endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 198

Syr had been staring at the group standing around in a circle sniffing each other with a mildly humorous expression on her face. After she had helped Milan and Tina settle into their room and explained the situation to Mama Mia, she had doubled back and peeked through one of the windows to see if Vahn and the rest were still around. Seeing them act in such a strange and awkward manner made her laugh silently to herself before she tapped on the window a bit.

Vahn was already naturally perceptive, but he had lost himself a bit after getting caught up in the atmosphere of the girls. He heard the slight tapping sound and could sense the presence of someone just outside his line of sight. Turning his head, he could see Syr staring at them through a window with a bemused expression on her face as she waved at him. He suddenly felt a lot more awkward as he returned her wave by raising his hand slightly.

His action had caused three of the girls to notice something was strange and they all turned their heads to see Syr looking at them. Now that she had most of their attention, Syr's smile grew and they could see her cover her mouth through the window as though she was laughing at their antics. Naaza immediately pulled away from Vahn's back and averted her rosy face while Tiona began laughing along with Syr. Ais didn't pull away quickly, but she sniffed Vahn's body one last time before standing off to the side. The only one that seemed to be unaware of the situation had been Lili who continued nuzzling her face against Vahn's diaphragm.

Though he still felt a little awkward, Vahn began to laugh alongside Tiona as he ruffled Lili's hair heavily before pulling her away gently by her shoulder. She had a somewhat flushed expression and Vahn could see the tear stains on her face from earlier had dried up for the most part. Lili looked up at Vahn with upturned eyes and said in a low and apologetic tone, "I'm sorry for getting carried away...I blame Naaza."

Vahn found Lili's actions and upturned expression to be very adorable and he nearly burst out laughing when he heard her words. Naaza's expression grew even redder as she hung her head low and covered her face with both hands. Tiona seemed to enjoy her reaction as she leaned sideways and tried to stare into Naaza's face while asking, "Why are you so embarrassed~?"

After messing around in the much lighter atmosphere for a few minutes, the group finally left the alleyway and headed towards the Babel Plaza. Along the way, Lili held onto Vahn's left hand while Tiona clung to his right arm. Ais seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied by the arrangement but kept her silence as she walked next to Naaza who had recovered her composure by a fair amount. Though she still had a light blush on her face, her expression had returned to normal as she tried to make polite conversation with the relatively unresponsive Ais.

When the group arrived at Babel Plaza, Tiona and Ais ended up parting ways since the Twilight Manor was on the opposite end of the City. Though they wanted to follow Vahn, both girls had spent the day with him and wanted to give others the opportunity to be around him without their influence. Loki had told them before allowing them to follow Vahn to ensure that they didn't pressure him too much and to return to the Manor once they reached the Plaza.

Vahn embraced the two thoughtful girls for a relatively long period of time before parting after a short kiss. Since they were being overly aware of Naaza and Lili, they only locked lips for a few seconds at the very end of the embrace. They promised to stop by periodically during the week, but Vahn asked them to wait for his arrival at the Twilight Manor. His schedule was usually very busy, and he didn't want the girls to go out of their way just because they were concerned for him.

He did promise to meet up with them on the weekend and even told them about the planned birthday celebration that Hephaestus had proposed. Hearing that Vahn had actually turned fifteen without their notice, all four girls present had varying degrees of shock on their faces and began pressing him for answers up until they finally parted ways for the evening several minutes later.