Chapter 239: I Love You

"I know I sound like a broken record, but I still can’t believe this is happening...are you really my b-boyfriend now?" Inquired Aria, peeking up at me with a bemused look on her face.A few minutes had passed, and after she hugged me, she snuggled up to me. We were cuddling in her bed, and honestly, I was having some trouble believing that this was really happening too.

"Yeah, I am. By the way, it’s cute how your voice cracked," I smiled, before she lightly smacked my shoulder with a huff.

"Hey, come on," She pouted, as I ruffled her hair playfully.

"Sorry, but now, I’m not going to hold anything back...I’m gonna be teasing you a lot more, so prepare yourself," I smirked, before playfully booping the tip of her nose.

As I began to pull my hand back, she suddenly opened her mouth and nipped on my finger, holding it between her teeth.

"Fine, then I won’t hold back either," She responded, before letting go of my finger.

"And what makes you think I mind?" I inquired, her face turning red as I moved the finger she bit towards my lips.

"W-Wait...!" She stuttered, grabbing my hand.

"What’s wrong?" I responded innocently.

"I, um...th-this is embarrassing, I guess I’m making a big deal over nothing, huh? I-I’m sorry, I’ve never done any, um...stuff, before, so I...," She trailed off quietly.

"Hey, it’s okay...I’m not going to rush or pressure you into anything. We’ll do things at your pace, okay? I’m not going to do anything unless and until you’re comfortable with it, and there’s no point in pretending like you’re comfortable with something you’re not...I can detect lies, after all," I smiled, as I placed my forehead against hers.

"O-Okay...thanks, Kai. I-...wait, what about Luxuria?"

"Huh? What about her?"

"I mean, you know...won’t this, like, upset her? Considering that she’s your Apostle of Lust and all..."

"Oh...right. That’s going to be a tough conversation to have, I’ll handle that later."

"Um, maybe I should be there too? I kinda feel bad," She responded sheepishly.

"Sure, if that’s what you want," I nodded, before pausing as a thought occurred to me, adding, "Wait, if you were so sure that I was going to reject you, why’d you move in here?"

"Yeah, uh...I didn’t really think that through. I was just excited to get to live next to you, I didn’t realize that I might have kinda screwed myself until after I already bought the place. It’s a good thing this worked out, otherwise things would’ve been really awkward," She laughed wryly.

"And how do you feel now?" I asked her with a smile.

"I, um...I’m really, really happy. I keep getting the urge to squeal in excitement, it’s kinda embarrassing how giddy I feel," She mumbled bashfully, before burying her head in my chest and adding, her voice slightly muffled, "What about you, Kai?"

"Don’t think I’ll squeal, but yeah, I’m pretty giddy myself. There’s no one I’m closer to than you, and now, we’ll be even closer," I replied, embracing her and giving her a light squeeze.

"Y-Yeah, I feel the same way! I hope you don’t mind if I get more clingy with you."

"On the contrary, I welcome it."

"Also, um, you know how there’s always relationship drama in shows and movies? I don’t want that, and I know it’s probably impossible to have zero friction in a relationship, but I’d like to at least minimize the possibility of that happening...so, I want us to have open and honest communication. If anything’s bothering one of us, we’ll talk it through, we’ll leave no room for any misunderstandings. Um...is that okay with you?" She asked me.

"Oh, definitely, I’m very much on-board with that. We’ll always be direct with each other, no secrets-...oh. Uh, okay, there kinda is one secret I’ve kept to myself, but only because it’s kinda complicated, I sort of need someone else’s permission to divulge it."

"Huh? Is it about your powers? Or something else?" She responded curiously.

"The former."

I’ve told her everything there is to know about the Sinner System, everything except for Ai. And it doesn’t feel right saying anything without Ai’s permission, so-...

"Hmm...oh, is it about that voice I heard when we both got hit by that Demonization thing? I totally forgot about that," She recalled, a look of intrigue on her face.

Oh, yeah, come to think of it, she never followed up on that. Things were pretty hectic after that incident, it must have slipped her mind.

<Go ahead>

<I suppose I can’t deny that she’s proven herself more than trustworthy>

<So, it’s fine>

<You can tell her about me>

"Alright, so...looks like I can finally tell you about it. Basically, my Sinner System came with an AI assistant. I call her Ai, she basically gives me advice, tells me about my powers and stuff, or just chats with me. So, yeah...with that, I have no more secrets that you don’t know about," I explained.

"That...explains a lot. Like how you suddenly space out at times and-...wait, you named your AI Ai? Isn’t that, uh...kinda lazy?" She responded in bemusement.

<Thank you>

"She certainly seems to think so. But it’s too late to change it at this point," I replied with a shrug, before adding as I glanced at the time, "Huh, it’s getting pretty late. I should probably head back to my place soon."

"Yeah, I suppose so, but...if it’s okay with you, could we...s-sleep together?"

"Huh?"

"I-I mean that literally, not in the other way!" She exclaimed as her face turned red, before continuing quietly, "...yet. Is...is that okay?"

"Sure, I-...hm? Yet, huh?" I responded with a smirk.

"U-Uh, you should go change into something more comfortable, I’ll do the same! It’ll be uncomfortable to sleep in these clothes, after all!"

"Yeah, good point. I’ll get changed and head back right away," I smiled, reluctantly breaking our embrace and sitting up.

"O-Okay...don’t keep me waiting too long," She responded, pausing for a moment before suddenly leaning in and kissing my cheek, my heart skipping a beat as she caught me off-guard.

"Wow, didn’t expect that...not that I’m complaining, of course."

"I-I, um...," She began, before trailing off as I placed my hand on top of her head and kissed her forehead, her face bright red as I pulled back and met her gaze.

"I’ll be right back, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, okay...," She nodded, before calling out as I got out of bed and began heading for the door, "A-And, Kai...I love you."

"I love you too, Aria," I replied, giving her a wave as I opened the door and stepped out, a wide smile spreading out across my face as I felt a giddy sense of joy well up inside me.