"Alright, is everyone here?" Dad asked as our entire little neighborhood gathered around Issei's house to be, "Great, sorry to call you all on such short notice, but due to recent events we'll need your audience!"

"Dude, stop it..." Issei punched him on the shoulder.

"Ouch, ahem!" Dad continued anyways, "As you all know, the house being constructed right now is the future house of Issei, Othelia and Eleanor! As the house is being built by our own hands, we believe every brick placed deserves some level of celebration."

"Ah, so that's why he called us here for." Othelia groaned, "So the guys just wanted an excuse to celebrate, huh?"

"The first floor's construction has been finished, barring the actual interior." Dad smiled, "And since our dear Issei here wanted a mansion the size of three Grys Manors, it's simply logical to understand that we have gotten the majority of the tough part down!"

With this, everyone clapped and cheered, though none of us probably understood the effort that's actually being put into this. Of course building a giant manor in this empty ass field is something, but at this point we're all just being polite and hyping up their excitement.

"Now, we thought we deserved a break, and to use the situation while we're at it—Grim and I thought it'd be a good idea to celebrate with a banquet! So while Lem's running to town to order us our food and help with the delivery, let's set up some tables and chairs to run a grand feast!"

After hearing this though, the crowd erupted with honest cheers that would have completely drowned out the previous ones. It made the guys standing atop the house's second story feel kind of sad, but they pressed on nonetheless. And that's because...

"But then, just when Ed and I finished up our talk and went to inform Issei on the matter, Ed said he stumbled upon quite the sight." Dad alluded with a wry smirk.

"Oh no no no, Grim, I'm by no means the one that's supposed to be speaking right now." Uncle smugly put Issei in the spotlight, "Rather, let's hear it from the man himself!"

"I hate you two so much right now..." Issei grunted before awkwardly stepping forward, "E-Eh, ahah... L-Lovely evening, isn't it, folks?"

"Get off the stage!" Mama jokingly jeered, relieving a bit of the tension as everyone laughed.

"Just say it, Issei, come on!" Auntie Eleanor was practically jumping from the excitement.

"Fine, but you two have to come up here with me!" He angrily ordered, "Alright, hurry it up, we don't have all day... Ah, that step's still not done, so make sure not to fall through."

Standing next to him, the two girls embarrassed him once more by shamelessly wrapping themselves around both of his arms as he struggled to act properly in front of the crowd. With the deathly awkward silence surrounding him, he finally composed himself.

"Now I'm no Eggman, but I've come to make an announcement." He stated, "I have proposed to Eleanor and Othelia, and we plan to get married soon once the house is complete."

Just like that, a wide plethora of reactions came about. Firstly, I was wondering who this Eggman was. Some of the adults that already knew this announcement though, like auntie Anna and my grandparents all smiled warmly. And finally, there were those who didn't know anything about this, like mama.

"What!? When did this happen!?" She panicked, "Crap, I wouldn't have said anything if I knew this was such a serious matter!"

"Don't worry, you helped." He smiled, "That being the case, this isn't me asking for you guys to make a big deal out of it, but upon Ed's and Lune's advice, they thought I should properly tell everyone and make this a memorable evening for all, so here we are."

Nothing to celebrate? The guy just proposed to two beauties, announced the wedding will be held soon after their mansion is finished, and he just told everyone not to make a big deal out of it? I swear, do the people of Japan even know what marriage is? It's a HUGE deal, and I'm the one who caused it!

"Isn't it kinda rude for Lem to not be here though?" I whispered to auntie Anna.

"Yeah, I think so too..." She felt bad as well, "I guess you can go meet him halfway if you want. Since they said he'll be helping the deliverymen with bringing the food, you can speed up the process by helping out as well."

How does that work? I'm just one person, after all, and if we're hosting a full on feast, then I doubt having me carry like one platter will make a difference. Eh, I trust auntie, since she IS the head of the Arthur's global restaurant chain. Besides, it beats having to carry out the tables and chairs with everyone.

"Go on, I'll inform your mom and dad, so no need to worry." She winked, "And good luck!"

"Good luck? In what, finding him?" I tilted my head, "It's a straight shot to the city, I doubt we'll miss each other."

"No, sigh, not that..." She lightly facepalmed, "Just run along, okay?"

"Sure. We'll be back with the food soon!" I waved before running off.

Since it was late into the afternoon, heck practically evening by now, the Sun was starting to set and made the path ahead of me quite dark. Again, that doesn't change anything since it's a straight shot towards the city, but I'll admit it gives this moment a bit of a spooky feel. I ran to try and get to Lem as soon as possible at the start, but I quickly realized how idiotic I looked, so I slowed down soon after. If he's helping the deliverymen with the food, then I just can't imagine missing a crowd-

"Unf!" I bonked into someone ahead of me, falling back on my butt as I did, "S-Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"You idiot!" The annoyed voice replied, "The hell are you running so fast in this dark for!?"

Running? I wasn't running! Was I running? Now that I think about it, I did slow down partially, so why am I so winded even now? Don't tell me I subconsciously started running again, but then the question is why? Still, this damned upperclassman's voice will never fail to irritate me whenever I hear it... Wait, upperclassman?

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"Lem! Is that you!?"

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***

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"Who else would it be, shitass?" He angrily asked as he helped me get up, "And stop sitting on the dirt road, your clothes are getting dusty."

"Never mind that, where are the deliverymen?" I asked.

"Still making all the food we ordered." He pointed behind himself, "Did you honestly expect me to help them out? I already have my own job, I'm tired as is."

"Right, that's more like you." I giggled, "I was actually worried something happened to you when I heard you were working unpaid overtime. So my guess was right, after all."

That being said, we had turned ourselves around to go walk back home together. It's not like we can come back to help the deliverymen now that he's left them to do it themselves, so to avoid making any more problems, we can just go back home peacefully at our own pace. That's the correct move.

"What's the situation back there?" He asked.

"Issei proposed to Othelia and auntie, so they want to celebrate with a feast with everyone." I replied, "They didn't tell you?"

"Propose?" He scowled, "When'd he get the time to do that?"

"While he went to grab some water from the house." I explained with a bashful chuckle, "I kinda said some unnecessary things that kinda forced him to do it then, though."

"Again, you're the Eye of every storm, I see." He laughed, "First me, and now those three."

"What about you?" I asked honestly.

"You know what, you dope. The midnight tryst?" He alluded.

"You're still hung up on that?" I smirked, "You're such a kid."

"...Excuse me?" He glared, "Is whatever we're gonna be doing not something serious to be anxious about?"

"Is it? I was thinking about that earlier and..." I glanced back, "We're just friends who seem to have aligning interests, right? It's not something to make a fuss about, I mean—What's the big deal with sex anyways?"

"Am I seriously having this conversation right now?" He groaned, "Nel, I get you're pea-brained when it matters the most, but this is reaching a new level of stupid. Please enlighten me on the thought process behind this horrible ass take."

"Well, everyone hypes it up as some ultimate form of love." I reasoned, "But we're just friends, right? If friends can perform this so-called ultimate form of love, then I doubt it's all that in the first place. I'm telling you we'll just sneak away around midnight, do it once or twice to quell our curiosities, and move on like nothing ever happened. The lower your expectations, the less you'll be disappointed after, trust me."

At this, he was actually left speechless, only having the strength to give me a long, silent and baffled stare. Seriously, boys sure do cling to hope with all their might. He really wants to make a big deal out of this!

"Once or twice, she says..." He looked worried about me, "But it can't have that subtitle for no reason, can it? Aren't you worried that we'll become "more than just friends" after doing such a thing? D-Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's like, bad or anything-"

"Lem, you're making a big deal out of this." I looked him in the Eye, "In and out, 20 minute adventure, come on."

"Twenty minutes, she says... A-Ah wait, I see now! Yeah, for a second I almost fell for your trap, but I'm not dumb, you know!?" He finally gave a confidently smug reply, "You want me to lower my expectations, do you? In other words, underperform on my end, whilst simultaneously being lenient with your performance! You get your "girl rating" raised, AND you get bragging rights that you're better than me! A genius plan, but not genius enough for me!"

"Wrong, I'm being dead serious right now." I shook my head, "Lem, I don't love you, and I know I never will. You're an important friend to me, so I assumed you would be willing to fulfill this curiosity for me at least. But I see I was just pushing my own ideas onto you, so we don't have to do this if you don't want-"

"I want to!" He interrupted, "I really want to do it with you, so...!"

Huh? Geez, look at those desperate Eyes. And stop shouting so much, someone will hear and assume you mean me specifically. Read the mood, you idiot.

"Lem?" I asked as he grabbed my shoulders.

"Argh, you're twisting my words now!" He quickly took a step back, "Look, this entire stupid idea has been doing nothing but drag both of us down for a while now. At this point I just wanna get it over with, that's what I meant."

"I see, that's also a valid reason." I heaved a sigh of relief, "For a second I thought you were coming onto me."

"Heh, yeah..." He smirked before backpaddling once more, "Wait, no! W-What I meant was, I mean...!"

Heh, he's so flustered right now. It's kinda funny seeing the always self-confident and smug Lem be put in such a sorry state. I guess men really are desperate in that sense. He doesn't care who he does it with, even if it's just his curious underclassman.

"I'm gonna wipe that smug look clean off your face tonight." He promised, "Underestimating a man's libido, not to mention the act of sex itself, that's gonna cost you."

"I'll bet." I laughed, "Then I can't wait for you to prove me wrong, that is, if you can~"

Laughing, joking, this is more like how our usual conversations go. Looks like I'm finally getting through to him. Seriously, he's treating my offer like it's an entryway to Heaven, but when you take a step back, it's not like it'll mean anything in the long run. Hell, even the spicy books I read hype it up with all the moaning and grunting, but those books have to exaggerate how it goes to pull in readers. Like a fictional fight and a fight in real life, the latter just ends up so much more disappointing to witness when you see all the ugly bits coming out instead of exciting words. People just put sex on a pedestal, but I think it can't be any better than just having someone scratch an itch you can't reach, personally. He'll see, it'll be over before he knows it.