Kimi | Open
“Heh. Bet my mom wouldn’t expect this. I’m dating a CEO! That definitely proves her wrong.” Kimi chuckles as she looks proud of herself.
“What did your mom say that was so wrong?” Aruto hobbles over on his crutch and gives her a peck on the cheek. “Want me to call her and let her know?”
“O-Ohhh…Umm…Ehehe…” Kimi rubs the back of her head. “It’s… it’s kind of a long story, Aruto-kun. I dunno if I wanna bother you with it.”
“Well, I’ve got time, Kimi.” He nods down to the cast. “And really, nothing you can say would be a bother to me.”
“Alright…” Kimi takes a seat. “Well, first off, my mom…she didn’t like that I was a fan of Gold Tiger. Even when I was a kid.” she sighs. “She would always say that girls shouldn’t like stuff like that. Sounds like typical strict parent stuff, but then… she started to take it too far.” Kimi took a deep breath
“She would say that I have to give up liking Gold Tiger when I’m older because no guy would want a woman who’s an otaku…and she said that I would end up alone. At first I didn’t believe it because I have my sisters, and they should be there with me, but… mom just made it worse by saying they’ll leave me once they find guys of their own. It… it was a lot for me take in. Being told that I would be alone because of being an otaku…”
Kimi took another breath and argued in her head that if she should tell Aruto the rest of this story. She felt like she was unloading a lot at him at once, but… he offered to listen, and it’s only fair he hears the whole thing. “So I…I decided to just ended it all. I rode off to the nearest forest, climbed the biggest tree there and once I was at the top I… I jumped.” she slumped down.
The crutch clatters to the ground and Aruto wraps his girlfriend up in a big hug. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Kimi. Nobody should be told that their interests are going to keep away lovers. Nobody should ever feel like they should bring an end to everything just because other people said hateful things.”
His hand brushes against the back of her head and he gently rubs there. But something else is in there. “This is your origin story, isn’t it? How you became Aegis?”
Kimi let out a small surprised gasped. I mean, it shouldn’t be surprising her new boyfriend would hug her in a emotional state, but it was still sudden. “T-Thank you, Aruto-kun. And don’t worry! Again, my mom’s been proven wrong. I know I’m not alone. Because I have you and all my other friends.”
Kimi felt a strange feeling in the back of her head, but she decided to ignore it for now. “Uh…Y-Yeah, basically.” Kimi nods. “After I fell, Osamu found and put this device on my chest.” she taps on the green device. “And after I woke up, I was in a hospital. A lot of my family was there, and of course they were worried about me. They… they just thought it was an accident. And I didn’t correct them.”
“Well, I’m here for you, Kimi. If you ever feel like the trauma from that time is threatening your happiness, I will…do anything except tell my terrible jokes. I know you can’t stand those.” He pulls away slowly and uses his good leg to kick his crutch back into his hand.
“And even though Osamu put you through a lot of pain and torment, I’m glad he saved you, if only because it means I was able to meet you.”
“Yeah… at the end of the day, I’m thankful for Osamu saving me and giving me a second chance of life, essentially. Then I wouldn’t have met all my friends and well… I wouldn’t have met a big dork like you.” she chuckles
“And Aruto-kun, if you… if you wanna keep telling your jokes, I won’t stop you.” she said. “Because… they do make me feel better. B-But not because I find them funny or anything.” Kimi crossed her arms, slipping into her tsundere state.
“No, no I know when I’m beat. Telling a bad joke now would be too…tsun.” Aruto gives her a kiss on the forehead this time. “So, where should we go for dinner?”
Kimi blushed at Aruto’s little joke and blushed even harder when he kissed her forehead. “Mou~ You dork!” she shouted but a small smile appeared on her face. “Uh… a place to eat. Hmm… how about…my place? So we can kill two birds with one stone? You get to meet my family and we have something good to eat because my sister is a great cook.”
“That works for me. I get some fine dining, and I get to hear your mom’s fine whining when you introduce me.” Aruto grins and hands her his RisePhone. “Second app in the third row. Calls for the Hiden Intelligence Limo.”
“Depends if she’s home.” Kimi said and that squints a bit, feeling suspicious if that was another attempt at a joke from Aruto as she takes the RisePhone. “Oh wow...I get to ride in a Limo? I never thought that would happen.” Kimi grins a little as she presses the app.
