135 Chapter 29: A peaceful night

Alex stayed at the bench for about half an hour just thinking about life. He was pretty sure even if he rejected Sagiri earlier she wouldn't give up, she's a very stubborn woman.

"I need a drink." With a sigh, he stood up from the bench and began to walk back towards the guest house where he's staying at.

He doubt Emi would really make him sleep on the couch....yeah she probably would. But he knew that with a little bit of sweet talk she won't be able to resist and let him on the bed.

However, on the way back to the guest house, he noticed that the Ohguro-ya was still open and has a light on.

Curious, he decided to check the place.

"Hm? Nonko, Tier, Amane?" He raised an eyebrow seeing those three girls still drinking while watching the sea.

"Alex-chan~" Nonko smiled and waved her hand, "Care for a drink? Its rum, Amane actually has a lot of this stuff."

Alex nodded as he looked around and asked, "Where are the others? Did they head back already?"

"Yep," Amane nodded as she poured a rum on a snifter on the table and pushed it towards Alex, "Your wife and kid already went back as well, though we did saw her talking with Chuuma chick before that."

"So....?" Alex trailed off, as he took the snifter with rum and slugged it down before taking the glass of water and ice and drank it.

(AN; Dunno about you guys, but when I drink with my friends and family we drink a cold water after downing a rum)

He then looked at the three plates on the table, two having some roasted fishes, the other some chopped pieces of beefs, and some junk foods as well.

He picked up a fork and took some beef and ate it before he sat down.

"So what happened?" He asked.

"Nothing really," Nonko answered as Amane once again poured a rum on the snifter and pushed it towards Harribel, "They just talked, no screaming or slashing, and most importantly, there's no blood."

".....I'm glad," Alex smiled, "Though I don't think Emi would really cut Sagiri apart, I'm still worried."

"Did she confessed to you?" Nonko asked as Harribel downed the rum and took a piece of roasted fish.

"Pfft! Ahahaha!" Amane laughed, "Is that why you're here? Your wife won't let you in because someone confessed to you?"

"Of course not," he frowned, giving Amane a slight glare, "she wouldn't do that....she wouldn't....she wouldn't....wouldn't she?"

He became doubtful.

In every world, in every era, heroes are always driven by emotions to achieve their goals—anger, hatred, love, or just simply because they couldn't bear someone suffering.

Emi, probably due to being a hero, can be easily affected by her emotions and it will affect her actions. Who knows, maybe because she was mad at him and she might not let him in their house.

Though, he was pretty sure he can easily convince that girl to let him in, she can't bear him after all.

"Ahaha, even you are doubtful," Amane grinned as she poured some rum in the snifter before pushing it towards Nonko.

Alex sighed and took out a cigarette. It isn't an ordinary cigarette, this thing is completely safe and harm-free, not only that it was made out of rare herbs and plants that would give whoever smoked this a dynamic vision, a god-speed impulse, thought acceleration, thought partition, illusion immunity, and also calms and relaxes one's mind and eases their soul.

He lip it up and put it on his lips as he inhaled the smoke to his mouth before exhaling it.

Nonko wrinkled her nose a little, "You smoke cigarettes?" She then grinned and took out her phone, "I'm gonna show this to Emi, see how she deals with you."

"That's not healthy," Amane added with a smile.

Harribel just remained silent. She doesn't even know what's a cigarette was.

"I'm not smoking cigarette," Alex gaze at the sea with a melancholic look, "but loneliness."

Silence. Nonko and Amane stared at him with wide eyes for a few moments, before they erupted in laughter.

Even Harribel has this small smirk on her face.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"AHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh my god," Nonko laughed as she wiped the tears that was gathering at the side of her eyes, "damn, I didn't think you had it in you."

"I admit though, that was a good one," Amane grinned as she wiped the tears in her eyes before she gaze at the sea with a melancholic look and spoke, "I'm not smoking cigarette, but loneliness."

"Pfft! Ahaha!" Nonko laughed as she looked at her phone, where an image of Alex sitting on a chair while gazing at the sea with a melancholic look can be seen.

The picture was pretty good, it even showed the moon hanging on the sky with Alex holding a cigarette, chairs and tables as his background, the shadings and even the lights was almost perfect.

"We can make a good meme out of this!" she laughed, "let me edit this real quick."

"Let me see, let me see," Amane and even Harribel leaned towards Nonko and looked at her phone showing the image of Alex.

"Damn, that was a good shot," Amane said in amazement, "You're pretty good at this!"

Harribel nodded her head in agreement.

Nonko gave a smug look, "Aren't I? Just so you know, I also work as a freelance photographer after I quit being a monster hunter!"

Well, she did do a lot of things that seems interesting after she almost lost her life when her bastard of a father sent some assassins to kill her due to his fear of her power.

Alex just snorted, he didn't bother with them and just let Nonko be.

"Oh, hey, its yours Alex," Amane smiled and pushed the snifter towards him.

Alex sighed and chugged it down before downing a glass of water.

Following that, the group of four, with one boy and three girls continue to drink until they finished three bottles of rum before finally deciding to head back.

They felt a little tipsy, but nothing they couldn't handle.

Harribel seems to have a very low alcohol tolerance compared to the other three though, as she was already down after they finished the first bottle and halved the second one.

"Don't worry, I'll carry her back." Nonko smiled as she piggyback ride the drunk and unconscious shark empress, who has this silly smile on her face.

"I'll be going now, ciao~" Amane grinned with flushed cheeks before she walked away.

Alex nodded at them before he also left and walked back towards the guest house.

He was walking slowly, thinking about what is he going to say to Emi. In the end though, he just shook his head.

No amount of preparation can help him with this. He'll just talk to her, he was pretty sure that the right words will just come out of his mouth.

After a few minutes he finally arrived at the guest house. He can see that the lights in the living room was still on, so Emi is probably still awake.

He looked at the doorknob and twisted it, sighing in relief when he found out that its not locked.

Opening the door, he slowly walks in before closing it.

"You're quite late,"

Alex smiled wryly as he turned around and looked at Emi who was sitting on the couch watching some shows on the TV.

She looked up from the TV to Alex and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

He shook his head, "Not yet."

"Hm," Emi nodded and stood up, "I've prepared some food, though its probably already cold so let me heat it up for a bit."

Alex remained silent and just stared at her. With a sigh, he followed her to the kitchen and sat down on a chair next to the table.

He looked at Emi, who put the food inside a microwave and couldn't help but ask, "Are you mad at me?"

Emi paused for only moment before shaking her head, "No, No I'm not mad. Why would I be?"

Alex sighed, "You know, with Sagiri's confession and all."

Emi sighed and turned around to face him, "Well, I'm not really mad, just uncomfortable. Its not your fault that Sagiri fell for you, and its certainly not her fault for falling for you. You can't use reason when you're in love, that's just how it is. Even if you know that you shouldn't be liking that person, even though you know that its not right, you just can't help it."

She smiled, "Trust me, I know that feeling quite well. After all, I did fall for you right?"

He remained silent, though he did smile at her.

"I really can't get mad at her for falling in love with you, doing so just doesn't sit well with me," she furrowed her brows, "it makes me feel like a possessive controlling freak who will lash out at anyone who obviously have feelings for you."

She shot him a glare, "Don't be mistaken though. If someone tried to take you from me, I won't hesitate to show them why my sword is called Better-Half."

Alex just smiled, "....So, how is your relationship with Sagiri? Are you two still good?"

Emi smiled and nodded, "Yeah. We talked earlier, and don't worry, we won't let this thing ruin our friendship."

She turned her back at him, "I chose you to be the only one for me Alex, so I hope that you'll do the same to me."

Alex smiled, "Don't worry. I'm yours as much as your mine."

Emi smiled, and with a "ding" sound, she took out the food from the microwave before placing it on the table in front of Alex.

"Here you go. Please dig in."

Alex smiled and looked at her, "So I take It I won't be sleeping on the couch tonight?"

"Pfft!" she almost erupted in laughter but managed to held it in. She looked at him with a funny look and asked, "Are you actually worried about that?"

He remained silent and averted his gaze.

Emi just smiled at him, "Don't worry, you can sleep in the bed with me."

Hearing that, his grin couldn't be more wider.