Love Affair(1/2)

"It's just as Riveria said! Of course, you never know when to shut your mouth, huh?"

His words more than a question turned out to be a direct mockery. But at the teasing of the black-haired girl who reached the height of her neck with brunette eyes and clothes that exposed much of her body, the man did not reply.

But as the girl kept making fun of him, another man with brown eyes and hair covering his face connecting within the rather long beard tried somehow to solve the usual 'bad blood' that ran between the werewolf named Bete, and the woman belonging to the Amazon race called Tiona.

Seeing the situation unfolding in front of her, the woman who was trying in every way to prevent the familia from being seen in a bad light could only sigh. Even though she had managed to silence the man named Bete, she knew that this was only temporary...

---

Outside the Hostess of Fertility, Haru could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Although he had done nothing but spend a meal like the others in this pub, his mind was exhausted.

'I hope there are no more surprises left for the day...'

Expressing indirectly the desire to find some time to relax, Haru got lost in his thoughts for a few minutes.

"...Nyaa~!"

Hearing a mellow sound passing gently through his ears, Haru could recognize who was the owner. However, as soon as his eyes met the woman known as Chloe, he was left surprised. It was obvious that she would not "go out" with him in her working outfit, but the difference that made seeing her wearing a 'casual' dress was astonishing.

The dress was black, covering her shoulders halfway and then descend into a simple neckline, but that still tended to draw attention on her breasts but gracefully. The waist of the dress was thin, but in a tight fit.

Under the waist, the dress widens and left no uncovered parts, making the latter almost elegant, but at the same time remained a rather simple dress.

"You're not the least bit embarrassed even when they're this close to you... one of the few reasons I don't like you"

Seeing Chloe sticking her tongue out with a smile, all Haru could do was sigh. Of course, it didn't embarrass him because he wasn't looking at the spot she was trying to show off by leaning over him to meow in his ear while he wasn't paying attention. However, he wasn't immune to it. Which is why he preferred to look away.

"...You know I don't need you to like me, right?"

At his words, the smile Chloe had kept on her face the whole time did not fade at all.

"I know, at least I won't have to abstain from trying to conquer you since Syr is already interested."

Her words struck Haru, who could not respond to her as the so-called 'interest' seemed to be different in Chloe's opinion, something that he could not reciprocate at all.

"...You could say things in a less straightforward manner instead of shooting everything that comes into your mind at people..."

Shaking her head, Chloe replied as if her words were only obvious.

"If I did this, it wouldn't be funny at all-nya! One must be straightforward in life. Otherwise, it will continue to revolve around something repeatedly, without ever getting to what you want. But you don't need to hear myself saying that, since you are already of it, am I wrong-nya...?"

Chloe felt like she wasn't that different from Haru. This feeling continued to grow every time they exchanged words, and, now, she could almost feel as if Haru was practically the version of herself of the past, who already knew what she had to do, and yet she was stuck in her beliefs.

His words led Haru to think for a second. His thinking wasn't that different from what Chloe was describing. If he had decided to 'go around' instead of pointing to sincerity, at this time it is very likely he would not even find yourself here to talk to her, so to say that was not true would be one of the biggest lies that Haru could have said.

"...You're not wrong"

But after the two continued for a while this conversation, the latter dragged away Haru from the Hostess of Fertility...

---

"...Which of these clothes do you think would look good on me-nya? I want you to choose one!"

Her words led Haru to sigh.

"Can you remind me how we ended up in a clothing store...? Anyway, I think they would all suit you without a doubt."

As far as Chloe had told him, what they had to do was to delve into their previous 'conversation' in the pub, yet the latter had taken him to a clothing store as if nothing had happened.

"...You think so? If only you wanted to, a lot of girls would be interested in someone like you-nya."

Girls have different tastes and each one has their own 'ideal types'. But many of them likely prefer to be appreciated with sincerity, too bad that she preferred more immature guys who tried to express their feelings with the embarrassment that youth and less than zero experience in these things lead them to have.

"I'm not interested in relationships like that, and even if I was, it's not that easy. Girls may be interested in me, but I may not be interested in them either."

Even if Haru had no memory of Asumi and was transported to Danmachi's world, almost no girl could likely reach his heart. This feeling was not a sign of boasting or confidence in being able to find someone when he wanted, but an analysis of his 'tastes' in terms of girls.

Even if Haru doesn't consider himself to be such a selective person, he hardly realizes when he's in love, and often tended not to reveal his feelings at all, just like it would have happened with Asumi if his illness didn't kick in.

His words did not surprise Chloe at all. After everything they had talked about, she was pretty sure those words were telling the truth. It's quite difficult to be in a relationship with someone like him, just because it was obvious from how they had spoken that the person previously in his life had left a sign so great no girl could hope to change. Long story short, only a fool would chase Haru to try chasing him for as long as it would've taken.

"...There are so many dumb people in this world. I know it's hard to bear whatever happened to you-nya, but if you care enough about others, give them a chance. You may not be interested at this moment, but if you continue to repress your feelings only because of that, you'll never find true happiness, even if you live for 80-90 years, is this what you desire-nya?"

There were too many things Haru wasn't considering. Being an adventurer will undoubtedly bring him fame, depending on his level. His appearance was not bad at all and indeed, the presence of rather definite muscles attracted a lot of females. His personality was rather attractive, although boring in some ways. In a nutshell, Haru could become the ideal man for many women, and if he intended to reject them all just because his previous flame had passed, then Haru was making the biggest mistake of his life.

Leaving him with these words, Chloe decided to try on the clothes while Haru could not help but ponder about her words

'I'm not repressing my feelings though..'

Her words struck something inside him, but he was pretty sure the reason he wasn't interested was due love to Asumi. Although he was told to live life to the best a number too many times, the thing was not related to finding love... That was a chapter in his life that Haru had closed in his previous world when he closed his eyes that day...

'Even if I found love here, could I ever make a girl happy by still being in love with another person?'

He had acted following his feelings in his previous world and it had brought an enormous amount of pain that Asumi had to endure alone, which even now put an enormous burden on Haru, but the matter was different. Even if he fell in love with a girl in this world, could he make her happy, thinking only of her and giving her the best she could offer? If he could not do this, then Haru preferred to leave himself alone, just because he no longer wanted to hurt anyone with his immature behaviour.

'...I'd rather be alone than hurt someone I love. And even if there were all the ideal conditions, I can't imagine a future where I don't love Asumi anymore.'

His thoughts remained similar to his previous world. While he was in love with Asumi, getting together with someone else was equivalent to betrayal for him, which was against his principles. This thought made him stop pondering about Chloe's words as an uncertain answer was given to the question rising in his mind.

---

(I hope with this chapter you'll be able to understand more about Haru's tastes and his overall situation love-wise.)

(I'll refer to someone's 'sounds' or 'noises' as I know them in English. However, they will be written in Japanese when I use "". Hope this clears your doubts if you noticed it before. Join us on discord if you want to be aware when I post or participate in polls! Your vote matters :c discord.gg/y8VBZAp I'm doing my best for the story, and I'm sorry school and several other things are forcing me to slow down in my writing...I hope to restore the 2ch/day when I'll have time to do so.)