"Oh." Cecily was the first to see me fresh out the shower, "You shaved your head."

"Well, not like I could make my previous look work anyways." I scratched my nose, "But don't worry, now that I cut everything to an equal level, it should grow back to looking normal in a couple weeks."

"I didn't mean anything by what I said, rather..." She looked around to make sure no one was around before inching ever closer to me, "Is this really real? I dunno, this all still feels like a dream to finally see you in front of me again."

"Well, I at least feel real." I shrugged.

"Can I...? N-No, sorry, you should rest." She hesitated.

"Aww, go on." I smiled, "Just say what you wanna say, don't hold back."

"Right, okay..." She puffed her cheeks out as they glew a healthy Red color, all the while putting her arms out vigorously, "C-Can we hug?"

"Do you even have to ask?" I smirked, "Alright then, one hug coming right up!"

Holding her close to me felt like usual. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me, who still feels like he last saw her about a week ago, but for her this must mean a whole heck of a lot more in comparison. I gotta remember that it's been 3 years at the very least until she last even got hugged by me, which explains how tightly she's holding on.

"Real enough for you?" I petted her hair gently as she kept hugging for at least 10 mississippis, "Any other wishes I can fulfill?"

"A kiss?" She looked into my Eyes expectantly.

"Of course." I felt it inappropriate to wise crack any more in this situation, so I pursed my lips as I closed my Eyes when...

"A-Actually, no!" She squirmed away in the last second, "T-This is, hoowee... Uhh, man this is awkward, but..."

"What's wrong?" I asked, wondering what I did wrong.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Lune, but..." She turned her face away as she stiffly distanced herself from me, "I'm not saying it's your fault, but I guess your breath kind of started to stink a bit after being dead for 3 years."

"...What?" I bit into my forearm lightly before sniffing it, "Eugh! What the-!? It smells like death!"

"Y-Yeah..." She then hastily corrected herself, "B-But don't worry! I'm sure it's nothing some toothpaste can't fix soon! But until then, I guess we'll have to wait."

"Oof, yeah." I stuttered a bit, "Sorry for almost putting you through that..."

"No, don't worry." She then recalled, "Oh, but your appearance is cool now that you got all those old withered locks cut. Not to mention you're no longer covered in seaweed, so that's good!"

"You don't gotta sugarcoat it..." I quietly sobbed, "Sniffle, no! I refuse to give up! From now on, I'm gonna brush my teeth until they bleed!"

"As a medical professional, though not specialized in dentistry, I can still say with confidence that that will only make your gums recede." Ed popped his head out of the corner of the hallway before walking past us, "That being said, I'm gonna go take a shower now, so whatever you do, do it later."

"Oh, so you're finally a doctor now?" I clapped before running in front, "A-Actually, eff that! I gotta brush my teeth, so wait a minute!"

"Dude, my shower's more important than your damned dentures!" He got fussy before moving me aside, "Besides, they can't be that-OH MY DAYS!"

Cutting him off as he was just about to shut the door on me, I opened my mouth wide open to reveal the horrors that dwelled inside. That was probably enough to convince him that my priorities are just, but I went above and beyond by even breathing out directly into his face, making it scrunch up before he fell flat on his back unconscious. That's of course when his sister just so happened to be strolling by to see all this unfurl.

"Y-You ARE the grim reaper!" She shouted, "Brother, no! I knew this was a bad idea...!"

"Oh quiet, you." The White haired girl accompanying her seemingly everywhere bonked her on the head to calm her down, "Apologize to mister Grimheart right now, missy! This is his house you're staying in for the time being, after all."

"Oh, it's fine. We never really got along that well anyways." I smugly waved at her from across the hallway as she hissed back, "But anyways, you can just call me Lune. Miss...?"

"Othelia." She gladly shook my hand with an overall confident tone, "Othelia Hermes, I'm traveling with Issei to help him go back home."

"That's so admirable!" I wanted to grin, but somehow managed to hide my abhorrent teeth in time, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Othelia. Well, a friend of Issei's is a friend of mine."

"Humu~" Cecily smirked a bit.

"What's got you so giddy?" I tilted my head at her.

"Oh, nothing." She then turned to Othelia with a nice cheeky grin, "Well, let's just say she's not JUST his friend."

"I-I was getting there, Cecily! Geez..." The girl blushed.

Oh, should I say I'm surprised at this development? So Issei and Othelia are together. How sweet, yet equally as unexpected. Of course, the moment she mentioned traveling the World with him, a guy, I had assumed at the very least him to be the one fawning over him, or something to that degree, but somehow Issei never struck me as someone who could find himself a girl that'd enjoy his presence for too long. Maybe he matured since we last talked all those years ago, or he stayed true to himself and found himself a girl who just enjoys him for who he is. No one knows, but I will say that I'm happy for them.

"Right, Issei and I are d-dating..." She explained, only for Issei to pop in and surprise all of us as he pulled her close over the shoulders.

"Yeah, so no more making fun of me for being uncharismatic!" He flaunted his taken status, "Oh, here's an idea. I wonder if this world does group dates?"

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

"Group dates?" We all tilted our heads at him.

"Yeah, it's kind of rare to have so many couples that are friends with each other, but when it does happen they usually go to like a festival or trip somewhere together. Well, it's more of a friendly outing, but you get to bring your special someone to boot! Not a bad deal, eh?"

"You couples can drop dead for all I care." Eleanor finally intervened, "Now, everyone get the hell out of the way! You're clogging up the damned hallway!"

"Looks like that's my cue!" Aru ran up the stairs before Eleanor nonchalantly pushed her down the stairs.

"No! No cue!" She yelled from the top of the staircase.

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***

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"........A-ha..." I cleared my throat as I continued off from our previous conversation with Cecily downstairs now, "S-She sure can get scary at times, huh? Will Aru be alright?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Cecily brushed the poor Goddess' pain off, "If she got hurt a measly fall down some stairs, then she wouldn't be a Goddess."

"Y-Yeah..." Aru sniffled on and on as Cene kept plastering her with bandaids, "T-This d-doesn't hurt a bit... Ugu..."

"Don't wowwy, Awoo." Cene patched her up splendidly, "Ah, I fowgot one last thing."

Reaching in, the kid actually stole a kiss on the cheek before giggling to himself, surprising both his parents and the Goddess herself. Damn, this kid's way too good for his age. What the hell have they been teaching him since I was gone?

"K-Kid, what was that just now?" The Goddess wiped away the spot where he kissed her.

"A kiss to the booboo makes it all bettew." He innocently recited before pointing to the person who taught him this, "Mom said so."

"But you didn't kiss her where she got wounded." I noted.

"Shut up!" He shot back, "A kiss to the booboo makes it all bettew!"

And so, the kid ran away to go play with his toys in the corner, only occasionally turning back to check if Aru wants to join him.

"Mother, teach that insolent brat some manners in regards to how he treats women." Aru demanded that much of Cecily.

"He didn't do anything bad, come on." Cecily rolled her Eyes, "Fine, I guess I'll tell him off."

"Nah, let me handle this." I thought up an idea.

"You?" They both seemed unsure, "You sure? He doesn't really fancy you all that much."

"Which is exactly why I should get to know him better." I figured, "Of course he'll be suspicious of some random guy who suddenly shows up and claims to be his dad. Anyone would be, so I'm very proud that he's being smart and wary."

I intentionally said that last part a bit louder than the rest of it to get his attention. Just as planned, he turned his head a bit and twitched his ears. Yeah, this kid's just like Nelly. I imagine this is because of Cecily giving them both a harsh upbringing, so all I need to do is give him some verbal loving and he'll be under my spell before bedtime! Muahahahaha!

"Yo!" I slid right next to him as he played with some wooden blocks on the ground, "Are ya' winning, son? Heh, always wanted to say that..."

"Hrm..." He groaned before turning his back on me, "I was until you showed up."

"Oof, nice burn." I didn't let that deter me as I grabbed one of the cubes, "Hm, y'know, this reminds me of my childhood. Dad used to chop your uncle Ed and I some wooden blocks just like these, and we used them to make all sorts of stuff."

"Youw dad?" He sounded at the very least faintly interested.

"Yeah, that's your grandpa." I smiled, "Y'know, when you frown like that, you really do look like him very much. Watch out though, everyone in the village began calling him Grim after seeing it."

"And that means...?" He sighed before turning back over to face me, gently putting the blocks away.

Yes, he's finally talking to me! Granted it doesn't seem like it's of his own volition, but a step is a step! Alright Lune, you got this! Kind readers, lend me your strength!

"It means someone who's always got a stick up his butt." I made a silly face as I explained, "Someone who always has his Eyes suuuuuper furrowed like this, almost to the point where you can't even see his Eyes from those bushy eyebrows of his."

"Pff!" My son finally laughed at me.

"Oh, another thing about him - He's the one who taught me how to use a sword. Y'know what that is?" I asked.

"Yeah, uncle Adam's swowd of justice!" He began swinging one of the sticks he had close to him around, "Fwoosh! Fwhop!"

"Haha, yeah, that's it!" I flicked the other tiny stick as I jokingly had a sword fight with him, "Your grandpa taught me all sorts of tricks with it, which really helped me with wooing your mother, y'know?"

"Hrm..." He immediately furrowed his brows just like his grandfather the moment I mentioned me being in a relationship with his mom. Dammit, and to think it was going so well until now! Sorry dad, I used up your strength for naught!

"A-Ah, what I meant to say was-!" I tried desperately to fix the situation.

"Yeah, that's enough for now." Cecily put her hand on my shoulder before telling me to call it quits for the night, "You did good for your first try. Still think taking care of a toddler is easy?"

"Geez, is this what you had to deal with when Nelly was his age?" I felt defeated like never before, "I knew faintly how difficult it was to connect with them, but now I for sure respect the ever-loving crap out of you for going through that on your own."

"Babysteps, dear." She patted me on the back in a half-mocking tone, "Babysteps."