether. It was like her hand had been carved from mountains. Not only were they more calloused than his, but her hands were significantly more muscular. He was sure that if she wanted to, she could crush stone without any use of magic. He was getting more and more embarrassed by the minute, but he still stubbornly refused to let go.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rhea, on the other hand, was even more embarrassed. She couldn't remember a time when someone had been this straightforward with her, and she also couldn't remember a time that she had yelled at someone she liked before. She was super nervous that Ryuji would announce that he was already fed up with her, but apparently he fully agreed with her assessment of him.

"Hey, Ryuji?"

"Hm?"

He answered without looking back at her.

"Why are you still holding my hand?"

"Ah."

Without any fuss, he instantly released his gentle grip and put his hands back at his sides. Rhea strode up next to him so they could walk beside each other when she noticed his face. It was red. From his ears to his cheeks, he was crimson. Rhea panicked.

'Did I do something? Did I embarrass him somehow!?' Rhea thought back to the events of earlier and remembered him holding the gunslinger's hand as well. 'Maybe he really likes holding his friend's hands. And I suddenly called him out on it! No wonder he's so embarrassed. What should I do!?' Rhea looked down at the hands hanging at his waist and reached to one with her own.

"!?"

His head swiveled to see Rhea looking out to the distance peacefully. Her fingers entwined with his and squeezed softly. The hands that could crush stone were paying his hand extra care and mind.

The truth was Rhea was so thoroughly embarrassed she couldn't look him in the eye. If Ryuji was a girl, she might have been able to do it, but Ryuji was the first male friend she had ever made, and as such, she had no idea what to do.

Her anxieties were catching up to her until she felt a light squeeze from Ryuji. His hands were completely calloused and reminded her of all the grueling training he must have gone through. Rhea herself had never trained too much. There wasn't much of a reason when you were born to be the best. But considering his training, she thought Ryuji's hands were abnormally soft, or maybe everyone's hands were smooth, and hers were just abnormally hard?

"Hey, Ryuji?"

"...Yeah?"

His voice was quiet and distant. It was like he didn't want to disturb the moment any more than he had to. Rhea didn't particularly know what she wanted to ask or why she spoke up in the first place, but the words flowed out of her mouth without any thought.

"Are you going to be there in the morning? Are we going to be friends tomorrow? You won't just disappear, right? You're not mad, right?" She was deathly scared that what she said earlier had offended him and that he was just too nice to get openly upset at her. She fully expected him to learn his lesson after yesterday and ditch her before he got caught up in something else.

"I'm happy for the first time in my life. Why would I leave that?"

His words caused Rhea's throat to seize. She felt warm tears cling to the corners of her eyes and whispered.

"Me too."