Chapter 61 - I.M.T

"Listen, I get it, you want to impress Iris there. I'll let you use magic just this once, but don't think I'm going to make it any easier on you. You've still got to earn yourself a win!"

Sora flipped his training sword between his fingers, giving Ren full clearance to use magic. He may not look it, but he did have his pride as a man, which is why he found it vexing that Sora was giving him another handicap. Not once did the man get pushed to even use reinforcement yet, he seemed like an immovable mountain, impossible to surpass.

"Like hell I'll use magic--this is a duel between men, strength to strength, man to man!"

"Bro…" Sora was stunned for a moment, "I knew you'd come through! That's my little bro!"

As always, Sora's emotions were volatile, there was no way that man would be able to handle a romance flick. One minute he was fueled by a fiery passion for battle, then the next he would be moved to tears by the most mundane actions.

"Reinforcement--ON!"

To his own surprise, he had the energy to activate his reinforcement magic, all thanks to one, simple thing: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches from Iris. To Ren, it was a sign of his inevitable victory--being empowered by a meal made with love, it didn't get any better than that.

--Thank you, PB&J! I can fight!

At his level now, he was able to match Sora as long as the brute didn't use his own reinforcement magic. Getting used to the ever-changing physical boosts he got from his improving reinforcement magic was a challenge all on its own. Sometimes, his speed overtook his own reaction time, causing him to crash into trees or fall into pits.

--Not anymore! I can see it!

Time felt as if it slowed down, watching his opponent's strike barely miss as he shifted to the side. Returning the favor with an attack of his own, he swung the wooden sword against Sora's abdomen, knocking the man back a few meters.

"--That actually had some power behind it!"

Sora exclaimed with an overjoyed smile, slapping his hand against his struck abdomen with a rowdy laugh. It was frightening to watch the person he just struck with his full might brush it off and laugh, but it was definite progress.

--Those abs...are they made of steel?!

Ren felt the bones in his sword-wielding hand ache after hitting the man with all of his strength, it was the same sensation as smacking a wall of iron with a blade.

"Go, Ren! I believe in you!"

Iris cheered him on, still sitting in the same spot on the grass as she stuffed her mouth with another gratifying mash of bread and jelly. As those words of encouragement resonated against his eardrums, it felt as if the world itself had just blessed him.

"Ah...so this is the one power that stands above the "Power of Friendship", this is...the "Power of Love"!"

Ren raised his wooden sword to the air in proclamation, earning a confused, almost pitying look from Sora. Luckily for Ren, Iris was too busy chewing to hear his cringe-worthy words fueled by his own imagination.

Unfortunately for him though, reality didn't adhere to the "Power of Love", as he soon learned the one attack he landed must've been a fluke. From there on, Sora evaded his attacks as if he was attacking him in slow-motion, while the crimson-haired man's own attacks felt as if a semi-truck was crashing into him at full-speed.

That's when he began to notice--it wasn't a sudden increase in power from Sora, it was his own lack of strength. He realized that his reinforcement magic had already faded, unable to call upon the fumes of mana left within him. First, his legs felt as if a switch had just been flipped off within his body--unable to balance himself anymore.

"--Ren?"

His vision became nothing more than a blur, but the cute concern in Iris' voice was as clear as day as she spoke his name.

--Ah, crap. At least I got to hear that adorable voice.

At some point during their intense sparring matches, without realizing it, he had fallen unconscious from his lack of mana reserves within his body. He couldn't recall what kind of dream he was having, but it was certainly a nice one, before something woke him up.

A poke to his forehead had pulled him from his drowsy world of imagination, before feeling something graze through his hair gently.

--Can a guy get some sleep around here?

Ren slowly parted his eyelids, meeting with the sight of the endless blue skies above him. It took a minute to realize it, but he was laying on the ground--or he should be, judging by this view.

Instead, he felt a cushion underneath his head, but it wasn't a pillow, that much was obvious from the subtle warmth emanating from the cushion.

"Correct me if I'm wrong...but this heavenly cushion under me, rejuvenating my very soul as a man...wait, no, I must confirm what it is for certain before I make assumptions!"

He kept his eyes closed, turning to his side as he pressed his cheek against the squishy presence beneath. The quiet, yet distinctly audible gasp in reaction to his movements he heard had truly confirmed it.

"I've truly been blessed, this is, without a doubt--a lap pillow!"

"Jeez! Do you have to turn something harmless into sounding lewd…"

Turning onto his back again, he looked up to meet eye to eye with the flushed over face of Iris, her entire complexion had shifted from a pale white to that of a tomato.

"No looking--!"

Noticing his lecherous smirk from witnessing her flustered appearance, she gently moved him onto his side again.

"What happened to the quiet, well-mannered boy I first met?"

"I guess you could say that "boy" decided to stop hiding behind a false bravado and finally become a man."

She gave him a slight pout at his response, puffing her cheeks out a bit as she began to stroke his hair again.

"Ah...what did I even do to earn this type of reward?"

Ren asked, releasing a satisfied breath from his lips as he shut his eyes.

"You fought your hardest, isn't that reason enough to be rewarded?"

"Ya' know, that's exactly something I'd tell myself as an excuse. That giving it my all is enough to earn praise, even if I didn't do anything of worth in the end."

"Are you trying to say this was a fruitless effort? Ren, during your time here with us...you've grown, so much. Through perseverance, you've molded yourself into who you are right now."

"A man resting his head against the pale, squishy thigh pillows of heaven? I think I see your point now--it seems all of my efforts did pay off."

Ren chuckled playfully, earning a pinch on his cheek from the embarrassed girl.

"Stop teasing me or you can say goodbye to this happening again."

"Right, right, I'll stop, Ma'am."

With his eyes closed, all he took in was the sound of the gentle winds grazing the verdant fields they sat in. The winds were so gentle in fact, that they tickled his ears as he laid there--having to stop himself from giggling while resting against the cushiony, warm pillow.

"When you're like this...you're kind of cute."

The sudden compliment from the girl struck him as she fiddled with locks of his messy hair. Near the center of his chest, a sharp sting had struck--it was his heart.

"--Huh?!"

Ren shot up, holding a scarlet blush over his cheeks as the tip of his ears followed suit with a slight red to them.

A quiet giggle left her lips, covering her mouth slightly with her slender, pale fingers as she closed her eyes. Ren assumed the joyful laughter to mean she was playing around with him as he let out a slight huff from his mouth.

"You're so silly."

"And ugly as a goat, right?"

"Not at all. You're just...more handsome than cute."

Once again, the shocked blush returned to Ren as his hazel eyes glimmered at the compliment. Seeing his reaction to her statement, Iris hid her face behind her hands without warning.

"Do you have something on your face or something?"

"Mm."

Iris only gave a slight mumble as a response. Even for a young man, he was expertly dull when it came to reading the room. After looking at the girl hiding behind her hands for another few seconds, he finally realized the reasoning for this reaction from her.

--Is she...blushing? I want to see!

Eventually, she lowered her hands to reveal a faint pink that tinted her usual pale cheeks. More than usual, her damp jewels she had for eyes glistened as she looked at him, wearing a smile. Between the flustered blush she held, those big, vibrant azure eyes of hers, cheeks that looked as soft as dough, her small, adorable nose--it all clicked at once for him.

--I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her. I want to hug her. I want to marry her.

"Iris…"

"Y-yes?"

"You're so damn cute…! Adorable, cute, huggable, you name it! You transcend all of that! If I were to write my own dictionary, a picture of you would be listed with the word, "Cute", and all of its synonyms. I feel bad for every other girl in this world, none can ever live up to the standard of cuteness you've set!"

Hearing his genuine, fervent words, the faint pink darkened into a crimson as her soft, subtly glistening lips parted for a moment in shock , blinking rapidly as her eyelashes fluttered before covering her face once more. It wasn't his intention--but he managed to see her true blush.

"--Don't say things like that! It's embarrassing…"

"I can't help but speak the truth, Iris."

"Jeez, it's not lying if you just keep it to yourself, dummy…"

Setting her hands down, she let out a tiny breath, averting her gaze as she twiddled with her ocean-like blue hair. In times like this, he questioned what the him from before all of this time on Gaia would've thought of this situation.

It was one thing to even make eye contact with another girl of his age, but to talk to her--to come as far as to experience the primal urge that sits beyond the horizon of sexual desire, the privilege of resting one's head on squishy, marshmallowy thighs was a dream within a dream.

--If I ever returned home, I think I would be excommunicated from the brotherhood of NEETs for this! I've tasted the spectrum of other-gender contact, reaching to the farthest ends to introduce my head to her lap.

Hearing the young man's less than comforting giggle that resembled a goblin, Iris let out a concerned breath, "Really, you're an odd one."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Hmm...No. It's just, there aren't really any people around my age I can talk to here. So...I'm glad."

Looking up at her vibrant eyes, washed over with a quiet happiness, Ren felt his heart pause for a moment seeing such pure beauty. It was the first time he felt he was able to completely read another person, although she did most of the work for him—hiding nothing from him with her honest azure mirrors.

Gratitude, happiness, comfort—there was nothing of malice behind her eyes.

"An angel."

Ren had muttered it without thinking as he looked up at her.

"Eh…?"

Frozen by the random comment, a blush returned to her pale cheeks slowly. A smug smirk had perched itself on his face as he once again managed to see the phenomena he dubbed--"Flustered Blue Angel." As he let out a cheeky chuckle, he once again earned a pinch on his cheek.

"You're such a kid…"

"Did I just get kid-zoned?"

Instead of the usual pinch, he received a gentle flick on his cheek. Even if it was an action meant to be scolding, any contact with her kept a beaming, giddy smile on his face. They both met each other with these smiles that held nothing but tranquility behind them, without inhibition, eliciting a sensation of a thousands volts to their hearts.

—Not even magic can sometimes remind me of the fantastical world I'm in...But that "Thunderbolt Smile" of here, that's something that I could only have imagined in my most far-fetched dreams.

"...I still don't understand you sometimes, Ren."

"Where's that coming from?"

Ren held a placeholder smile as he looked up at the girl in wonderance of what she had meant by her words; captivated once again by her looks.

"Sometimes I can't tell if you're the most hopeless boy I've ever laid my eyes on or the most amazing...It feels like everytime I see you, you fall to one of those two extremes; or sometimes both."

For a moment, hearing those genuine words, he didn't know whether to blush or feel outright offended before he slowly shook his head, closing his eyes with a smile.

"You just don't get me at all, do you, Iri? That's what makes me Nakamura Ren; I struggle and push forward like a frantic, short-sighted dog all so that one day, I can be the awesome Nakamura Ren you hope to see."

There was no response; only a gentle stroke of his head came as once again, he listened to the dance of the grass.