Frankly, Kenna hadn't expected to stare down on his bare muscular torso when she shifted her eyes away from his face, having entirely overlooked the fact that Mashyuu had been extremely eager on getting to try out the nemaki and had already started stripping himself, boots kicked off his feet and all. She stared intently at the smooth skin, swallowed a soft lump and did her best not to let a blush creep unto her face, while her fingers softly touched his chest to make sure this wasn't a dream. She heard his voice faintly, then snapped out of it to only find herself blushing more when the compliment about her being stunning whenever hit home, leaving her to nod and smile. ”I guess so…” Kenna said shyly as she moved towards the stack of nemaki and handed one to Mashyuu. ”I’ll be back right away, just gonna get changed into something more fitting for the dinner.” A smile crossed her lips as she picked her nemaki up and clasped it between her arms, walking to another room and disappearing in it for a few while. The door of paper and wooden fabric had only just closed behind her as she felt the red on her face taking over entirely, the heat flaring up her cheeks and a deep sigh escaping her body as she stepped on further in and gladly leant against the more solid wall on the other side of the room. With her back pressed against it Kenna allowed herself to slide down until she sat on the ground, burying her face in her hands as she shook her head in disbelief. Why was she acting like this?! Where was the bravado she’d shown not even minutes ago? And why was she so taken aback by a mere bathrobe?! It seemed like whenever the Earth God Slayer was near Kenna seemed to lose her bravado, her guts and her willpower… she otherwise wouldn't care if others were to think bad or weird of her, but for some reason he wasn't among those ‘others’. Mashyuu made her feel extremely weird inside, gave her stomach this funny sensation she couldn’t get rid of, could make her feel warm whenever he spoke good of her, made her heart beat faster than ever before and made her actually work to improve herself just for his sake… ”So is this what they call ‘being in love’....?” She thought to herself, finally starting to calm down again, and lowered her hands enough to only have them cover her mouth and nose, though be it slightly. The mirror in front of her showed her reflection, those intriguing golden eyes staring back at her, and the raven-haired maiden nodded at herself after what seemed a minute-long staring contest with herself. Today was not the time to feel silly and shy; she had made up her mind and clenched the robe between her fingers, the soft fabric pleasant to touch. ”I chose this place and date for a special moment, so there’s no way in hell I’ll let this opportunity go to waste.” Kenna muttered to herself as she stripped down and dropped her dress on the nearest chair, while unfolding the nemaki and wrapping it around her half-naked body. Today she would tell him for sure… about her true feelings for him, which she’d left unspoken.
It was about five minutes after she’d vanished that Kenna stepped back into the room again, the soft velvet fabric of the nemaki comfortably resting upon her naked skin, which was carefully hidden underneath. Well, almost, that is. Her chest, otherwise showing moderately well, now exhibited a cleavage to make many a man swallow down lumps if they were to look at it, having been proportioned too well for this kind of clothing, while the darker color of the fabric contrasted perfectly with her pale skin. She too had to admit that she’d blushed at viewing her body being so voluptuous as it was, and the nemaki she currently wore only accentuated her lush curves more; although more covered now than with her new dress, none could deny that this was looking far more tempting to the eye. Taking up Mashyuu courteously getting her seated, like a true gentleman would, she got comfortable and watched as he too sat down right in front of her. A waitress entered not too long after, surprising them with a multitude of small appetisers, which both sampled of each kind, though the Etherborn herself settled with eventually picking a second time from the appetisers she liked better. Silence fell over the twosome, and Kenna watched Mashyuu carefully, seeing how he seemed more introvert all of the sudden, until he took a ring off his finger and placed on the table. His blue eyes looked at her intently before she could ask him anything, and listened carefully as he explained her everything. About the return of his wife to the land of the living, about the necromancer, who he and Kite had chased, which he had fought and who in the end turned out to be a god of death. When the part of his returned memories was told Kenna could feel her heart throbbing once more; she was happy he had managed to retrieve those memories, but the coldness of hatred too planted yet another seed inside her heart for her own inability to find out more about her. At this point in his explanation she averted her gaze as well, afraid of making eye-contact and showing him signals she didn't want him to see. Signs of hate and anger. It only lasted until Mashyuu mentioned about the goddess he was now entirely in sync with, and she listened once again when he finally asked her of she could live with the fact that his wife and children would always be part of his life. Kenna remained silent for a long time, seemingly sunken in thoughts, up until she gently grabbed his hands, cupped them within her smaller hands and pulled them closer to her lips. A gentle kiss was pressed against the thin skin as she looked Mashyuu in the eyes, her golden pupils gazing brightly into his. ”No matter what you ask me… I’ll always understand. Your life, even before death, is still your life, and if you have the memories of it and meet those people you thought were lost, who am I to deny you that? I’ll always be part of your life, no matter what, so don't call the retrieval of your memories a problem… Kanix was already part of that life before I was. You just swapped the order of things when you came back until they were sorted in the right order once more.” She squeezed his hand gently and leant back a bit. ”To be honest, I envy you right now, ” Kenna said while looking down at the little candle on the table. ”Having your memory back and all. It must feel great to fill in the missing pieces and wipe away the mist that shrouded your mind… to remember everyone and everything again, even the painful things that shaped you to the person you are today.” She silenced for a while and sighed deeply, was about to say something but got startled by their waitress, Yumi, to knock and enter soon after with the main course, consisting of a large boat sculpted out of solid oak, with on it a rich variety of sushi, two bowls with yakitori, miso soup for both and an extra serving of tempura vegetables and shrimp for the twosome to enjoy. The maiden thanked Yumi heartily and ceased any more effort to pull up whatever she was about to say, giving the brown-haired man in front of her an even brighter smile. ”I suggest we first enjoy this wonderful meal, and have some more light-hearted talk until we’re done with this, don't you think?” Kenna said as she snapped her chopsticks apart, skillfully picking up a rather tasty-looking bit of sushi and presenting them close to Mashyuu’s lips, with the intent of feeding it to him while a playful grin played across her lips.
WC: 1367
Total wordcount: 3857