The stakes are high. The priestess is of poor health with a worried sister, Kohaku, who depends on Senku and his use of science. The Kingdom of Science needs the gran bout as leverage not only to save Ruri’s life, but to allow Senku into the village and gain trust in science. Senku needs to gain their trust if he’s going to make advancements in rebuilding civilization, but the village has its traditions. And, in the words of Kinro, rules are rules. Senku cannot cross the bridge into the village yet.

The issue is that the up-and-coming Kingdom of Science doesn’t have a lot of members, which means a lack of fighters for the grand bout. That makes ANY possible fighter incredibly valuable to the plan. They’ve devised they need as many people to weaken Magma, a powerful man from the village, before he gets to their strongest fighter, Kohaku.

Magma’s plan is to just kill off Ruri once and for all if he becomes Chief, as he couldn’t be bothered with caring for her. It’s crucial he’s kept from winning. Only more reason to use every man the Kingdom of Science has. That leaves Kohaku, Chrome, Senku, Ginro, and… your boyfriend, Kinro, as the fighters.

The plan should be done there, but Kinro can’t stomach it. He can’t stomach betraying you like that. Fighting to marry another woman? What would he do if he was the last one standing? Marry Ruri? No, he can’t. So, before you can argue, he quickly tells Senku and the others he won’t participate.

“Wait, what? We need you, Kinro!” You argue, mouth agape in shock that he’d refuse. This is for Ruri’s life, after all. It’s bigger than you and him.

“I cannot compete to marry the priestess. It’s not right.” He says sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. His body language is stiff, like he’s conflicted. You know it’s not an easy decision for him to make, but the answer seems clear to you.

“You have to. We have to use every card we have! We have to exhaust Magma quickly!” You plead. “For Ruri. Her life is in our hands.”

“The answer is no. I’m unable to fight.” Kinro declares finally, striding off. Of course, you refuse to leave the argument there. With a short look back to the others, you shake your head and follow after him with a long sigh. Once he gets far away from everybody and gets fed up with you following him, he abruptly turns on his toes to face you.

“It’s not right. It’s not happening.” He breathes out, meeting your eyes at last.

“Why exactly??” You demand, and now it’s your turn to cross your arms.

“Because it’s not right to marry another. I am loyal to you.” He responds, softer than before.

“That’s what this is about? Kinro…” you mumble, shaking your head as you think.

“Yes.”

“You have my permission.”

“I have your permission to cheat? No.” He scoffs, but it’s obvious it’s not at you, it’s at the thought.

“It’s not cheating. It’s not emotional. I’m sure we can figure something out later! If you do win, we can just… I don’t know… arrange her to be with Chrome? Is that possible?” You throw your arms up, shrugging.

“I don’t know. It’s not a reliable plan.” He shakes his head.

“Okay. What if I join the grand bout too?” You challenge, staring into his eyes, pleading to level with him here.

“What?”

“What if I join the grand bout? That way I’m fighting to marry Ruri too. I’m more than capable.” After all, you’ve been active and physical your whole life. Exploring the area far and wide with Chrome. Insisting on training with Kinro and Ginro. You’re not useless. “Then it’s fair. You aren’t betraying me. We’re just… doing our duty to protect the priestess…” You explain. It’s a last minute thought, but you felt shame towards the idea of doing nothing when your village and priestess needs you anyways. When the world needs you. Which gives you an idea.

He’s taken aback by your idea proposal. He’s silent for a moment, looking to be thinking hard about your words, so you take the chance to get more of your thoughts out. “Think about the world we’ve never seen. The world Senku talks about. And without Senku saving Ruri and the people seeing he’s not some bad, village intruding sorcerer, I think we’ll face a massive setback!” You breathe shortly before continuing. “Senku needs our help. Ruri needs our help. If one of us has to marry Ruri, so be it! It won’t keep us apart, right?”

“I suppose you have a point.” He hums, nodding. “It won’t keep us apart.”

“Once one of us is chief… we can bend a few rules for Ruri to simply remarry with her own pick.” You shrug.

He clicks his tongue, reluctant to the idea of suggesting a change of tradition. “But it’s never been done.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” You smile.

That night, it’s still heavy on his mind. He worries the outcome of the grand bout, mulling it over in his mind as he stares at the wall of your shared hut. You settle down onto the futon beside him, facing him.

“It’ll all be okay in the end.” You hum, placing your hand over his with a soft smile on your face. He knows your presence is usually enough, and though it does a lot to sooth his nerves even now, it’s not tonight. If you’re so confident, why isn’t he? He should trust your call more than his own mind, shouldn’t he?

Somewhere between his racing thoughts, you shift around so you’re behind him, your arms over his shoulders, chest pressed to his back. You bring your face close to his, whispering “We’ll always be together” before kissing his jaw, then his neck. Between kisses, you continue. “There’s no need to worry. I think with all of us, we’ll win. And then I know we will find a way.”

“It’s just… different.” He whispers back, breathing picking up from the feeling of your lips on the sensitive skin on his neck.

“I know. Things have been changing so fast lately.” You sigh softly, kissing his shoulder.

“We have each other.” He affirms.

“We do.” You whisper as your hands move around to his chest. “That won’t change.”

He turns around to face you now, gently caressing your face as his other hand pulls you in to a kiss by the waist. You seize the opportunity and wrap your arms around his shoulders again, pulling him down on top of you. He reluctantly pulls away from the kiss to help you get your clothes off, then his own.

As soon as possible, his lips are back on yours in a tender, but passionate kiss. Usually, he’d take his time on taking care of you before anything else, and you know that, but tonight, you want to feel him now. As he goes to trail kisses down your body, you shake your head, stopping him just short of between your legs.

“Skip it. I wanna feel you.”

“But I—”

“Skip it.”

He finally nods, looking at you again to make sure he understands while he slowly pushes your legs open for him. When you nod, he crawls back up, kissing you briefly before he lines himself up.

“Ready?” He seeks reassurance and permission. You quickly nod.

He slowly pushes his cock in, moving his hands up to hold yours by your head, fingers intertwined. It’s a short pause before he moves inside of you, pistoning his cock in and out. He knows your body so well by now, it takes him a split second to find the perfect spot that gets you going. You buck your hips up, moaning softly.

As he usually is, he’s just about dead silent, but his hands grip yours tighter the closer he gets. His face scrunches up and his head tilts backwards. When he knows you’re both getting closer, he slips a hand out of yours to roll it over your clit. You whine at the stimulation, closing your eyes.

“Kinro…”

He knows you’re close. Very close. He keeps a steady pace, but lets himself lay down as he continues on now. The change in position allows him to kiss you again, his favorite thing to do once you both are nearing your climaxes. His tongue slips into your mouth, eliciting a muffled moan from you. Just as your movements and moans communicate your oncoming climax, he moves his mouth to suck at your neck. You arch your back up into his body as you cum on his cock with a moan of his name.

Kinro finally lets out a small, brief moan as your walls pulse, tightening repeatedly in a motion that sends him over the edge, milking a load out of him. You both lay there for a while, him still inside of you as you catch your breaths.

“Always yours.” You breathe out, smiling softly up at him.

He chuckles breathily. “Yeah. Always yours.”

…

In the end, you both get to breathe a breath of relief once Senku wins the grand bout. Neither of you have to deal with the troubles of getting out of a marriage. The Kingdom of Science can advance. And most importantly, Ruri is cured.