Dimensional Descent

Leonel hugged Aina so tightly that at any other time, he might have thought he had a chance at crushing her. But at least right now, with the gaps in their strength of body having widened once more, that wasn't something he had to worry about in the slightest.

He took in her warmth, her heartbeat, her soft...

'She's naked,' Leonel suddenly realized.

Even so, he didn't have such thoughts right now. He only wanted to hold her in his arms for the first time in what felt like forever.

Aina, herself, was a bit confused. She felt the familiar scent envelop her, and she instinctively knew that it was Leonel, but what had happened? Why was there such a large gap in her memories? Weren't they in a Zone? And hadn't she been in the body of...

Aina's eyes widened, her heart trembling. Hadn't she died?

Her body subconsciously wiggled as though to make sure that she was still all in one piece, but her senses flared as her Ability Index kicked in. Her eyes widened.

Just what had happened to her body all of a sudden--

Aina's thoughts were cut out when she remembered Leonel. He was still holding onto her, and he didn't seem to have any intentions of letting go. He cradled her head in one palm, sweeping up her waist in the crook of his other elbow. He pulled up at her so hard that she was forced onto the tips of her toes just to accommodate his height, and yet she hardly felt her own weight at all, he was carrying it all.

Aina's eyes watered beside herself. Leonel had just lost her father, then he had likely thought that he lost her in quick succession. He could remember the rage and anger in his voice. He only barely stopped short of calling her a stupid woman back then, and maybe she would have deserved it if he had.

That beast obviously wasn't here any longer, which meant that Leonel had done something to defeat it, something that she obviously couldn't accomplish even by putting her life on the line.

Her brimming tears began to soak Leonel's chest. She had wanted to be useful, but had ended up being his burden.

tightly in return. She could feel the erratic state of Leonel's heart, his back felt so solid, and yet

something that stupid again, okay? I can protect

grating hoarseness to it. It drummed upon Aina's heartstrings,

risking his life to save people who had nothing to do with him. It was the main reason they had separated once before, her emotional state just couldn't handle

now, it seemed that it was she who was the one

said softly between

a while

...

was hard to say how long the two spent in that state. But some unknown time later, Leonel sat cross-legged on their bed, Aina cuddling up in lap like a happy little kitten. She rested her head on his

nothing hot or steamy about the atmosphere, but it was probably more intimate than

hands, basking in the warmth of

there's something wrong with my body,"

had entered a peaceful lull, felt his

"What's wrong? Where?"

chest, looking for the answer on his own as though he couldn't wait even for

to feel me up

which was soon followed up by the realization that he had pushed her ample breasts out of

haven't even reached for clothes. Who's trying to feel up who,

before you took advantage of me. Tell