Saeko's Confession

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. 

December 24, x787. 

After sending off the guests, Alfonzo was in his makeshift workshop working on a new magic item. He had always wanted to create radio stations and music players for the magic vehicles, to make long trips a little less monotonous. And ever since he created a recording studio in his mansion, that desire became even stronger. 

However, in the past, other things always came up that needed his attention. But now, Alfonzo finally had the time to work on that project. So, he intended to have, at least a prototype finished by the weekend. That way, he would be able to work on the real thing with Ai when he came back to see Amar'e and his ladies. 

"*Sigh* Ai is still gonna be upset that I worked on this without her." Alfonzo muttered to himself while making the parts for the magic playing magic item. "Still, she's really got a talent for this kinda thing. Maybe I should fire her as a maid and hire her for Sixth Sense Holdings' R&D department." 

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!* 

"Well, it looks like she's here." Alfonzo whispered to himself with a smile. Then he put down what he was working on and turned to the door of the workshop and continued at a normal volume. "Come in." 

A moment later, the door to the workshop opened. Though it, Saeko entered. Through, unlike her usual confident demeanor, she was slightly blushing while not making eye contact with Alfonzo. 

Seeing Saeko's unusually shy expression, Alfonzo could not help widening his smile. However, he did not speak, waiting for Saeko to tell him why she was here. 

Saeko, on the other hand, after closing the door to the workshop, slowly closed the distance between herself and Alfonzo . Then, when she was at a comfortable speaking distance, although she did not speak, she stole a glance at him. And when she saw the smile on his face, she felt even more shy. 

'He knows why I'm here.' Saeko thought to herself with butterflies in her stomach. 'What am I thinking, of course he knows why I'm here. I know he's skilled enough to have sensed my emotions while we were sparring earlier. This is so embarrassing.' 

Like that, with Alfonzo seated in front of his workbench and Saeko standing not far away with her head lowered and the blush on her cheeks intensifying, the room fell into silence. However, Alfonzo did not leave it like that for too long. 

"So, do you need anything, Saeko?" Alfonzo asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips. 

Hearing Alfonzo's question, Saeko flinched. Though, it was so minute that if Alfonzo had not been paying attention to her, he would have missed it. 

"I… Um… wanted to talk to you about… something." Saeko stammered out. 

"Okay, I'm all ears." Alfonzo said, his teasing smile not leaving his lips. 

Once again, Saeko stole a glance at Alfonzo. And when she once again saw that smile, her shyness increased. Despite that, she took a deep breath to say what she wanted to say. 

"During our spar this evening, I could… feel… your fondness for me, you know." Saeko said quietly. 

"Yeah, I could feel yours, too." Alfonzo said with a nod. "But if you needed the spar to tell that I like you, then you really haven't been paying attention." 

"*Sigh* I always had an idea about that." Saeko admitted. "but I was too scared to confirm it. I'm sure you've been able to notice that I have a little problem, right?" 

"You're talking about the way you enjoy inflicting violence on others, right?" Alfonzo asked, his smile fading as he did so. 

"Yes." Saeko replied pensively. "Because of that, I was afraid of how you'd react." 

"Well, you shouldn't have been." Alfonzo replied, his expression morphing into a wry smile. "I've only seen you act that way with your enemies, so far. Besides, I get along just fine with Irene. And she's a pretty high-level sadist. Laki's a sadist, too, and I---" 

"And she's the only one of the girls who have known you since childhood that you rejected." Saeko said, interrupting Alfonzo's reply. "And after hearing that, I didn't think you would accept me either. Because although she's a sadist, Laki doesn't genuinely enjoy hurting people. Something I do enjoy, which makes me way worse." 

With that, the room fell silent and Saeko once again lowered her head. 

*Sigh* I think you're under a misconception, Saeko." Alfonzo said softly. "The reason I didn't accept Laki has nothing to do with her sadism." 

Hearing that, Saeko once again raised her head. 

"I don't know who told you about me rejecting Laki's confession." Alfonzo continued. "It was done publicly, so it's not a secret. But whoever did, clearly didn't tell you the whole story." 

"It was Juvia… She somehow noticed that I liked you right after I joined the guild." Saeko murmured. 

"Well, that makes sense." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Back then, she kinda hated me… a lot. You know, since I had stolen away one of her 'soul mates'." 

As he spoke the words, "soul mates," Alfonzo raised his hands to make air quotes. 

"But there is more to that story, you know?" Alfonzo continued, despite the look of realization that flashed across Saeko's face. "Besides, she wasn't even around to see the real reason why I rejected Laki." 

"Then, why did you reject her?" Saeko asked curiously. "From what I can tell, the two of you get along pretty well. Plus, she's quite pretty." 

"I can't deny either of those points." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "But those had nothing to do with it, either. The real reason I rejected her was because she wanted me to break up with Lici, Cana, Erza, and Sun.. Those four were my only girlfriends back then, by the way… to be with her alone." 

That caused Saeko to open her eyes wide in surprise. Then, her expression turned into a frown. 

'If I had only asked someone about it, I would have been able to find out about that much earlier.' Saeko thought to herself. 'But I had no idea how to bring up something like that to anyone. Besides, until I really felt how fond of me he was during our spar, I did not have the courage to tell him how I felt before this. *Sigh* If only I had thought things through, we could have had this conversation over a year ago.' 

"Yes, now that I think about it, Juvia was probably not the best source of information when it came to you." Saeko said in a frustrated tone. "Though, she has gotten better since then. I knew how much she… didn't like you back then. Yet, I still took her words at face value." 

In response, Alfonzo only shrugged his shoulders. 

"*Sigh* Now I feel kinda dumb for waiting this long." Saeko muttered. Then, with a resolute expression on her face, she continued while looking Alfonzo in the eyes. "If you don't mind, I'd like to tell you about what lead me to enjoying the violence I inflict on others." 

Alfonzo simply nodded in response while gesturing to a second chair. 

Sitting in the offered seat, Saeko told Alfonzo about how she had been returning from a competition with another swordsmanship dojo back when she was living in Takanosu. On her way home that evening, a man approached her while she was cutting between two buildings to save time. And how the man had every intension of violating her. Luckily, she had her practice sword on her, as she was returning from a competition, so she was able to defend herself. 

However, while fighting off her attacker, she heard one of the man's bones break after one of her strikes. An anguished scream tore from his throat after that. And when she heard those two sounds in succession, she explained that something about her changed, and that she wanted to hear more. 

So, she continued to hit him, despite the fact that he was no longer able to defend himself. In the end, she ended up beating him to death. Luckily, the knights in the town concluded that it was a case of self-defense. And the fact that the man who attacked her was suspected of several sexual crimes in the past, helped her case quite a bit, as well. 

"Ever since that day, I've been afraid of myself." Saeko continued after her story ended. "I was afraid that dark part of me would take over and I would hurt someone I care about in the same way. That fear even kept me from confessing to the boy I liked back at the academy. Because of it, I had convinced myself that I was undeserving of anyone's affection." 

Then, Saeko once again lowered her head while clenching her fists and gritting her teeth in frustration. A moment later, however, she smiled as she made eye contact with Alfonzo again. 

"That was until you saved me and the others from that horde of zombies." Saeko said. "Your strength, your swordsman ship, I was drawn to them…" 

Reaching that point, Saeko's smile turned into an embarrassed one. 

"… tasting your cooking added to that feeling, as well." Saeko said in a mosquito-like whisper. 

At that moment, Alfonzo had to use all his willpower to not laugh aloud. His friends had been telling him that he was using his cooking to conquer the hearts of maidens for a long time. So, hearing Saeko's embarrassed whispers, he could not help but think back to those conversations. 

A moment later, seemingly having not noticed Alfonzo's struggle, the resolute expression returned to Saeko's face as she continued. 

"Alfonzo, I like you." Saeko said in no uncertain terms. "In fact, it would not be an over exaggeration to say that I've fallen in love with you." 

In the next instant, Saeko slid off her chair, dropping to one knee in front of Alfonzo. At the same time, she [Requipped] her katana into her hand. Then, she unsheathed it and presented it to Alfonzo respectfully with both hands raised above her bowed head. 

"Therefore, from this day forward, I vow to give my body, heart, and soul to you and only you for the rest of my life." Saeko continued, the determination in her tone unwavering. "And should you require it, I shall become the sword that slays your enemies or the companion to keep you company during the lonely nights." 

Seeing Saeko's actions and hearing her declaration, Alfonzo could not help but freeze up in dumbfounded amazement. 

'I know that samurai and bushido exist in this world.' Alfonzo thought to himself while staring blankly at Saeko. 'Hell, the samurai from Naruto live in Iceberg. But I didn't think their doctrines existed in Fiore. Man, this is really awkward…" {A/N: From what I saw recently on the FT Wiki, Isvan was changed to Iceberg at some point. Not sure when, though.} 

Shaking his head, Alfonzo accepted Saeko's sword. Though, he did not know what to do after that. So, Using his [Metal Magic], he drew the sheath to him. Then, he sheathed the sword and handed it back to Saeko. Meanwhile, Saeko looked up at Alfonzo with apprehension. And when he sheathed her sword, that apprehension turned into disappointment, thinking that he had rejected her confession. 

"Saeko, I don't need a vow like that." Alfonzo said in a gentle tone. "I don't require your fealty." 

Saeko's expression dropped after hearing that. Now, she was sure that her confession had been rejected. As a result, she felt tears pooling in her eyes. 

"I'm no noble, Saeko." Alfonzo continued, completely aware of the misunderstanding Saeko was having. "I'm just a commoner. A very strong and very rich one, yes, but I'm still a commoner, nonetheless. So, the only thing I need from you is your affection. That's more than enough for me, okay? And if you can give me that, then, I'd be happy to have you as a girlfriend." 

Hearing that, Saeko raised her head in confusion. With that, the tears that had gathered in her eyes slid down her face. A moment later, after registering what Alfonzo said, even more tears fell from her eyes. However, these tears were decidedly happier in nature. 

Seeing the tears falling from Saeko's eyes, Alfonzo smiled gently as he reached out and wiped away her tears. This action snapped Saeko back to her senses. Then, she nodded her head while smiling beautifully. 

"I understand." Saeko said happily. "Thank you… Thank you for accepting me." 

With that, Saeko [Requipped] her katana back into her storage space. Then, she slowly reached forward, eventually wrapping her arms around Alfonzo, who pulled her up into his lap and initiated their first kiss. Then, after breaking the kiss, they spent the next while embracing tenderly as they talked about various topics. 

In the end, Saeko fell asleep on Alfonzo's lap. So, he carried her to her bedroom and tucked her into bed before going back to his own bedroom and going to sleep himself.