Chapter 366 – Good luck on explaining that
After Chloe and Steph had returned from Mira's domain, they went to visit another restaurant because after having explored and then chatted with the white fox all day, they had gotten hungry again. While sitting in the restaurant, they started talking about the events and how it seemed like their feelings for each other had taken quite the leap in a very short amount of time. One thing led to another, and even though Chloe initially thought it was a little fast, they decided not to care about the little things and ended up becoming a couple, as that was what both wanted.
“...”
“...” The couple had left the restaurant again and was back on the capital's streets. Their hands had already naturally found and started holding each other, but there was more than a hint of nervousness around them.
"W-Why are you so silent all of a sudden!" Chloe was the first who couldn't take it anymore. "T-That's the first time you haven’t said anything for longer than a minute since we met!”
"A-Ah!” Hearing that, the dog-girl twitched a few times. “I-I also have my limits, you know?!”
“You have limits...?” Sounding honestly surprised, she tilted her head in return.
“S-Shut up!” Steph raised her voice a little while her face turned even redder. “YES, I even I run out of steam! Today was quite eventful, was it not?!”
“Even though you were that confident in the restaurant not even half an hour ago...?”
“E-Especially because of that!” She got even louder. “I-I wanted to sound cool and gave it my all!”
“You definitely did sound cool! Really cool! It was spot on!”
“Thank you very much!” The mood was getting livelier again. "I saw my chance, and I had to use it! No matter how much I run out of steam afterward! Worth it, I want to add!” She gave Chloe’s hand a squeeze at the end.
“Ehehe~.” She liked that gesture at the end a lot. "You are right. It was very eventful today. The good kind, though!” The fox-girl squeezed her hand back. “I can’t say I saw any of it coming...”
“Expect the unexpected!” Steph showed her a big smile. “The best motto to live by! One of the best, at least.”
“I should’ve expected to get transported to another dimension, meet a goddess, find out my mom’s besties with her, and get a g-girlfriend...? On the same day?!”
“Yes!” She reacted with a confident nod.
“HOW?!”
“I think it’s quite self-explanatory!”
“I-Is this how Maya feels with all of us around... I have to apologize to her!" She made a slight pause while thinking about the everyday struggles of the cat-girl. "S-Speaking about that... if it really is so self-explanatory for you... You’re okay with explaining everything that happened today to the group, right?”
“E-Everything...?” Steph’s smug smile was gone.
“Everything.”
"A-Ah... Are we going to, uhh... tell them about... well, us...?”
“Do you think we are, err... able to hide it?”
“I’ve never been good at that!”
“Neither am I...” Chloe hung her head.
“Couldn’t we just continue like before...?” The dog-girl tilted her head. “I-I mean... we couldn’t get much closer with others around, anyway...”
“...” Hearing that, the fox-girl’s blush also intensified. “We really hit it off fast, huh...?”
“YES!” She felt the same. “If you know it, you know it~.”
“Know what...?”
“Yes!”
“Ehh...?”
“Don’t you think so, too?!”
“Sure!” Chloe gave up and paused for a moment. “I need to ask Sophia if she has a manual for you...”
“Good luck with that~.” Her smile turned into a smirk.
“An impossible task, is it not?”
“Yup!”
“Well, you are sisters, after all...” She let out a small sigh. “Maya also wants to get a manual for Sophia for obvious reasons.”
“Oh, I’d like the get one of that, too.” Steph started laughing. “There’s no one that knows her better than I do, but that doesn’t say much, especially after the last year happened."
“Poor Maya...”
“R-Really!”
“Yes.”
“T-Thank goodness!”
“Probably...” Chloe still looked concerned.
“S-Stop that!”
“D-Don’t worry, I'll stop her before she does anything too hasty!"
“I-I don’t like the sound of that! Also, neither do I like this way too-concerned expression on your face!"
“I-I’ll do my best!”
“Still not any better!” Steph got even louder. “Is it possible to stop time with magic?! I want to go on a training arc to develop my magic to hold a candle to her!”
“There’s just no way that’s possible!”
“Aww, too bad!”
“I do like the sound of that, though!”
“I know, right?!” Her eyes started sparkling. “It would be soo much fun, wouldn’t it?!”
“Absolutely!” Chloe reacted with a big nod. “It would be amazing!”
“Hrmn... Still, I feel like a proper overseer should have a power like this, no? It sounds like something they would be able to do, right? Not that I know what an overseer actually is...”
“Kinda, I guess? It would be super overpowered, though?”
“Like I said, fitting for them!" It only added weight to Steph's theory. “Let’s ask Mira the next time we see her!”
“You’ll likely meet Feyfey before that, though.”
"A-Ah.”
“Maybe you could ask Sophia? She’s, uhh... friends with Canir, and if he can’t do it, no one can.”
“That’s a great idea!”
“Also, knowing her, she would be just as interested in it as we are! I am absolutely certain she’d want to find out about it, as well! There's still no way it's possible, but Canir's our best bet!"
“Let’s go!”
“We first have to tell them about all the other things that happened today, though.”
“Let’s not go!” The dog-girl changed her mind. “Well, it’s not like that’s possible, huh?”
“Not really, no.”
“Alright, let’s go...” She changed her mind once more. This time, Steph sounded a lot less motivated, though.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re quite jumpy?”
“First time I’ve heard that accusation!”
“Really...?” Chloe tilted her head while she stared at her. “I’ve heard that multiple times when people described me, so I do have some experience with that.”
“Nope, that’s a first!”
“I’ll ask Sophia once we’re home, you know?”
“I might’ve been called that once or twice before...” She reconsidered her stance on it.
“I somehow still have my doubts.” The fox-girl only intensified her stare.
“I never clarified the time frame on these accusations, did I?”
“Ah, I see... Once or twice a day!”
“Anyway, let’s go!” Steph gave Chloe's hand, which she had been holding all the time, a quick squeeze before dragging her toward the mansion.
“Maybe it was per hour, after all...? There’s a challenger to my throne!” The fox-girl wasn’t any different in the end. “Well, another one after Sophia, I have to add!”