"Ten minutes 'til midnight." I uttered as a bead of sweat rolled down my face.

"Shit, are we really gonna do this?" Lem looked uncertain as well, "The party's still going on, m-maybe we should postpone it."

It's already this late. Cene fell asleep a couple minutes ago, since he'd usually be sound asleep two hours ago by now. Still, I guess he tried his best to fend off the Sandman, but he wasn't yet strong enough to reach midnight after such a hearty meal. We carried him to his room and tucked him in, but just even seeing my room at the very end of the hallway made my stomach churn. Right there, in just a few more minutes, Lem and I...

"Hello? Nel, you hear me?" He waved his hand over my face to get my attention, "It's too risky to just dip now. What if someone went to look for us?"

"No, we actually really lucked out with them throwing this party in the first place." I explained, "We still couldn't find dad in the end, but since it's so late into the night, it's easy for them to assume we both just got bored or tired and went to bed. In fact, if there was ever a time to do this, it'd be tonight. No more second chances."

Hearing my explanation, he couldn't help but gulp anxiously. Seeing his terrified face actually helped me get some courage back for myself, which is good. Right, I already said so myself, didn't I? This is nothing more than the two of us trying something out in bed, it doesn't mean anything. We both gather experience, and after a couple of minutes of finagling, he'll just go back to his room and we'll continue on with our lives. Even though I told him all this before, he still seems to treat it as if it's some kind of treasure he's been searching for all his life, and it's honestly getting annoying.

"Then, I'll go get the condom from my room." He shakily got up, "It somehow survived thrashing about in my pants while your dad was beating me up, so it should be fine to use it still."

"You think it'll break or something?" I teased, "Gods, that'd be awkward."

"Don't jinx it!" He quietly screamed so as not to alert the others, "I'm not ready to be a father yet!"

Ah, that's right. A broken condom might lead to that. I mean, I know that much, but hearing him mention becoming a father really put it into perspective. Geez, if I get pregnant from this... Whoa, now I really felt a shiver down my spine. Maybe we shouldn't be doing this after all? Ah, but I already said multiple times that we definitely shouldn't call it off, so I wonder how he would react if I just told him I suddenly got cold feet? I mean, it's Lem, and in spite of his kinda rough demeanor, he's not the type to get mad at me about it or anything. He'll be relieved, I'm sure... No, after coming all this way, just stopping feels a bit...

"I'm getting kinda cold now." I felt my vocal chords speak on their own, "I hope the blankets heat us up quickly...

"...Yeah, no kidding." He chuckled anxiously, "Even when I had a sword pulled on me, I didn't feel this shitty."

"Whoa, you never told me that story." I tried procrastinating for just a little while longer, "What happened?"

"Hm, I suppose I have time to tell you, since it's neither long nor exciting." He sat back down, "I was still a tyke back then, working as a bandit with da... With Lee."

"He hadn't adopted you back then, right?"

"He still hasn't, at least not officially speaking." He shrugged, "But we always had a connection since birth. He apparently knew my mother before she died. Heh, sometimes I think that prick's actually my biological dad and has just been messing with me the entire time..."

So that's what he thinks of his dad. How sweet.

"I was around Cene's age, actually." He continued, "That's when I tried to prove to the other bandits in the camp that I'm capable of doing things by myself and ended up biting off more than I could chew."

"You never really grew out of that phase." I mocked with a giggle.

"Yeah, but you love that part about me." He made quite the charming face before backpaddling, "Ack, the booze is getting to me. I actually started flirting with you. Sorry, I know it's disgusting."

"I don't mind, it's funny." I leaned forward on the table, chin resting on both hands as I smiled, "Now come on, tell the rest of the story."

"You don't...? Y-Yeah, sure." He composed himself, "Really, it's nothing too special, I attacked a carriage thinking it was just some small fry, but it turned out to be a Sulfuric soldier vet. I'm told they're heartless pieces of shit with fuckloads of PTSD under their belt, but back then I didn't know that. I was just a kid yelling at an Aurolian who probably didn't even consider me anything more than a cockroach to squash."

"I was in Sulfury when I was a kid. The soldiers there can be a bit crude at times, but they're pretty nice once you get to know them." I replied.

"Yeah, but I wonder how they'd react to a kid pulling out a knife and stabbing them in the thigh." He hid his face in shame, "Gahh, I should've just Commanded him to hand over all his stuff, but I pretended to be hot shit and did all that..."

Ah, so he had that Iro Ability even way back then. But then again, if you take into account his situation, he probably considered it to be the easy way out. Still, I can't imagine Cene stabbing someone like that at all. It's scary what a nasty environment will do to a kid...

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"So then he struck back?" I asked.

"Boy did he." He heaved a long sigh, "He kicked me aside with the very leg I stabbed, and then proceeded to kick the living crap out of me until I was a bloody mess."

"Whoa, even though you were still a child?"

"I guess an enemy's an enemy when they stab you in the thigh." He shrugged, "I remember, very vividly, I didn't at all feel any sensation in my stomach. No heart thumping, no tightening in my throat, I was just way too focused on how to survive, but even then I felt more anger at my opponent than a genuine fear for my life."

"And that very rage manifested into you regaining the upper hand?" I tried to guess what happened next.

"Hell no, I was a bloody mess, remember?"

"Ah, so..." I continued, "He felt bad for your situation and took you in as a disciple?"

"The fuck? I never met that man in my life afterwards." He scowled, "No, Lee-well, my dad heard the commotion and swooped in to defend me."

"Oh right, that makes more sense." I twiddled my thumbs bashfully.

"I remember that only then did I think to use Command." He explained, "Not on the guy, but rather my dad — Kill him, I shouted."

"Whoa, I can imagine your dad was kinda mad at you for that one."

"No, he wasn't." He smiled warmly, "Because he didn't listen."

He didn't listen to your Command? That's possible? Well, I guess it might be if you're really averted to the idea...

"He killed hundreds of people before, so I know just one more added to the pile meant nothing to him." He said, "In other words, he completely defied my Iro Ability, even though it definitely put some heavy strain on him."

"Actively defying Command, what does that do?" I inquired.

"Imagine all of your muscles contracting and moving in the opposite direction of where you want them to go. That's how he described it later." His smile drooped, "He was in bed from the sore muscles for the next week, but every time my twirp-ass asked why he went through with it, he always gave the same response—To teach you that killing is a last resort."

"Oooh~" I was in awe of the one-liner, "Now that's a father figure."

"It took me years to figure out what he meant though." He sighed, "But yeah, he just defied my Command and instead just grabbed me and ran. Didn't even touch the Sulfury soldier."

"That's rather kind of him." I nodded.

"Yeah, that's my dad..." His foot restlessly tapped on the grass below, "Which is exactly why I'm scared of the possibility of being a father."

"Argh, and here you finally made me forget about the fear." I groaned, albeit I replied in a relaxed manner, "Why'd you remind me, come on."

"I'm still a kid, Nel. No matter how much I wanna tell myself otherwise." He sighed, "A kid learns from their parents until they're old enough to have their own, but I think my dad still hasn't taught me everything yet."

"So you're scared you might have a kid before you learn everything as a kid yourself?" I tilted my head, "I mean, I doubt it'll happen. The chances are practically zero that anything will happen to me once we go through with this."

"But what if something does happen?" He gulped, "I-If you do get pregnant, then how will school work? You won't be able to attend classes or study, and even after the child is born, both of us are just teens at the end of the day...!"

"My parents found me in a burning house when they were 15." I smiled, grabbing his hand from across the table, "Actually, mom was 14 when she became my mom, and though it wasn't by any means an easy journey, I think we still turned out alright."

"Nel...?" He looked at me with a bewildered face, "You... I... I like what we are."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, our relationship, our dynamic." He continued with a sniffle, "This is probably going to be a one off thing, and I doubt anything's gonna go wrong that'll toss us into the world of parents, but just in case—Nel, if something like what we talked about does happen, can I ask you to stay with me?"

"Stay with you? Of course, you dope." I grunted, "If anything, shouldn't you be saying that for yourself? Taking responsibility and what not?"

"That's exactly it. I'm not sure if I'm responsible." He pulled his hand away from my grasp, "I might get scared and try to leave, I know myself. But you're my best friend, and I know you were always there to force me to do my assignments whenever I was too lazy to do them."

"Talking about school now of all times." I smirked, "But yeah, if that's the case—I'll be sure to pull you back home by the ear."

"We don't need to be lovers or anything after that." He hastily explained, "We can just be buddy parents. Nothing awkward, just casually taking care of a kid."

"I fail to see how this conversation is anything but awkward, though." I gave him another look that eventually made both of us bust out laughing.

Ah, we've been talking for a while now. It's about that time, we should hurry up and get everything set up before midnight strikes. It doesn't have to be on the dot, but I guess staying outside any longer might alert the adults. Still, I feel warmer now. Hearing out his worries really alleviated my own, and just seeing him smile and laugh while we talk about a hypothetical child together is just the type of goofy shit we would be laughing at anyways. Right, I kept thinking about whether this was going to feel good or not, whether it'll be enough to raise those arbitrary ratings or whatever. But I never once asked myself if it'll just be plain fun, and now I'm certain it will. It will be fun, and that's cause he's my best friend.