Chapter 183: Photo Booth
"I haven't eaten this much in a long time..." Wendy rubbed her slightly rounded stomach, a soft sigh of contentment escaping her lips.
The towering stack of empty plates sitting between them—easily reaching half the height of a grown adult—stood as a monument to their combined culinary rampage.
"I'm really so happy today... Thank you, Rovel."
Wendy looked across the table, her gaze carrying a rare, luminous warmth that hadn't been there before.
"As long as you're happy." A gentle, easy smile curved the corners of Rovel's mouth.
This sudden shift in his demeanor caught the young Valkyrie slightly off guard. Up until this moment, the impression Rovel had left on her was that of someone perpetually teasing and wonderfully unserious.
"Rovel, can you answer a question for me?" Wendy lowered her head, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
"Of course. Ask away." He gave a slight nod, giving her his full attention.
"Why... why are you being so nice to me?"
She lifted her chin, her eyes locking onto his, searching the depths of his gaze for a hidden motive.
This was their very first time meeting. Yet, he had willingly taken her—a girl confined to a wheelchair, a literal burden—out to enjoy the city.
She searched for pity or sympathy in his expression, but found absolutely none.
He simply, purely, wanted to see her smile. That was the extent of it.
Wendy was Theresa's most outstanding student. She was the Oceania Branch's pride, an exceptional A-rank Valkyrie, and a guaranteed seed for the S-Rank echelon.
All the world's halos had once rested upon her head; she had been the absolute center of everyone's attention.
She carried her own fierce pride.
Because of that, what she needed was never sympathy or coddling. She just wanted a friend who could look at her as an equal, rather than a broken anomaly.
"Ah... why, you ask?" Rovel echoed her question, leaning back in his chair.
He stroked his chin, meeting her intense gaze head-on before delivering his answer.
"Maybe it's just because you're very cute."
It wasn't a lie. It was certainly a core reason.
Rovel was a visual creature. He had always been completely open about this particular trait, fully accepting it as part of his nature.
More often than not, the driving force behind his actions wasn't some grand, sweeping desire to rewrite tragedies, but a simple, selfish urge to protect beautiful things.
Ji Lin was cute. Yae Sakura, Yae Rin, and Higokumaru were all incredibly cute.
These were the beautiful elements of the world he refused to let fade away.
His initial intentions might vary from person to person, but appearance was an undeniably crucial factor in his decision to act.
Cute is justice.
Hearing his utterly shameless response, Wendy didn't know whether to be angry or to laugh.
Was he being incredibly sincere, or just impossibly superficial?
Still, she couldn't fault his logic. If he had been some hideous creep, she definitely wouldn't have agreed to let him push her around town all day.
They were cut from the same cloth, really. Neither had the right to judge the other.
"It's getting late. We should probably head back." Rovel glanced up at the shifting colors of the sky. "The assessment is almost over. Is there anything else you want to do before we leave?"
"One last thing." Wendy stretched both of her arms out toward him.
"What's this? Do you want a loving hug from your big brother?" Rovel leaned in, making a deliberate show of opening his arms.
Wendy immediately swatted his wandering hands away.
"Who wants a hug from you? Carry me on your back!" she demanded, her cheeks puffing out in a slight pout.
"You're quite demanding, you know." Rovel raised a single brow.
"You've already touched my legs so many times today. What's wrong with carrying me?" she countered, acting as if it were the most natural progression in the world.
Rovel ran the calculations in his head. She had a point.
He hoisted her onto his back, his hands naturally supporting her thighs. No matter how he looked at it, he definitely wasn't taking a loss on this deal.
Following the directions she pointed out over his shoulder, they soon arrived in front of a brightly lit, boxy machine.
"I see. You want to leave behind some beautiful memories with me, don't you?" Rovel teased, eyeing the photo booth.
Wendy didn't say a word. She merely tightened her arms around his neck, applying a sudden, concerning amount of pressure.
"If you already knew, you didn't have to say it out loud..." Her voice was barely a whisper, though the steadily increasing grip on his windpipe made it perfectly clear she was contemplating choking him out right then and there.
Some things were better left unsaid. Did he really have to vocalize it and make her blush?
The space inside the booth was incredibly cramped, designed to force people close together.
Rovel carefully set Wendy down on the small bench first, then squeezed his own frame inside and pulled the curtain shut.
Their shoulders pressed tightly against one another. The ambient heat of the small space amplified the warmth radiating from their bodies.
After spending the entire day together, the sudden shift to such a confined, private environment caused the atmosphere to thicken, taking on a distinctly intimate edge.
Wendy reached forward and handled the touchscreen, setting up the camera timer. Over the next few minutes, they cycled through various poses, filling the small screen with flashes of light.
Reviewing the digital previews, a flash of satisfaction crossed Wendy's eyes.
"As expected of me. No matter the angle, I am flawlessly photogenic." Rovel flicked his hair with exaggerated flair.
"Vain," Wendy muttered, shooting him a sidelong glance before tapping the screen to set up another round.
"Are we taking more? I'm completely out of poses."
Watching her adjust the settings, Rovel ducked his head, his mind racing to come up with something new to do with his hands.
"One last set." Wendy finished tapping the screen and leaned back, ensuring both of their faces were perfectly framed in the monitor.
"Wait, wait, hold on... I haven't thought of anything yet." Panic set in as the countdown timer ticked down.
Three. Two.
"I got it—"
Before Rovel could finish his sentence, small hands suddenly cupped the sides of his face.
A split second later, a soft, intense warmth pressed against his lips, completely silencing whatever he was about to say.
Rovel's eyes widened in absolute shock. Right in front of him, Wendy kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
He could see the faint, nervous trembling of her long eyelashes.
Here, hidden away in a tiny corner of the world, the usually reserved girl was boldly expressing her feelings.
It was direct, unhesitating, and deeply passionate.
Click.
The bright flash of the camera illuminated the booth, capturing the exact moment. A mechanical whir followed as the machine began printing the photo strip into the tray below.
It took a long moment before Wendy finally pulled away. She released his face and opened her eyes, deliberately avoiding his gaze as she quickly bent down to snatch the freshly printed photos from the slot.
"Ahem... let me see how they turned out." Rovel cleared his throat, doing his best to pretend his heart wasn't hammering against his ribs as he leaned over her shoulder.
"No." Wendy immediately hid the strip against her chest, acting like a dragon hoarding treasure.
Glancing down at the glossy paper, a deep, rosy flush rapidly spread across her cheeks.
She looked up to see Rovel staring at her with a lingering, intense gaze. Flustered, she gave his shoulder a firm push.
"Let's go. Weren't we heading back?"
Rovel pushed Wendy's wheelchair back to the Oceania Branch headquarters. As luck would have it, they arrived just as Kiana and the others were walking out of the examination hall.
"How did it go?" Rovel asked, smoothly transitioning back to his usual demeanor.
"The questions were simple. Everything fell within Bronya's expectations. Assuming the idiot Kiana didn't completely forget everything Bronya drilled into her head, passing will not be an issue," Bronya stated in her usual flat, mechanical tone.
"It should... be fine! I filled out the entire test paper, and I answered everything I knew how to answer!" Kiana scratched the back of her head, though the slight waver in her voice betrayed her lack of confidence.
"If that's the case, then don't stress over it. Just relax and wait for the results tomorrow," Rovel offered a comforting smile.
He knew Raiden Mei and Bronya would pass with flying colors. It was only Kiana who constantly hovered on the edge of academic disaster.
"Where is Himeko?" Mei looked around, her brow furrowing slightly when she realized only Rovel and Wendy were waiting for them.
"She got dragged off by Captain Clark for drinks," Rovel explained truthfully. "So, I decided to take Wendy for a stroll around the city while we waited."
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