NOVPUBWith heavy steps, Kiernan arrived at the fifth floor of the mighty dojo, and in front of him stood the door of the lonely girl's room.
It had a tray of food and water right in front of it, but it looked like the person inside had not touched it even a little bit.
The door had stayed shut the entire week.
Since the martial artists had ascended from mere mortals, they were able to survive longer without food and water, but even that had its limit.
'Is this really because of me? Did my departure hit her that much? I thought Dual Cultivation was something she wanted to do, and I never expected her feelings to blossom into something this deep.'
Kiernan's lips curled down, and he thought that emotions sure were a dangerous thing.
'I avoided human contact back on Earth, so I never experienced these heavy feelings of love. I know many who perished in their pursuit of protecting their loved ones, and I never wanted to end up like them.
'I wanted to survive and thrive as the strongest.
'However, I am starting to understand them. They found something they wanted to fight for, and I never had any except self-pride.'
Kiernan approached the door, moved the tray out of his way with his feet, and then knocked on the door.
Knock~ Knock~
Nobody answered, and when he tried to listen, he didn't hear a single thing.
He placed his hand on the door handle, tried opening it, but the door didn't budge an inch. It was tightly locked from the inside.
"Aoi, are you inside? It's me, Kiernan. I'd like to talk to you."
Kiernan said, and at that moment, he heard someone stomp their feet on the floor and then seem to run around frantically.
'…She is awake.'
Kiernan stepped away from the door, leaning against the railing of the stairs, and waited while fidgeting with the diamond-encrusted ring in his pocket.
At that moment, the door swung open, and frantic-looking Aoi looked at him with wide eyes, looking like she was on the brink of crying.
She looked like she had just woken up with her hair slightly disheveled, wearing a wrinkled t-shirt and sweatpants that were too big for her, and clutching a crumpled tissue in her hand.
The rims of her eyes were red and puffy from tears, and it looked like she had even lost a little bit of weight.
"K-Kiernan?"
Aoi thought she was dreaming, and then, through the reflection of the window, she saw how messy she was, and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
"W-wait a moment!"
Bang!
With the door shut, she went to clean herself up.
"Hah."
Kiernan chuckled and shook his head, but when he felt the ring move between his fingers, his heart started beating quite rapidly.
'Well, I consider myself an impulsive person, but this is a whole different level for me.'
It didn't take long for the door to open again, and this time around, Aoi had changed into her beautiful white summer dress with a floral pattern.
She had tied her hair with a matching ribbon, and her eyes sparkled with excitement as she smiled at him.
"K-Kiernan, I thought you left. Why have you come back?"
She asked with a sweet smile.
"I came to talk to you, actually. Should we go to the garden?"
Kiernan asked and stopped leaning against the railing.
"S-Sure!"
Aoi's face blossomed with excitement, and she eagerly followed Kiernan to the garden, where they stopped by a bed of colorful flowers and a pond filled with koi fish.
The pond was surrounded by large, smooth rocks and small lily pads floating on the surface, while the bed of colorful flowers had petals of every shade imaginable.
"I am the caretaker of this garden. Do you like it?"
Aoi asked.
"It's very nice. Peaceful and beautiful, just like you."
Kiernan said, touched the petal of the flower, and turned to look at Aoi, whose face had turned pink.
She tried to avoid his eye contact while trying to stop herself from smiling.
"Did you… come here to stay?"
Aoi asked shyly.
"No… I cannot stay here. I have my other responsibilities."
Kiernan said.
"Oh…"
With a voice of disappointment, Aoi bit her lip, looking down at her feet with her tears again starting to well up in her eyes.
"I am from the small country of New Rakuya—it's a day's flight away from here, and I have responsibilities there.
"I have one more school semester left, and then, I don't really know what I will do. I like traveling and seeing different places, and that's probably what I will end up doing."
Kiernan said and dipped his hand in the pond, feeling the cool water against his skin.
"Then… why have you come back here? You wanted to talk to me about something?"
Aoi asked while grabbing her dress and wringing it out in frustration, as she wanted to say something to him, but she was afraid of rejection.
It was already clear to her that Kiernan's priorities were elsewhere, and she didn't want to burden him with her feelings.
Kiernan sat on the pond's large rocks, grabbed Aoi's soft hand, and pulled her close, enveloping her in a warm embrace.
"K-Kiernan?"
Aoi blushed, and with flustered breath, she fell into his lap, feeling like her heart was about to explode with joy.
Kiernan brought out the ring from his pocket, showed it to her, and when she saw it, her eyes widened in shock.
"This is a very important ring to my family. I want you to have it. Do you accept?"
"D-does that mean?"
Aoi's voice trembled, and warm tears flowed down her soft-looking cheeks.
"Yes, I want you also to be a part of my family."
She covered her mouth in shock, and then, with a blissful look, she nodded with tears streaming down her face.
He slid the ring onto her finger, and she then jumped into his embrace, they both falling backwards into the pond.
Splash!
With koi fish swimming around them, they pressed their lips together, wrapped their arms around each other, and sank to the bottom of the pond.
