Akira was currently sitting, no, hiding, inside the chapel within the school.
At this hour, there was no one else here. That much was a relief. More importantly, it was a chapel. A vampire couldn't possibly enter this place. It was the perfect place to hide from an angry Erika and calm down for a while.
Except… Akira wasn't calm at all.
His mind was a mess, completely occupied by what had happened in the bath. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down. The moment he sat still, his thoughts immediately spiraled.
The first thing that came to mind was his clothes.
They were still in the locker.
When he escaped in his puppy form, he hadn't had time to grab them. Thankfully, he always kept spare clothes in his inventory, but that didn't solve the real problem. Someone still had to retrieve them. He could only hope Erika would retrieve them for him before anyone else could find them.
But he couldn't confirm that without talking to her.
And right now, he absolutely didn't want to talk to her.
After the bath, his thoughts had been completely scattered. No matter what he tried to focus on, they kept slipping away.
"It's not like I haven't seen her before…But back then, when I saw her, no, no, stop. Don't think about that. Think about something else."
His thoughts immediately betrayed him.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Think about something else.
Something safe.
Something normal.
"Gundam," he whispered desperately. "Think about Gundam. I am Gundam."
…It didn't work.
No matter what he did, his thoughts kept circling back to her. To the bath. To the way she looked. To the way his chest felt tight for no logical reason.
It was too much.
His newly awakened emotions were completely out of control. Every time he thought about her, those feelings grew stronger, heavier, more dangerous.
"I want to always feel her.I want to always hear her.I want to always be with her.I want to lock her up so she could always stay with me."
In the end, all of those thoughts collapsed into a single, overwhelming desire.
"I want to hug her tightly… and never let go."
But what if she hated him for that?
The idea alone terrified him.
He didn't want her to hate him. If she did… he didn't know what he would do. He genuinely didn't know.
Thinking about all of this was too much. His emotions were overflowing, unstable, and completely unfiltered. The last thing he wanted right now was to see Erika face-to-face.
At least this was a chapel.
She couldn't come in here.
That thought had barely finished forming when.
The door to the chapel opened.
Akira turned toward the sound.
Standing at the entrance of the chapel was Erika.
"So, this is where you're hiding," she said.
Akira blinked. "W–Wait, how did you find me?"
Erika smiled lightly. "Did you forget? The Sacred Gear inside you is mine. I can sense where you are whenever I want." She glanced around the chapel. "And this place is a bit special, so even I can…"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her expression froze as she finally saw his face clearly.
"…Huh?"
Her eyes widened.
"Wait," she said slowly, disbelief creeping into her voice. "Why are you crying…?"
Akira stiffened.
"Huh…?" He raised a hand to his face unconsciously. When his fingers brushed his cheek, they came away wet.
"Tears?"
His mind reeled.
"What the hell…? Why am I crying?"
He hadn't cried when his mother killed him, over and over again.
He hadn't cried when he almost died in battles.
He hadn't even cried when he lost his heart.
"So why…?Why the hell am I crying over something like seeing girls bathing?"
The answer hit him a moment later.
"Wait… no."
"This isn't that."
"This is… emotional overload."
His body wasn't handling it properly. His mind had reached its limit.
Before he could process that realization, Erika panicked.
She had never…never, seen Akira cry like this.
She rushed toward him and grabbed his hands tightly.
"Are you okay?" she asked urgently. "What happened? Did something bad happen?"
Her voice trembled.
"If this is about the bath, I'm not mad. I know you're innocent. So please, don't cry, okay?"
But Akira is completely getting overstimulated.
"Wait…no…this is…
Too close.
Her voice.
Her eyes.
Her touch.
This is wrong…too much input…this is too much…"
Akira froze.
Between the earlier bath incident and now, his senses were already overstimulated. This sudden flood of concern, warmth, and proximity pushed him past the edge.
His body stopped responding.
Seeing him go completely still, Erika grew even more frantic.
"Akira?" she called, gripping his shoulders and shaking him harder. "Hey, wake up! Akira!"
It wasn't helping.
And then.
Everything went black.
All sensation vanished at once, as if his emotions had been forcibly cut off.
Then, Akira felt himself standing somewhere else.
A vast space filled with countless stars spread out in every direction. The silence was calm, too calm.
Standing in front of him was his sister, Selena.
She smiled gently and said, "Little brother, don't cry. It's just naked girls. They're not scary."
Akira snapped back instantly. "You know I'm not crying because of that!"
He looked around. "Where are we anyway? One moment, Erika was shaking me, and the next I'm here. What happened?"
Selena giggled. "Haha, fine, fine. This is our inner world. You looked a bit too overloaded, so I helped you out a little… by bringing you here."
Akira let out a long sigh. "I see… thanks. Honestly, that was kind of scary."
Selena tilted her head. "Naked girl?"
"No!" Akira said immediately. "It's emotions. It's just… too much. I needed a break."
Selena laughed softly. "Well, now you are on a break. But you can't stay here, okay? Hiding like this isn't good. You have to go out and face Erika-chan. You have to be honest with her. She deserves that."
Akira nodded slowly. "Yeah… I know. I just don't know how to start."
Selena thought for a moment, then said, "How about this? Just this once, say everything you think. Don't hold anything back. Tell her all your feelings. Don't think about whether it's good or bad. Just tell her everything."
Akira hesitated. "But what if…"
"Don't think. Don't analyse," Selena interrupted. "She already knows you're weird. Just be honest with her. Tell her everything you feel. Believe me, just this once, okay?"
Akira went silent for a moment. Then he looked at her seriously and nodded.
"…Fine. I will."
Selena smiled. "Good luck, brother."
And with that, she sent him back.
The moment Akira came back, he was met with a panicked Erika, still shaking him desperately, trying to wake him up.
"It's fine," Akira said quickly. "It's fine. I'm back."
He reached out and held her shoulders gently, trying to calm her down. Erika froze for a moment, then slowly stopped shaking him, her breathing still uneven.
After she finally calmed down, Akira looked straight at her. His expression was serious, more serious than she had ever seen before.
"Erika," he said quietly, "I want to tell you something. I really need to say it."
He hesitated for just a second, then continued, "So… can you please, just for a few minutes, let me speak without saying anything?"
Erika didn't understand what was happening, but seeing his expression, she nodded without interrupting.
Akira took a deep breath.
And then he started to speak.
"Erika… there is something wrong with me."
Erika looked a little shocked, but she didn't say anything.
Seeing her reaction, Akira quickly added, stumbling over his words, "N-not anything physical… not that much physically, at least… mostly emotional."
He swallowed.
"It's you."
He started. "After that fight with Muzan, I can't stop thinking about you. It's overwhelming. Even when I try not to think about you, I still can't stop."
He clenched his hands, forcing himself to continue.
"I want to tell you everything I feel."
And then, like a dam breaking, his words began to pour out.
"When I finally activated Stellar Radiance, I realized something. I realized that I truly have feelings for you. I don't know if it was love or not, but I do have feelings for you. But when I felt your feelings back then… I realized what love actually means. And I realized my feelings for you aren't on the same level as yours."
His voice wavered.
"So I don't know how to face you properly."
He looked away for a moment, then forced himself to meet her eyes again.
"But I can't stop thinking about you. I want to be near you. I want to touch you. I want to hear your voice. I want to be close to you. I want to hug you tightly and never let go."
His breath trembled.
"I want to lock you up so you will always be with me."
He flinched as he said it, but he promised he would be honest.
"But I don't know if those thoughts are okay. I don't even know if this is love. I don't know what to do. Keeping all of this inside is completely overwhelming me."
Akira stopped, taking a shaky breath, then continued.
"I want to tell you everything, but what if you hate me? I don't know what I would do then. The more I try to hide it, the harder it becomes. So, I want to run away and avoid you…But I can't do that either."
His voice dropped, heavy with confusion.
"I don't even know what I should do next, or how to go forward."
He looked down, sadness clear on his face.
"I don't even know what love is supposed to mean. I'm scared to tell you everything because I know my feelings aren't on the same level as yours. What if I hurt you? What if you hate me? I don't even know what I'm saying anymore…"
He paused.
"…But I'll tell you what I feel right now."
He lifted his head again.
"In the bath, when I saw you, I was overwhelmed. I wanted to hug you close and never let go. I don't know why, but when I saw those other two girls, I didn't feel anything like that."
He frowned slightly.
"That's supposed to be love, right? But is it the right thing to do…? I don't know."
His voice softened.
"I just want to stay with you. I want to be near you. I want to always be with you. Whenever you're near me, I'm happy. I don't know why… but I'm happy."
He took one final, deep breath.
"So, I want to be near you always."
Then, looking straight at her, he asked seriously,
"Can I always be with you? Even though my love isn't on the same level… even though I'm not normal… can I love you?"
And with that, his rambling finally ended.
Silence returned to the chapel.
Erika didn't say anything at first.
But after fully hearing everything he said, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly, like she was afraid he might disappear if she let go.
"You idiot…"
Her voice broke.
"Do you know how long I've waited to hear you say something like that?"
Akira felt warm tears soak into his back as she held him.
"Akira… I love you," she said softly. "I've loved you for a long time. Ever since we were kids."
Her arms tightened around him.
"I don't care about something stupid like your feelings not being on the same level as mine. I don't care if you're confused, or scared, or don't know what to do."
Her voice trembled, but it was firm.
"I don't even care how weird you are. My feelings won't change."
She slowly looked up at him, tears still in her eyes, but a small, gentle smile on her lips.
"What you're feeling right now… that's enough for me."
She pressed her forehead lightly against his chest.
"Akira, I love you. I want to be with you, too."
Her voice softened.
"I want to always be with you."
All the emotions she had been holding back surged out at once. She looked at him, really looked at him, and then, slowly, she closed her eyes and leaned closer.
Akira was experiencing the emotional whiplash of his life.
He realized, a little too late, that Erika was leaning in, too close. Way too close.
"A kiss."
His brain immediately went into overdrive.
"Wait, is this a kiss? Is it actually happening?But this is our first kiss, right? Aren't first kisses supposed to be special?Is it okay to do it now? We just confessed, so it should be fine… right?But what if I mess it up? I've never kissed anyone before. What am I even supposed to do…"
His thoughts spiraled, tripping over each other faster and faster.
But even as his mind panicked, he realized something else.
He couldn't back out now.
So, Akira closed his eyes, leaned forward, and moved to meet her.
Just as their lips were about to touch.
A sudden sound rang out.
Both of them froze and opened their eyes at the same time.
Floating in front of them was a familiar, unmistakable system message.
[Star System has been automatically updated.]
[Store function has been added.]
[Congratulations.]
Silence filled the chapel.
Akira and Erika stared at the message.
Then at each other.
Both of them wore the exact same blank expression.