Chapter 51 More Than That.

Seeing the message notification Sam came to the realization that he had messed up on another front. He had spent the night having sex with a woman while he was in a relationship with another one. He cheated, in other words.

This wasn't something like playing with the Valkyries, which aren't even human. Not only did he sleep with Alice, he had also tried to purposefully impregnate her. And as if that wasn't bad enough the feelings he had for his childhood friend, which he thought had died long ago, were now back and he was sure he has fallen for her once more.

Realizing he now has feelings for two women at the same time Sam began to panic. Obviously there is no way to keep them both at the same time, expecting that is just idiotic. He would have to choose between them eventually.

His childhood crush who's one of the most beautiful women in the world, the one he dreamed of being with for a long time, or the sweet Asian girl who has been nice to him from the first time they met even when he was scrutinized by almost everyone in the base, the one he decided to date because he saw himself spending the rest of his life with her.

It was a really difficult choice. But for the time being what he had to worry about the most is Shizuru's reaction once she finds out, which will eventually happen as he had no plans on ending his relationship with Alice after what happened last night.

Maybe it's a good thing that we only kissed so far… he thought, tapping the screen to open the message. It could've been way worse.

Since they had been dating for only a few days he felt that the blowback could be contained, but then he read the contents of the message.

[I know you're exhausted so you don't need to show up for breakfast. Get some rest and sleep well!]

Seeing that the message had reached him soon after he got his room, Sam felt a heavy sense of guilt fall on him. Shizuru was thinking about him, worrying about his health, and what was he doing around that time? He was embracing another woman.

He did something despicable to her, and while he felt guilty about it he still had no regrets. If it was any other woman he would never have cheated, however Alice was an exception. Of course he didn't expect his girlfriend to understand, that's why he worked his mind trying to find a way in which things don't end up blowing in his face.

"Mnmm…"

Some time later Sam heard the sound of sheets being moved behind him.

He turned just in time to watch as the white haired beauty slowly got up, checking her surroundings with barely open eyes which fell on him then went wide.

Looking down at herself she realized she had nothing on. Her face blossomed into a brilliant shade of red and she quickly grabbed the blanket using it to cover her voluptuous chest.

Cute. Sam thought, smiling to himself as if all his worries had vanished for a moment.

Alice looked around once more trying to understand the situation and once she did she looked up at Sam, her expression that of shock and surprise.

"Good morning." Sam said.

For some reason that caused her to blush even more and she quickly moved to cover her face.

"G-good morning…"

After a while she seemed to calm down enough to respond, doing so while still hiding half of her face. Though such maiden like behavior didn't suit someone of her age, Sam's heart to skip a beat nonetheless and he felt his meat stand for attention.

"So, how do you feel?" He asked.

"Um… uh…" it took Alice a while to find an answer, the events from the previous night flooding her mind. Once she was ready to answer, she took a deep breath and looked Sam in the eyes, flashing a brilliant smile. "I feel happy, I guess."

An arrow pierced Sam's heart, urging him to move. Without hesitation he approached her, holding her chin with his hand before placing his lips on hers. Alice was startled for a moment but then relaxed.

The kiss lasted for quite a while and when it did finally end Sam felt a sense of satisfaction only to remember the predicament he was in right now. He didn't show it on his face, of course, doing his best to smile so the white haired woman wouldn't notice.

"I'm glad, Alice." Sam heaved a sigh, but then held up his phone and added. "Well, I would've liked it if we went at it a little more, but sadly we are out of time"

Seeing the digital clock drained the blood from Alice's face.

"The announcement!" She exclaimed, pushing herself up just to lose balance and fall into Sam's hands.

"Careful now, you just woke up." He said.

"But! The announcement! I was supposed to be there when the news of what happened to the second base gets released! We are supposed to tell everyone about the Calamity our Valkyries defeated the other day too!"

Was that supposed to happen today? Sam thought, unable to recall.

"Can't they do it without you?" He asked.

"I have to address our troops as the commander of the…" stopping for just a moment, her expression relaxed a little and she looked up at Sam. "I already did the final checks and approved everything, but unless I'm present they would have to delay it for another time."

"Then there is no problem, right?"

"Well, if you don't consider me losing face because I overslept after spending the night with a man then yes, there is no problem." Alice let out an exasperated sigh, she then turned to Sam with half closed eyes. "And what did you mean by that just now? Don't tell me you still want more after all of that?"

Sam smirked and glanced down. Following his line of sight Alice froze the second she saw his meat pillar, fully erect and ready to go.

"I was just tired last night." Sam said with a proud smirk. "Normally I would've lasted much longer."

"Much-" Alice was in shock. "More than that!!?"

"Well, it's not that I like bragging about it." The way he held his head high said the opposit. "I'm pretty sure I can go twenty four hours without a break if I tried."

"Whoa…" Alice was lost for words, looking amazed but also scared at the same time.

"I think it happened around the time you got your first engagement." Sam looked up as he tried to recall one of his lowest points. "I was so heartbroken back then that I invited three girls from college back to my apartment. By the time we were done I realized an entire day had passed."

"... Eh?" Alice blinked repeatedly. "Th-three? At the same time?"

"Yeah…"

When Sam nodded to confirm, Alice's face went pale once more.

"Hey now, don't give me that look." He said, smiling wryly. "I was in a really bad place back then."

"B-but… three at the same time! And for that long!" Alice felt like she would faint at any moment, scared of what would've happened if he didn't fall asleep when he did.

Realizing she was focused on something else entirely, Sam sighed in relief.

"Well, you could say I have pushed it way too far that time."

"That would be putting it lightly." Alice heaved a long sigh. "I never took you for someone who sleeps around with multiple women at the same time."

"No." Sam quickly explained himself, afraid that she had misunderstood something important. "It happened only once. Thankfully I was able to see how it would end for me very early and worked on correcting it. Nowadays I don't sleep with a woman unless I decide to take her seriously."

"... really?" Alice asked, looking at him with upturned eyes.

"Yes." Sam said. "In fact you are the first woman I've slept with since coming here."

Unconvinced by his answer, the white haired beauty gave him a doubtful look.

"What about your new girlfriend, then?"

"We… have been dating for only a few days. We have yet to do anything."

"I see…" for some reason Alice looked awfully relieved.

Seeing that Sam stopped to contemplate his answer a little. Maybe the reason he kept Shizuru at a distance even though he knew he liked her was that he still had some hope of getting together with his old crush, even after everything he went through so far.

I even ended my previous relationship the moment she invited me here. Sam thought, feeling ashamed of how much of a simp he actually is.

After a moment of silence, Alice decided to address the elephant in the room before Sam got the chance.

"So… what now?" She asked, her expression having turned serious. "We have done something horrible to Ms. Kurokami. I'm happy that I got to be with you but… what about her?"

"Yeah, about that…" Sam scratched the back of his head. "I have been thinking about it and… I realized it might actually be worse than it looks."

Seeing that she has yet to understand what he meant, Sam took a deep breath and prepared himself for what's to come.

"Alice, I don't think we can be together."