The First Kiss

Eden gazed towards the sky, turned around, and started walking towards his room. He was having mixed feelings of euphoria, nervousness, and excitement.

He was rubbing his hands in excitement while his face had a thrilled smile on it. His body was slightly trembling in nervousness.

"What's this feeling?"

He mumbled, strolling forward. He had butterflies in his stomach.

Shortly, he arrived in front of his dorm room. But instead of entering the room, he gazed at the knob, musing silently,

'Why am I getting afraid now? I mean, it's not a bad feeling, but nervousness is getting the better of me.'

Later, he sighed inwardly and finally grabbed the knob, adding,

'Come on, I can do this! I won't lose! If she's really my lady's fragment, then she does have feelings for me…just like my lady had…'

*Creak!*

Finally, as he turned the knob, the door opened.

"Hmm?"

He took a peek inside, but only darkness was what he perceived.

"Why doesn't she turn on the lights?"

Eden mumbled and stepped forward, adding,

"Has she gone to sleep?"

Gazing around, he arrived in front of her bed, trying to get a glimpse of whether she was sleeping or not.

After all, it's a win-win for him. If she was sleeping, then he would get the chance to see her cute sleeping face, and if she wasn't sleeping, then he might be able to strike up a conversation with her.

"Hmm? She's not here?"

Eden tilted his head after noticing the blanket on her bed.

"Heh?!"

Suddenly, a surprised voice came out of his mouth as someone hugged him from behind.

His face shaped a stunned look as two feminine arms wrapped around his belly, and someone nuzzled him from behind.

"E-Emilie…?"

He called out, wondering whether it was Emilie or someone else. After all, Emilie would never embrace him like that. Or at least, that's what Eden thought.

"Yes?"

While nuzzling against his back, Emilie responded in her angelic voice.

'Am I in heaven already?!'

Eden screamed inwardly and deliberately gazed towards her, asking,

"Have you already fallen for me? Because you see, actions speak louder than words, after all."

He sounded a little sheepish. In any case, this was an assault of her cuteness toward him.

"Nah, not yet."

In a prideful voice like an aristocrat, Emilie closed her eyes and chuckled.

"I'm just testing your limit. Since I'm eager to see how you'll control the charm of the great Emilie Sakurasou."

"Ooh, I see."

Eden shuttered with his hands vibrating but screamed inwardly,

'Why is my body reacting this way?! There's no way I'll get embarrassed like this!'

Then, he added,

'Yes, that's right! I'm not feeling that embarrassed! It's just my body! I swear, it's my body that's making me this way!!!'

"Ding!"

Yet, out of habit, the system interjected his thoughts, commenting,

[It's your body, host. Whatever you feel, it'll react that way. Just accept it. You're becoming a simp for her.]

'I'm not!! But again, even if I'm, so what? She's mine, alright?!'

Eden shot back inwardly after his pride got hurt by the system's comment.

"Hmm?"

Emilie noticed that Eden's body was shaking. As a coquettish smile shaped her face, she slowly released Eden, commenting,

"Is your body shaking, Eden? How cute~"

"Ha, not really; it's just cold. Nothing much."

Denying the fact that he was nervous out of pride, Eden gazed at her, adding,

"But that's unexpected. To think that you'll make a move first."

"Oh, please."

Emilie snorted and folded her arms, replying,

"Don't go so high on yourself. As I said, I'm just testing you. It appears like you're a wimp, after all."

"?!"

Her words finally managed to hurt Eden's manly pride as an annoyed look shaped his face. He turned towards Emilie and before she could even react, he pinned her against his bed.

"Wha–?!"

Emilie's face turned bright red after getting pinned by someone for the first time.

She started shaking in embarrassment and glared at Eden, trying to say something, but unfortunately, no words came out of her mouth.

"Sometimes, it's better to control your mouth, my lady."

Eden chastised her a little but didn't let go of Emilie's arms. Instead, he looked directly into her eyes and whispered into her ears,

"Am I the only one falling for the great Emilie Sakurasou? I guess so because I can't get enough of your beauty, my lady."

Emilie was left frozen, and her face was as red as a ripe tomato. She couldn't take it any longer, so she tried to struggle herself and said in a harsh tone,

"A-Alright, l-let me go now…"

Emilie's heart was racing, and her face was still red.

But this time, the redness was for another reason—a different reason than before.

She wanted to say something to him, but her embarrassment stopped her from talking.

She finally found the courage to speak.

"W-Why are you being so close to me?"

She looked confused since she ended up asking something else than what she planned, but her eyes also had a glimmer of a feeling that even she was unaware of.

"Why, you ask?"

Eden laughed over her question, got closer to her face, and committed,

"Because I'll make you know what love feels like, my lady~ This is…what I resolve upon, no?"

Although Eden felt uneasy doing this out of fear of getting hated by her, he wouldn't be able to control his desire for her to experience love and make her his, even though she was meant to be his.

Emilie blushed even harder as Eden's face came closer to her. But this time, the blushing wasn't due to embarrassment.

She nervously smiled at Eden and replied,

"What if I end up not liking any of this love thing? What if you become boring or a bother to me?"

She was trying to cover up her newly awakened feelings, which were getting stronger every minute. But she was too prideful to accept them.

"It won't happen."

Eden smiled gently with the utmost trust since he knew that Emilie was one of Lady Celestia's fragments.

Emilie couldn't believe the confidence that Eden had shown, and still, she remained a bit doubtful.

"But... What if it does happen? What if I never felt this feeling you call 'Love'?"

As these thoughts went through her mind, her cheeks turned red again. She was clearly confused about what this feeling was.

"Then…" Eden gently placed his right palm on her left cheek, replying in a hushed voice, "I'll create this feeling within you, even if it means bringing down heaven for you, my Emilie~"

His words reflected his sheer confidence since he already desired to bring down heaven at whatever cost it would take!

Seeing Eden's actions, Emilie's face turned red again as she nervously smiled.

But this time, it was clearly out of love. For the first time, she felt the full awakening of an unknown sensation in her heart that she was unaware of.

Something that she didn't understand at all. It was like she was so close to Eden as if she could kiss him right now if she dared to do so.

She closed her eyes as a way to hide her strange feelings toward him, but her body was reacting differently, as she could feel her heart racing and her fingers shaking.

'Oh, god... What is this feeling?! It's so weird!'

She thought while gulping down her saliva in apprehension.

Eden took notice of the embarrassment on Emilie's face and thought to himself,

'Oh, so she really is a Tsundere.'

He didn't give much attention to her harsh words as he started thinking, 'What if I kiss her? She's so cute...Should I do it or should I not?'

He looked at Emilie. Her cheeks were as red as a rose. Noticing this, Eden's eyes glimmered as he nodded,

'Yes, why not give her a kiss?'

He leaned forward slowly towards Emilie.

Emilie noticed the sudden closeness of Eden's face, and her eyes opened.

She saw Eden's face just a few centimeters away.

'Huh?! What is he doing?!' She thought, adding, 'Why is he so close to my face like this?'

However, Eden, on the contrary, halted suddenly as he realized something.

'Hey...ain't I getting a little too forward?!'

Instead of kissing her, he diverts his eyes while biting his lips.

He wanted to kiss her, but as usual, the fear got the best of him.

Emilie noticed Eden biting his lips as if to control his emotions. Then, she felt an inevitable desire to feel his lips, but she had no courage to ask for it.

So, she just closed her eyes, hoping for Eden to make the first move again.

She was feeling very vulnerable and shy since Eden's face was closer to hers. She was confused about what to do next.

With thoughts racing inside her mind, she wondered,

'Should I let him kiss me or not? Would it be wrong to let him kiss me?'

'Maybe this is what love feels like; who knows? Is this how Jesse used to feel when her fiancé kissed her?'

Eden noticed that she had closed her eyes again.

'Does she…want a kiss? For real?!'

Eden wondered, but he wasn't sure. So he decided to take a gamble.

If it worked in his favor, then there's no problem. And if not, he will just apologize.

Gulping down the saliva in his mouth again, he leaned closer to her face again.

Close enough that the tips of their noses touched.

"Uhm."

Emily felt his breath on her face, and her mind was telling her, "Kiss him," and yet she just couldn't do it.

She was so close to him that she could even smell his scent, and she just couldn't deny this feeling her heart was having.

Her whole body was trembling. The feeling she was having right now was too much for her to bear.

She couldn't even able to think straight. Eden being so close to her were things she never imagined before.

She was feeling this unknown feeling for the first time.

Their lips almost touched, but unexpectedly,

*BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!*

An unexpected explosion happened outside, causing the whole dorm to shake.

"Ugh!"

Unfortunately, Eden's balance was disturbed as he fell on Emilie, and whether it was a coincidence or not, their lips touched deeply, making their eyes dilate in surprise.

Emilie felt lost in Eden's embrace once his body fell on her and their lips finally connected.

For a moment, she completely forgot about her surroundings.

She was in a world of her own, thinking of what was happening to her.

'Did he just kiss me....?'

While Eden tasted a unique variety of honey that he had never thought of before. For a moment, he closed his eyes to enjoy this precious moment.

*BOOOOOOOM*

Unexpectedly, their joy didn't last long as another explosion transpired outside.

They opened their eyes again and got up from the bed.

"What's going on?"

Eden asked in alert as he gazed outside the window.

"Is that?!"

Emilie, whose face was still red due to the kiss, gasped as she noticed so many white-hooded people outside the dorm.

"Huh? Who are they?"

Noticing them, Eden questioned her with a puzzled look, but his question wasn't left unanswered as the system finally made its signature "ding" noise, reporting.

[The Assault of the White Devil Organization has started!]

[Task:- Thwart victory!]

[Reward:- one million points with a mysterious reward!]

Hearing the system's testimony, the panicked expression on Eden's face vanished and a dark grin shaped over his face.

His crimson eyes glinted, and almost forgetting that Emilie was still there, he remarked,

"Let's start the hunt then!"