ATOQ: Nina's Valentine's Special 2017 v2

>>ROUTE 2.2

Nina corners you at lunch time. One minute you’re walking down the path in the front courtyard, wondering about the assignment Akasha-Alea set involving bullet trajectories. The next Nina is blocking your path, her very figure shrinking inwards at the prospect of standing in the sun. It’s very unexpected, because Nina coming to school out of her own volition is a miracle in of itself.

“Here, Keiichi.” Nina half mumbles, half yawns. She blinks twice, ridding the tiredness from the corners of her eyes, before continuing her speech. Another late-night streaming session, no doubt.  “This is for you.”

She shoves a sealed plastic bag into your hands. It’s brown and filled with a number of small, rectangular objects. You lift it up and inspect the design.

“24-pack Venus Bars.” You read out loud. “Did you get this from a convenience store?”

“A supermarket sale, but it’s basically the same thing.” She replies. “So, are you going to accept it or not?”

“I guess? Thanks.” You say. “What’s the occasion?”

“My uncle said I should give out gifts to the people I care about today. Said I didn’t have enough friends, so I should treasure the ones I have.” Nina replies, her voice going soft for a moment. It soon vanishes, replaced by her usual bored-sounding, dry tones. “That’s why I bought you chocolates. Chocolates are delicious.”

Can’t argue with that. Your mentor wouldn’t. “You didn’t try and make your own?” You ask. “It’s what all the other girls did.”

“Nope.” Nina pauses. “The last time I tried, I fed the results to my uncle and he had to go to the hospital from indigestion.”

At first you wonder how that is even possible. Then you realize that it makes sense, it a weird, roundabout way. Can’t expect decent cooking from a girl who subsists on frozen meals and instant ramen cups, after all.

“I sure dodged a bullet, huh.” You mutter.

“Mm-hm. Cooking and me don’t mix.” Nina confirms. “Besides, Venus bars are tasty.”

Another argument that can’t be reputed. “Thanks, Nina.” You smile. You take a chocolate out and eat it. It tastes like all Venus bars do: overly sweet, too much caramel, but overall not without its merits.

“Mmm…no problem.” Nina responds, yawning again. “Hey, want to play some games after school?”

“Sure. Why not?”

…

…

…

Boredom was a troublesome emotion for a band of heroes. It made them mix the mundane and the outlandish in an effort to stave off their tedium. A certain shades-wearing, sword-wielding boy stepped into the living room of the housing complex he shared with his friends. Usually this would be the point where he challenged a friend to a spar, resulting in them reducing their surroundings to so much dust in the wind.

Thankfully, fate was smiling mercifully to the citizens of Japan. There would no explosions in the middle of a shopping mall today.

“Hey guys,” He said. “I got tickets to a go-karting rink. Let’s go.”

The five adolescent girls that were sitting in the shared lounge, all of which were among the strongest humans in the world, muttered and whispered to each other and in general looked rather apprehensive at the suggestion.

“I was going to try a new spell today…” The elemental mage murmured.

“I promised to teach my student…” The mistress of time said.

“This is a waste of time.” The solider growled, crossing her arms.

“Such activities are beneath me…” The fallen angel declared.

“I have to interrogate someone.” The assassin reported.

Fuck, the sword-wielding boy groaned to himself, they actually have shit to do. This was unexpected. It was a Sunday. Who the hell worked on a Sunday? And these tickets expired today! He didn’t want to pull his trump card, he didn’t wish to fuel their rather unhealthy indulgence, but damn it to hell if he was going to race alone.

“The winner of the race gets an exclusive night out with the boss.” The boy said, making himself sound as casual as possible.

The whiplash that resulted was so quick it could have broken the sound barrier.

“On the other hand, it could wait until the afternoon…”

“How very interesting…”

“Some relaxation might be nice…”

“It’s always enjoyable to try something new…”

“I’ll pass it off to my subordinate…”

Hook, line and sinker, the boy thought, with a touch of despair. He made a prayer to the boss.

And that’s how six heroes who saved humanity from the king of the demons ended up competing against each other in the go-kart race. Magic was banned in the race court, but it didn’t stop the staff on hand from almost pissing themselves when the six arrived at the front gate. The murderous glares the five girls were shooting at each other weren’t helping.

But once the engines started and the green light flashed, the elemental mage found she was having a lot of fun. Mostly because she was in the lead. Okay, entirely because she was in the lead. She had started out last, but managed to snag one of those strange shrinking lightning bolts from a gift box (magic arts were so weird these days) and shot up to the front using that. With it being the last lap, she was almost guaranteed to receive the winning position. The only real threat was the soldier in second place, but she had a good enough lead on her.

All was going well, she thought. Then she heard the enraged roar of the soldier, a loud crash and a frenzied, maddened and voracious laugh from the back.

“Out of my way, suckers!”

“†ye1™ŸA­ CòÂ]?” The elemental mage shouted. What the heck was the demon princess doing here? And why was she in her berserker mode? “You’re not supposed to be in the race!”

“I joined in halfway!” The demon princess roared. “Got a problem with that, big tits?”

…big tits? What in the five elements was with that slur? True, she had the largest bust of all the female heroes, as the fellows on the Internet were fond of reminiscing about, but that didn’t mean it was to be used as an insult. The boss thought it was quite charming, in fact. “I’m not letting you get first place!” she yelled.

“Too bad! I hate to lose!” The demon princess roared back, whipping out something from beneath her seat. When the elemental mage took a closer look at it, all levity she had vanished in a slithering gulp. The object could only be described as a tool of mass destruction. “Get out of my way, big tits, or I’m burying you six feet under!”

“W-wait!” The elemental mage shouted back as they rounded a sharp bend. “†ye1™ŸA­ CòÂ], you forgot something. The five of us joined this race because we wanted a date with @zÀý¤Ü, but you’re in a relationship with Ü“™‡É<g©J•R!”

“And you think this race means nothing to me?”

“Yes!” The elemental mage shouted.

The demon princess paused, lifting her foot off the accelerator for a second. “Huh. You’re right.” She said.

“See?” The elemental mage said, relieved. “Let me take first place! In exchange, I’ll take you out to sushi tonight!”

“You have a good point, big tits. And sushi is delicious.” The demon princess began, then her face up with gleeful madness. She cackled loudly, a terrible crimson aura radiating off her form. “But winning is more delicious so I DON’T GIVE A FLYING SHIIIIIIIIT!”

She tossed the weapon of mass destruction. The elemental mage could only watch in wordless, abject horror as it advanced towards her like a nuclear bomb towards the capital of Japan. There was a bright flash of light, a piercing scream of fire and ash and then her entire world went black.

…

….

…

…

…

Back in the real world, you sit on the floor of Nina’s filthy-ass apartment, holding a classic twin-stick controller in your hands. You are currently staring at the results of Nina’s video game displayed on the screen.

>>Keiichi: Comment on the situation.

You cannot do this because you are too busy gaping in disbelief. The screen is split into two halves, one for each of you. On your side are displayed the words ‘YOU WON’. On Nina’s side are displayed the words ‘YOU LOST’. Tinny music, cheerful and bouncy, plays out from a set of double speakers. Any other time you would find it annoying, but now you’re too busy concentrating on something else.

Did…did you seriously beat Nina at a video game? Shit, you’ve never been able to do that. This is actually pretty damn amazing. Admittedly, you got lucky with the items from the party boxes, but that didn’t stop Nina before. You grin at Nina and open your mouth to make a comment.

It dies upon seeing the state Nina is in. She is staring intensely at the television screen, eyes squinted and mouth expressionless. Her slender fingers are wrapped around the grips of her own controller. They are as immobile as stone statues. She is also utterly quiet.

If this was any normal person you’d give them a minute or two to calm down. Not this case. If Nina is like this, it basically means she’s vibrating with sheer murderous rage. You can’t help but gulp.

Nina slams her controller down on the floor. She breathes in, then out. She whips her head around to face you. Her messy silver hair swishes around like leaves in wind.

“Give me those.” She demands, glowering.

“Give you what?” You ask, readying the mana in your system.

“Your chocolates.” Nina clarifies. She points at the bag of chocolate bars. “Give me them.”

“What?” You exclaim. “Those are mine. You gave them to me!”

“Using blue shells is cheating.” Nina sniffs. “I’m taking those chocolates as your penance.”

“What fucking penance?” You growl back, incensed. “I won fair and square with the mechanics of the game. What I did was legitimate.”

“No arguments. Give me the chocolates.”

“I can’t believe you’re being this much of a sore loser!”

Nina further glowers at you for a few seconds, then waggles her fingers. “Don’t make me use telekinesis.” She threatens.

“Give it a rest, Takai!”

“Your sister would be disappointed in you, Keiichi.”

“She would be disappointed in you for not accepting the results of a fucking video game!”

“Tatsuya would be disappointed in you, too.”

“Who the fuck is Tatsuya?”

“No more words. Prepare yourself!” Nina snarls, closing her fist. The force of her telekinesis wraps around your body like a giant invisible snake. Instinct drives you to summon your trusty handgun and wrap your finger around the trigger. Nina motions her hand backwards and you feel yourself being flung forward. You squeeze and fire a shot. A loud bang echoes throughout the room. The plastic bullet rockets forward and promptly hits the invisible wall Nina creates. It drops to the floor, reminiscent of a dead fly. You fire another shot. Blocked again. You know that Nina could do this all day and then some. So, to counter, you charge forward and grab her shoulders with both hands.

You expect her to resist, throw you off with her invisible hands. She does. A moment later, her eyes widen and her telekinetic grip goes slack. Her body stiffens. All of these unexpected movements, combined with your momentum, sends your body slamming against Nina. The two of you collapse like dominoes. Your head hits the floor.

The next few seconds are blocked by a burning headache. Your ENDURANCE quickly shrugs it off and you check your surroundings, like Akasha-Alea taught you. The first thing you realize is a secondary pain in your shin. It stings, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. The second is that neither Nina nor you are particularly hurt. You feel okay with this. You then realize what you two are now doing suddenly it becomes not so okay after all.

Consider the following scenario. A young man is spread across the body of a young girl at an angle. His head is pressed on the ground next to her neck, close enough to hear her gentle breaths and taste the scent of her hair. His right hand landed on her left; their fingers are locked loosely together. Their legs are intertwined with each other, with the boy’s knee pressing below a certain fragile and precious spot. Cupped in the boy’s left hand is something small, round and soft, reminiscent of a cushion. Whether it is out of bewilderment, curiosity or the primal instincts lurking in the back of his mind—the boy does not fully know, he gives said object a gentle squeeze. A soft, high-pitched whimper escapes from the girl’s lips. Redness spreads across her cheeks and her body stiffens and curls up.

This is you and Nina in a nutshell. You are an adolescent male with burgeoning hormones. Nina is an adolescent girl. You have read porn before, sometimes with Hideki. The implications are clear. Suddenly, you are very grateful Nina’s uncle doesn’t live with her.

“Keiichi…” Your friend whispers. She sounds frail. Weak. Shit, you may have made a mistake.

“Nina, are you okay?” You ask, “Are you in pain?”

“I’m fine. I think.” Nina says. You sigh in relief.

“Am I crushing you? Hold on, I’ll get off you now.” You motion your body to prop itself up, putting strength in your legs and arms. You retreat back to your beanbag. Nina climbs to her feet. A little slower than she normally would. Her face is expressionless. She
doesn't say of her word.

You feel as if you should say something, but you don’t know what. You try and come up with something to say, but your mind wanders. It notices how the straps of the bra beneath her tank-top came loose in the confusion. It’s starting to slip off her shoulders. The sight brings to remind something familiar from a few seconds ago. No, you must control yourself. Stop blushing, damn it! Stop that heated, raw pulsing in the depths of your heart. This situation is already awkward enough as it is!

“…didn’t mind…”

You blink. “Pardon?”

“I didn’t mind…” Nina mumbles. “Keiichi, you didn’t have to…”

“What is it, Nina?”

She averts her gaze. “Nothing.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” You say.

She doesn’t respond. The atmosphere lapses back into uncomfortable silence. You scratch your head and idly wonder what Airi is making for dinner. The music from the video game continues to play in the background. After a while, Nina presses the button on the console and turns the television off.

“Keiichi…” She begins.

“Yeah?”

“You need to be punished.”

“For what?” You exclaim.

“For cheating at video games.”

“That was not cheating!” You say, starting to become incensed. “Are you still on that?”

“Yes. I’ll forgive you if you do something for me.” Nina replies. Her cheeks turn a faint pink, which is something you don’t notice. You are too busy wondering if it’s worth it to continue the argument from earlier. Given how you nearly crushed your friend here, probably not.

“Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“Close your eyes.”

You stare at her suspiciously. “Are you going to kick me in the balls?” You ask. Nina gives you a flat stare. in response She always give you flat stares but this one is flatter than the rest. If the previous looks were pancakes, this one is a thin sheet of cling film.

“You better not do anything stupid.” You mutter and slam those eyelids shut. Your world is drenched in blackness. You hear Nina take a few gentle steps forward. Her magic flares, then settles. She waits for a few moments.

“Open your mouth slightly.” She orders. Rolling your eyes, you comply.

You sense something speed through the air towards your mouth. It hits its target dead on. The taste of chocolate and sugar invades your taste buds. Your tongue reacts instantly, greedily sucking the sweet into the depths of your mouth, eventually resting it against your molars. You chew once and the caramel inside threatens to overwhelms you. It almost distracts you from the other thing you are feeling: the gentle prick of foreign flesh against your lips.

You open your eyes and see Nina standing in front of you, the bag of chocolate levitating in the air next to her.

“There. Now we’re even.” She states. Her cheeks are tinged with crimson and she has a timid, yet clearly joyful smile on her features. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Keiichi.”

As you chew on the chocolate bar, you realize that Nina did not use her magic during the feeding, nor are her fingers covered in any liquid.