23. Encore Kiss
23. Encore Kiss
"You wanna have sex with me?"
"............"
I quietly set down the keyboard in my hands.
I took about three breaths to steady myself.
Once my mind had calmed, I asked Mars.
"Are you drunk?"
"............."
"Are you really drunk?"
"Hey!!"
Mars shouted in a burst of anger.
But no matter how you looked at it, she seemed completely stone cold sober.
"Ugh... honestly, honestly, besides that, there's no reason for you to help me!"
"If I said I'd pounce on you, would you just let it happen?"
"....Well, the law of the jungle is the rule of the world."
"You're carrying around a seriously dangerous ideology."
Still, that was exactly like Mars.
I moved my hands quickly again and fired a question back at Mars in response to hers.
"Then, Mars, if I had left you lying there yesterday and eliminated you, would that have put your mind at ease?"
"Well!... Obviously......"
"Obviously what?"
"......No, no matter what..."
Her voice wavered with conflict.
Survival.
A game of life and death.
The law of the jungle.
Therefore, if you could kill a wounded beast, no matter how cowardly, killing it was the way of the world.
In Mars's mind, she had judged that I had absolutely no reason to help her, but at the same time, she seemed to be slowly realizing how her feelings might have turned out if I hadn't.
"...What if. I'm saying what if."
Eventually, Mars spoke.
"Even if you had taken me down, I wouldn't have resented you."
Because that's the natural thing.
The natural order.
The way of the world.
At least, the 'world' Mars believed in ran on such an 'order.'
To that extent, even if she herself had been defeated, she would have no reason to resent 'Chrono'──but
"But once I got better... didn't you ever think I'd come after you?"
What if Chrono ended up resenting her?
Mars hid her inner feelings and turned things around to ask Chrono.
It was a classic Lu Bu-style question: What if the person you saved somehow ended up putting you in danger?
To that, I calmly tapped the keyboard and asked.
"Would you kill me?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if you'd kill me."
"Uh.... no?"
"Then it's fine."
".....That's not...?"
She sounded flustered.
Mars asked again.
"But, you know, there's a what if, right? Like suddenly hitting you in the back of the head and running away."
"Would you hit me?"
"............."
"You wouldn't, right?"
".......Yeah."
"Then isn't that enough?"
"................"
The silence grew even longer.
Finally, Mars spoke.
"You... how can you trust me that much?"
"...All of a sudden?"
"No, it's true. You know exactly how I act at the academy."
"I know that well."
A lone wolf.
A one-woman army.
Even her speech was rough as a rag and her every action utterly reckless.
So naturally, her bond rank with those around her was usually abysmal, scraping rock bottom.
"But that doesn't become a reason not to help you."
".........What?"
I knew.
I knew it all too well.
'If you get NTR'd toward the Abyss, there's really no answer.'
This was a special event concerning the later Ragnarok (Great War).
If Mars entered a dungeon with Bond Rank 3 or lower and filled her NTR Rank to 2 or higher, an event would trigger immediately where she switched sides to the Abyss.
Something about following whoever gives her strength.
Suddenly appearing in bikini armor and making an already mind-breaking event spiral further into the abyss.
'I absolutely can't let that happen.'
I had no intention of pursuing her.
But I couldn't send her into a corruption abyss either.
Of course, deciding that was a bit overstepping──but we already had a bond, so what could I do? I had to do my best as far as I could.
'Plus, there's no major penalty even if I give up on this event.'
If it meant preventing future NTR at the cost of a little trouble, it was only right to follow through.
I finished clearing the song lightly and took a brief breather.
"....What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. Why. Got a problem?"
"Yeah, a big one."
"So what, you pushover."
"............."
".....Dumbass."
Dumbass.
Pushover.
A stupidly nice bastard.
Mars muttered as she buried her head between her knees again.
"....Hey."
"What."
"I'll protect you."
"........Okay."
I wasn't really sure who was going to protect whom.
I just nodded roughly and chose the next song.
Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap.
"....?"
"What, dumbass."
As I started performing again, Mars crept closer to me.
"No... I just thought you're getting a little close?"
"Just do your own thing."
".........."
I felt like the distance had gotten a lot smaller.
But I decided to ignore it and just finish playing the song.
".......Hey."
"What."
"....Just once, can I hug you?"
"..........."
Thankfully, I didn't get a Miss this time.
Instead, my Perfects dropped to Good.
Thank goodness. That I hadn't activated All Perfect mode.
"Why aren't you answering? Are you ignoring me?"
"............."
"....I'll take that as a yes?"
"..........."
When I tried to ignore her, Mars just interpreted things however she pleased.
I ignored her as best I could and finished the song. Then Mars reached out and grabbed my shoulders.
"Just a moment. That's all."
"You're really gonna do it?"
"What, you want me to fake it?"
As if she didn't want to hear any more, Mars pulled me into a full frontal embrace.
"....It's cramped."
"You bitch?"
Mars's position looked like she was burying her face in my arms.
There was a size difference, and no matter how much I exercised, I was still nothing but a scrawny little bastard. My frame wasn't broad enough to wrap around Mars fully.
"You're the complete opposite of Papa."
But Mars didn't seem to care.
She just buried her face in my chest and mumbled.
"Scrawny, weak, kinda... reliable, and kinda not..."
"Hey, hey. Don't breathe on me like that. It tickles."
When I tried to push her head away with my hands, Mars instead pressed herself into me even further.
"Stroke my head, too."
"....I asked if you were crazy, and you really have gone insane, haven't you?"
"Hurry up."
"Ugh."
What the hell.
What on earth was this.
Was there something like this in the Bond Rank story?
I thought back over Mars's Bond Rank story in my head as I slowly stroked her hair.
"Fuuuuu......"
Mars exhaled softly, her face buried against my chest.
I could feel her lips puckering even through my clothes, and I really wished she'd stop.
"It really is... different from Papa."
Suddenly, she murmured something.
I spoke to Mars.
"If it's so different, why don't you go ask your Papa to do it?"
"If I go out right now, I'll be eliminated from the exam. You don't know that? Are you an idiot?"
"You are seriously...."
What a headache.
I felt like I shouldn't say another word.
I grabbed Mars's shoulders with both hands and pushed her away, and this time, Mars also let herself be pushed back without resistance.
Had she finally given up?
"....Let's kiss."
"???"
No, it was one step back to take two steps forward.
Mars strode right up to me and thrust her face close.
Naturally, at that action from Mars, I──No! I don't want to! Don't do it!
"Why? Got a problem?"
"There's so many problems it's difficult!"
"A kiss is something family does with each other all the time."
"I'm not family, you know?"
"Oh, it's fine. You won't wear out."
"My heart is wearing out!"
I pushed her away. I tried to push her away.
But against overwhelming muscle power, the resistance of a mere anchovy was meaningless.
"────Smack...!"
Ultimately, my lips were taken.
My lips were supposed to be solely for Ur...!
"....Yeah. It's different."
Having stolen my lips, Mars spoke.
Different. Something is different.
"Kissing Papa, the feeling when I do it with Papa and Mama... it wasn't like this...."
"....If it's all over, can you let go now?"
Now, my own feelings were starting to feel strange.
No matter how much I said I didn't like it, no matter how I denied it, I was still a man.
If she kept pressing herself on me, I couldn't help but start to 'feel that way'...
'Not NTR of all things... I can't...!'
Chrono might become Chrono.
I put all my strength into somehow prying Mars off me.
"Just one more. Let's do it one more time."
"You so──mmpf...?!"
Once again, lips met lips.
It wasn't like with Ur, where tongues pushed inside, or lips sucked and overlapped each other.
It was just a bird kiss, where lips simply met. The kind young children might do, a light kiss without any vulgarity, and yet──
"Haaah.....huuuu.....haah, huuuuh.....!!"
Because our lips were pressed together, there was no choice but to breathe through the nose.
The breathing grew increasingly ragged. The air from her nostrils grew hotter.
Mars completely wrapped her arms around me and pressed her lips even more painfully hard against mine.
By this point, it became confusing whether this was a kiss or a headbutt with lips.
What? The word's the same in the end?
'...My gums hurt.'
She was trying to really headbutt with her lips. There's got to be a difference.
When my gums finally hurt so much that I slapped Mars's shoulder hard with my hand, she finally pulled her face back.
"Puhuuuu..... Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Who kisses like that, all brute force?!"
".............."
"....Hey?"
Mars placed her hand blankly over her lips.
She looked at me with unfocused, hazy eyes and said,
"This side was a bit more... pleasant...."
"........."
I got a few chills.
Was it the feeling of prey caught in front of a predator?
In those eyes that looked ready to devour me at any moment──I, I, I──
"───Who's there?"
Mars flinched and turned her head to the side.
As if someone was definitely there, she drew her greatsword and warily scanned the surroundings.
The silent forest.
There was no sign of anyone──I sensed it.
'There's someone.'
In the vicinity.
And quite a lot of them.
Signs of people arrayed on all sides.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Chrono."
"Minerva....?"
Among them, the largest presence emerged from behind a tree and approached me.
"Mars, we still have matters to settle with us, don't we?"
"....Yeah. Quite a lot."
Mars glanced at me sharply.
Then she ground her teeth and spoke.
"Leave this kid alone."
".....You.."
Mars kept her gaze fixed on Minerva as she spoke to me.
"Run away. Those bastards are here because of me. I have no intention of causing you any more trouble."
".....Mars."
I could see she was prepared for life or death.
Fighting spirit, I should call it.
An intangible aura emanated from her body as she kept everyone around her in check.
Like a loyal retainer ready to sacrifice herself to protect her master.
At this, I slowly moved my feet.
"...What are you doing? Why aren't you running?"
"What do you mean."
I stepped next to Mars.
Mars looked at me and told me to run, but I didn't run.
Instead, I stood beside her. As if I intended to fight alongside her.
No.
Not as if. I fully intended to fight together.
"You... are you stupid? A pushover? Even a dumbass wouldn't do something like this!"
Mars yelled angrily, trying her best to push me away.
But I had already made up my mind.
"I was prepared for this from the moment I started treating you."
"Wha...?"
"You were chased here, your whole body covered in wounds. You think I couldn't guess?"
"....Chrono, you...!"
I turned my head toward Mars.
"Mars, you don't know how to kiss, do you?"
"...Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"No reason. Just."
So I can teach you how.
I slid my hand behind Mars's neck and pulled her toward me.
"Wha──?!"
A flustered expression.
Are you flustered? Honestly, so was I.
But what could I do?
'The skill's activation method is like this.'
The effect was great, but the method was really ambiguous.
"Mmph.....?!!"
Our lips overlapped.
And deeper inside.
"Chup....hngh?! Uh....haap....chuup, uuuuuh...?!!"
A deep kiss that even mixed tongues.
"Pwah! Haah, hah....haaah??!"
When I pulled my lips away, a transparent bridge connected us. Mars's face flushed bright red as she covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
"You....you, you, yooouuu!!"
"Don't get the wrong idea."
I wiped my own lips as I spoke.
"This is a 'trigger.' I had no choice but to do it."
".....Huh...?"
A faint blue aura surrounded Mars's entire body.
Seeing her stunned by her own change, I gave her a bright smile.
[Encore Kiss]
A skill that raised her abilities by more than double for a set duration──a terribly eroge-like buff skill that could only be activated by kissing.