Sweet Weekend #5
My body jolted as bright light slipped between my eyelids.
It should have been just another Sunday morning—stirring restlessly before drifting back into sleep.
But the moment I woke, I sprang upright on the spot.
What happened last night… that glittering angel beneath me.
The dream of a summer night felt so vivid now that it refused to fade, growing clearer with every passing second.
“Ah…”
A soft groan escaped me as I turned my head beside me.
No one was there. Just yesterday, she had been right beside me.
I scanned the room in confusion, then froze the moment my eyes landed on the scene.
“Ah, you’re awake, Lucian?”
Reia stood by the window, leaning against the frame while watching the sunrise paint the sky in soft hues.
She wore only a thin shirt, and the morning light streaming through the gap made her golden hair glow with an almost ethereal shimmer.
The way the fabric clung slightly to her form was strangely captivating.
It felt as if an angel had descended right in front of me, whispering secrets just for my ears.
Her wings, pure and white, were so close to unfurling that I half expected her to rise into the sky and vanish.
“Reia?”
“…Ah, yeah. S-sorry. You’re just… too beautiful…”
I was going mad. What on earth was I rambling about? Had I not fully sobered up? I shook my head vigorously.
I was about to deliver the usual formal greeting—*How did you sleep?*—when…
“?”
Reia had vanished from my sight.
She couldn’t possibly have turned into an angel and flown away. What was this?
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, I was swept into her arms and tumbled back onto the bed.
Unlike yesterday, I lay beneath her now, the warm weight of her body pressing down on top.
The sunlight pouring through the window bathed the room in golden warmth, making Reia’s silhouette stand out even more vividly.
It was so real that I could almost believe there were wings behind her.
I had checked yesterday. There were none.
“Say it again.”
“Hm?”
“Earlier. What did you say?”
“That… that part. Do I *have* to say it again? It just slipped out… I wasn’t even aware…”
“Slipped out. Then what? Sleep-talking? Or just nonsense?”
“…Neither. It was… it was the truth. My true feelings.”
I didn’t want to break the mood by making light of it.
So I answered with genuine embarrassment, and Reia responded with the gentlest smile.
Then she slowly lowered her body, pressing in with far more sweetness than before, demanding a kiss.
I didn’t refuse. I accepted it fully.
The girl straddling me, curling inward as she gave herself completely to the kiss, was so unbearably lovely and beautiful that my heart thudded so loudly I was sure she could hear it.
“…Lucian.”
“Hm?”
“I’m… dreaming right now, aren’t I?”
At her question, a laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
The sight of this angel—*my* angel—sharing the exact same worry made her seem endearingly cute.
And it only deepened the strange, undeniable sense that this reality was too wonderful to be real.
I turned my body and gently pushed her onto the bed.
Then I pulled her close, stroking her hair as I whispered,
“I was starting to think that too… but it turned out to be real.”
“Really? Really? This isn’t a dream, is it?”
“Yes. No. Every word we spoke yesterday, every touch… they were all real.”
“Then… does that mean I can…?”
“As you wished. The most precious person in the world to me, the most beautiful love… that’s what I am now.”
As I spoke, I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
It was a little silly, but what of it? She wasn’t just anyone anymore. She was my woman.
And even after the embarrassment of last night, Reia had held on with her lips pressed firmly together.
“…!”
“Ah, Reia. Why are you crying again? Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying. I’m… I’m not… I’m not crying…”
But her eyes were already brimming with tears.
In the end, sparkling droplets traced down her cheeks.
Feeling sorry for her, I pulled her even closer and patted her back.
She buried herself deeper into my embrace.
“I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry…”
“Why? What are you sorry for? Don’t be. There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“I’m so happy… so ridiculously happy. It felt like I was going to fly… but I keep crying… I don’t know why…”
“It’s fine. It’s fine, Reia.”
“I’m sorry…”
I knew people like this. I knew it well.
That was why I kept comforting the girl wrapped securely in my arms.
Only when her chest had grown wet with her tears did she finally stop.
I held her for a moment longer, then picked her up exactly as I had last night and carried her to the window.
Reia, still in my arms, suddenly blushed.
“Were you watching something out here?”
“Just… outside.”
“Just outside? You were watching?”
“It’s always been a beautiful morning view, but today it felt especially stunning. I wondered why… then I saw you wake up in bed. I understood why I felt so excited. Why everything seemed so beautiful.”
Following her gaze, I looked out at the academy grounds now bathed in the first light of Sunday morning.
It made sense. Seeing the place like this, I could finally understand why she had felt so moved.
If I had been alone, it would simply have been a pleasant weekend morning.
But with Reia beside me, the scene looked completely different from the usual.
I gazed at the girl in my arms for a moment, then kissed her cheek again.
Normally I would have been too shy to do this.
Thinking of yesterday’s Reia, though, it felt right that I should be the one to reach out first.
She let out a small sigh of surprise, then her cheeks flushed bright red.
Seeing ripe persimmons, I leaned in again—only for her to shake her head.
“Why?”
“I-I’m embarrassed. Stop already.”
“I’m fine with it. And Reia, you’re fine too, you know.”
“Even so… it’s enough right now. It’s still a little embarrassing for you to come to me first…”
“It’s very different from yesterday night…”
“N-never mind! Don’t talk about that!”
“Why? You were the one who boldly came to me yesterday, and now…?”
“Don’t! Idiot! Stop! Don’t say it!”
Reia slapped my chest with a loud *papapap*!
She was no delicate girl. That slap stung more than I expected.
At first it felt like “Ouch!” but after a few seconds, an automatic “Ouch!” escaped my lips.
“Ah, I get it! Stop! It hurts!!”
“Don’t. Got it?! Even if I do it, I’m the one who’ll decide! Understood?”
“I have no idea what that completely unreasonable demand is, but I understand. I’ll do exactly as you say.”
Reia let out a relieved sigh and whispered that I should put her down.
I carefully lowered her to the floor, and the soft *thud* of her bare feet landing echoed.
“Are you okay? It must hurt a lot if it’s your first time. It’ll be stiff too.”
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s just a little sore… but bearable…”
“Wait—wait a second.”
“Why? Does it hurt a lot?”
“H-how do you know that?”
“…Huh?”
“That’s how you were just talking—like you’ve seen it many times, like you understand it perfectly, like you know because someone else told you it hurts.”
Wait—how did this happen? Of course I would know, right? I tried to answer, but remembered this world was different and quickly fell silent.
Reia gave me a curious look as I searched for words.
Then I remembered the red flowers blooming on the bed yesterday and spoke quickly.
“Blood! That’s why blood came out yesterday!”
“Eh? Blood?”
“Yeah. Look at the sheets. When we… you and I… blood came out from inside you. So…”
“…You took my symbol of purity.”
“Eh? I-I see…”
Reia stared at me for a moment.
Then she suddenly averted her gaze and timidly opened her lips.
“How… was it?”
“How was it?”
“So… I wanted to ask you… but… how… how was it?”
“Well… it was really good. That… um… it was nice…?”
I felt my face burning with embarrassment as I spoke.
It wasn’t anyone else—it was Reia asking. I couldn’t refuse to answer.
I had given her the first thing I had treasured my whole life, the purity of a woman.
Whatever she wanted, whatever she demanded, I would give it to her.
When she heard my answer, Reia’s cheeks flushed, and she murmured softly, “That’s good to hear…”
Then, remembering yesterday, she suddenly covered her face with a dramatic *ayy*!
She had been so bold last night… but now she was like this. It was clear she had been far braver than usual because she had been drunk and unaware.
For a while she writhed in embarrassment on the bed.
Then she sat on the edge.
Since she seemed unsure standing up yet, I sat beside her.
Reia suddenly looked thoughtful.
“It’s the weekend, isn’t it? It’s so quiet.”
“Weekends are sacred for everyone. We’re supposed to rest and sleep.”
“I was supposed to train today too…”
“Today as well?!”
“You still have a lot to catch up on. Honestly, beating the Forbes senior was a big deal.”
“No, since I won, it’s fine. Weekend means rest, Reia.”
“Don’t worry. Right now… it’s too hard to move.”
She said she was fine, but I could clearly see her legs trembling.
It must have hurt badly—throbbing, aching, stiff.
“Does anyone come looking for you on weekends?”
“No. On weekends I usually sit in my room reading until lunch. After that I only go out to swing my sword. So no one comes looking.”
“I thought you were super popular. Guess I was wrong?”
“…Even for that reason, I’ve been keeping this tone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lucian, you know my real self, so you come without reserve. But others don’t. If they keep up this etiquette and formality, they’ll keep their distance because of how stiff and cold it feels. That’s why they only admire me from afar—no real connection.”
Right. Reia had always been the girl who fit the word “wild” perfectly.
Because of it, she had been teased more harshly as a child.
When I met her at the academy and saw her using honorifics and formal speech with everyone—even with me—I had been thoroughly shocked.
Reia said she would head back to her room after resting a little.
It was still early; few students were roaming. It was the weekend, so they would all take a long nap.
She just needed to rest here a little longer and then sneak out secretly.
“And Lucian. You’re still not allowed more than one chocolate a day.”
“Eh? Why? We just finished the duel!”
“The duel is over, but my training isn’t. It’s just starting.”
“Hey Reia, that’s not real. You were barely holding on as it was. If it lasts a few more weeks, I might really collapse.”
“If I collapse, I’ll put a chocolate in your mouth.”
Reia stood up with effort and deliberately approached me, taking my hand.
She placed my palm gently against her chest and whispered in a sweet voice,
“I have no intention of stopping here. You want to get stronger, don’t you?”
“…!”
“Your rival must never stop. For you. For me. Become someone even more wonderful. One day, people will remember *you*, not me.”
“Reia.”
“And the lucky one holding that rival should be me. Can you do that?”
Being rivals felt far harder than I had imagined.
While thinking that, I pulled Reia close again and held her in my arms.