[John Kaisen's POV]
I woke up the next morning with a satisfying, full-body yawn that stretched every exhausted muscle I had. The dull ache in my bones from fighting Battle Beast was still there, but my mind was finally quiet.
'A good night's sleep is better than sex—'
I stopped mid-thought.
My eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room as my gaze fell onto the space right next to me.
There she was. Nakime's white-as-snow body was curled up against the futon, her flawless skin barely covered by the tangled mess of our blanket. Her dark hair was splayed wildly across the pillows, and her chest heaved with soft, exhausted breaths.
'I take it back...' I thought, with a genuine smile spreading across my face. 'This is definitely better than sex.'
I leaned in, brushing a stray lock of dark hair from her face, and gently kissed Nakime's forehead. I couldn't really set those formal master-servant boundaries back up. Not after last night, where we bared our souls to each other.
As my lips touched her cool skin, her single eyelid squirmed. She opened her eye, blinking once, then twice, before going fully wide as she seemed to finally register exactly where she was, what she was doing, and who was lying naked right next to her.
"Ma... ma... master?!" she yeeped.
It was a full-blown squeak of sheer panic. She violently yeeted the sheets from below me, pulling them all the way up to her nose to cover herself, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.
"Morning," I said. Ignoring my exposed nakedness, my dear Nakime had left me with.
"I... I must apologize, Master!" she stammered, her face turning a shade of red that rivaled a stop sign. "I overreached my station doing... that... and that... and that with you!"
Her single eye darted around the room as if she was replaying a mental highlight reel of everything we did the entire night. Judging by how violently she was blushing, she was definitely remembering the third round.
I found her sudden, flustered panic incredibly endearing. But then, a dark, intrusive thought crept into the back of my mind and the smile faded from my face.
In a hesitant voice, I asked, "Nakime... was anything you did last night out of some misplaced obligation as a servant? Did... did you do this just because you felt you had to…?"
Nakime shot up from the bed.
She didn't care that the sheet slipped entirely from her grip, pooling around her waist and completely exposing her bare chest to the morning air. Her hands darted out, grabbing my cheeks with a startling, fierce intensity that forced me to look directly into her eye.
"Mast—John," she breathed heavily, her cheeks flushed, her gaze burning with an unwavering sincerity. "Please. Do not insult what I feel for you by completing that sentence."
I blinked, the remaining tension in my chest completely dissolving at the raw emotion in her voice.
"I... I'm sorry," I muttered, gently placing my hands over hers. "It's just... in my past life, women were always trying to woo me, to bed me, just to get the status of being part of that accursed, 'Fake' family of mine. I guess I have some pretty severe intimacy issues."
I averted my gaze to focus on something that didn't feel embarrassing and oddly conceited. The atmosphere turned quiet and a little awkward. She softly stroked my cheek, her eye filled with a profound understanding. I needed to shift the mood before we both started crying.
Then, an idea struck me.
"Say, Nakime," I started, a smile returning to my lips as I took her slender, cool fingers in mine. "We've been in this world for what, a month now? And you still haven't gone outside once, have you? How about we go on a date?"
"A date?" she asked innocently, tilting her head like a confused puppy. "What is that, Master?"
I just stared at her for a moment.
A hundred and thirteen years old, former Upper Moon, current operator of my Headquarters, and the concept of a date was landing with her like I'd used a word from a language she hadn't encountered.
"You know what? Why don't you put on one of those dresses I bought for you, and I'll show you exactly what a date is." I leaned forward and kissed her flushed cheek, causing her to blush even deeper and give a shy, eager nod.
"Meet me in the main hall in about an hour! Let me go set everything up!" I said in a raised, excited voice. I practically leaped out of the futon, threw on my robes, and rushed out of the master bedroom.
I left with one last glance. She was sitting there, still completely naked and practically steaming from her ears.
'Damn! How is a demon so incredibly cute?' I thought as I sprinted down the wooden halls, rushing to set up a first date for a hundred-and-thirteen-year-old cyclops.
[Mauler Research Wing]
I entered their designated lab in an absolute fever, sliding the heavy tatami door open with a loud smack.
The lab announced itself before I got there, by smell first and then volume, a specific combination of industrial solvents and biological material that had no business being processed together.
I found myself staring into a massive, cavernous hall the size of an aircraft hangar. It was retrofitted with top-of-the-line technology, bubbling green cloning vats of clone-mass along the far wall lit from underneath, and highly dangerous equipment sprawled around in a completely chaotic, OSHA-violating mess.
"Ay yo! Blue Balls! Where you at!" I called out. I admit, there might've been a noticeable pep in my voice. Surely the half smirk and the sparkle in my eyes didn't give me away.
Two massive blue dudes emerged from opposite directions in matching white and black suits. One was wearing a white doctor's coat with protective glasses and latex gloves, holding a glass pipette. The other walked out with a welding torch still burning in his hand and a heavy metal welder's mask flipped up on his head.
[Image Here]
"What's up, Mr. Kaisen! Is that a smile I see on your face?" the one in the lab coat asked, raising a hairless blue eyebrow. "You were floor-sitting and being all broody. And now you're..." He did a slow scan. "Chipper? Something happened."
The other one with the torch immediately chimed in with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Wait, don't tell me you finally got laid! Poor Ms. Nakime, she'll be heartbroken knowing you laid your pipe in someone els—"
He stopped mid-quip. Mostly because the blinding, humming silver glow of my energy sword was suddenly illuminating his stubble, mere inches from severing his adam's apple.
The other Mauler quickly rushed over and slapped his massive hand over his twin's mouth, clearly reliving the trauma of having his previous twin's head severed for talking ill of Nakime.
"Sir! Please don't mind him!" the lab-coat Mauler panicked. "He was just baked in the vats a couple of days ago! He still needs time to fully adjust to controlling his impulsive thoughts!"
The welder ripped the hand off his mouth and yelled, "Who're you calling baked, you cheap clone?! I'm the original!"
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, half-baked faker!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Hearing enough of their incessant, childish bickering, I cleared my throat loudly.
Cough. Cough.
They both immediately froze, standing stiff as boards. I casually walked up to the nearest workstation, picking up a thick, permanent black marker, and motioned for them to bend down.
As they awkwardly stooped to my height, I popped the cap and wrote a massive 'I' on the forehead of the one in the white coat, and a massive 'II' on the forehead of the welder.
"Wait, you can't just—"
"Mr. Kaisen, do you even know which one of us is the actual original?!" they both protested simultaneously.
Getting incredibly impatient because I was on a tight schedule to get ready for Nakime's first-ever date. Which I was thinking was due to a lack of exposure and experience of the concept.
I just clicked my tongue.
"Tch. You guys really don't make it easy, do you? Alright, guess I'll just kill the clone like I did last time. Whoever survives is the original. How does that sound?"
Both Maulers became stiff as a plank.
I could physically see the goosebumps rising all over their massive blue biceps.
"Of course, Mr. Kaisen knows best!" Mauler I answered, throwing his twin completely under the bus.
"Of course, sir is absolutely right! I'm the clone, he's the original!" Mauler II yelped.
I just shook my head, realizing I was wasting daylight. "Alright, shut up and listen. I need you to drop whatever unethical experiments you're running and do me a favour."
The one with the I mark on his head nodded furiously. "Of course, Mr. Kaisen! Whatever you need."
I looked around the lab, spotting a few vats of clones still in the middle of forming. "I need you to whip up a batch of prime cut 'Immortal' meat sandwiches for a picnic. And you better make it look like premium wagyu."
Both of them looked at the bubbling cloning vats, then looked back at me with expressions of unadulterated horror.
The one with the II mark threw his welding mask onto the ground with a loud clatter and drew himself up to his full height.
"Alright, that's it! I may be a murderer! I may be an extortionist, a terrorist, and I may have committed a dozen separate crimes against humanity with these genetic experiments that would make lesser scientists weep! But the one thing I am NOT is a cannibal chef! I am not grinding up the superhero The Im-fucking-mortal for your tasting pleasure! And I'm certainly not starting now!"
"Agreed," said Mauler I, grateful to be agreeing.
'Hmm?' I hummed, tilting my head. My hand sparked as I manifested another silver blade, buzzing with lethal energy.
'How stupid are these guys? Should I cut I or II to make an examp….'
My plans to make another bloody example out of them were cut short when a sweet, slightly anxious voice echoed from the entrance.
"Ma... Master, I am ready to go out for our dat—" Nakime stopped as she saw the blue giants I was currently threatening with a glowing sword.
I turned around, the annoyance instantly evaporating from my system as my heart skipped a beat.
Standing in the doorway was Nakime. She was as beautiful as always, but instead of her dark, traditional kimono, she was wearing a pristine white sundress scattered with delicate Sakura blossom patterns. It hugged her slender curves in an incredibly tasteful fashion. On her head rested a wide-brimmed straw hat, angled perfectly to cover her single eye like a hidden treasure, permitting it to be witnessed only by me.
"Nakime... you look..." I started, completely breathless.
But before I could complete my stuttering, awe-struck sentence, two booming voices cut me off.
"So pretty!"
"Absolutely beautiful!"
I turned to bark at the Mauler twins for completely ruining my romantic moment, but they rushed right past me. The two massive, terrifying super-villains began circling Nakime like a pair of overenthusiastic fashion designers, scanning her outfit from top to bottom.
"Are you finally going outside, Ms. Nakime?!" Mauler I gasped. "Then you'll need the best UV coverage!"
"Exactly! How about some classy, custom-tinted sunglasses to protect your eye from the sharp glare?!" Mauler II added, rubbing his chin.
"Oh, and a light, full-sleeve crop jacket! It'll keep the sundress as the main focus while protecting your pale skin!"
"Yes! We can synthesize a breathable fabric in five minutes!"
They went on and on, bombarding her with compliments and protective fashion advice, causing Nakime to blush harder and harder until her entire face turned as red as a tomato.
I was just about to step in and tell them to lay the hell off of my date, when they suddenly froze.
They both turned their blue heads to look back at me, their eyes widening simultaneously as the gears in their genius brains finally clicked into place.
"Wait... so you wanted those 'Immortal' sandwiches for Ms. Nakime?" Mauler II asked slowly. "Of course we'll pack them up! Even give them the best taste."
"Hold on..." Mauler I's jaw dropped as he pointed a massive finger at me. "If you're taking her on a date... and you came in here smiling..."
Mauler II let his impulsive thoughts take over again.
"WAIT! THAT MEANS YOU LAID PIPE ON—"
[A/N]: And we're back to regular programming, and based on the response, I've changed the previous chapter to be SFW
SO DROP THEM STONES!!
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