Ayame's Stigmata

The next day, Saturday morning.

The morning sun shone on the young girls who were jogging near the school park, plus the cool air made several other girls also do gymnastics and yoga near those places.

Nearby it was seen that Kouro was sitting on a park bench with Ayame beside him.

Kouro looked at the beautiful scenery with a thoughtful expression, before turning his gaze back because he felt the aura of death beside him.

"Kouro..." Ayame looked at Kouro from the side with a smile. "Why are you staring at those girls when there is a pretty girl beside you?!"

Kouro turned to look at Ayame with calm eyes, he looked up and down before nodding his head.

"You are indeed beautiful and cute coupled with your caring and cheerful personality, all men will definitely fall in love with you."

Hearing Kouro's outspoken praise made Ayane blush while holding her cheek to hide it from Kouro. 'Kyaa!! Kouro praised me! How is this? My heart is beating fast! '

"It is just..."

"It is just? "

Kouro didn't finish his sentence, he just glanced at Ayame's chest before shaking her head in pity.

"The flowers haven't bloomed yet." Kouro said in a melodic tone.

Ayame froze, she lowered her head before tightly clenching her fists, she turned slowly towards Kouro with a tick mark on her forehead.

"... Any last words?"

Kouro turned his gaze to the sky and said in a calm tone like a defendant about to be sentenced to death, "... Please forgive this servant for having such a narrow view that he doesn't understand noble beauty."

*BAM!*

...

Ayame clapped her hands before looking back at Kouro. "So… you wouldn't have summoned me here just to hear your jokes, would you?"

Ayame said while folding her arms, she was still annoyed by Kouro's words earlier.

And our defendant, apart from a big bump on his head, nothing had changed. Kouro then glanced at his status.

[HP: 24,000/24,400]

He returned his gaze back to Ayame before putting on a serious expression as if the previous incident didn't exist.

"Ayame... What is your purpose in becoming a Valkyrie?"

"Purpose? Why are you asking?" Ayame tilted her head.

Kouro looked ahead before saying in a gentle tone, "Kiana went to school here to find clues about her father. Mei studied here to be able to control her Herrscher powers for the better, while Bronya... I know her goal isn't simple either."

"They also have the power to achieve that goal, Kiana with her fighting experience and with the help of the principal Theresa, who is her aunt, Mei with her Herrscher powers and Bronya with her robot stand."

Kouro then turned to look at Ayame with eyes as calm as water. "So what's your goal... Ayame?"

"I… D-do you want to forbid me from becoming a Valkyrie?!"

Kouro shook his head, "After attending school here you must know how heavy a burden Valkyrie is. They are warriors, they are heroes, but at the same time they are fragile like glass."

"Because what they are fighting is not only Honkai but their friends who may have been corrupted because of their own Honkai energy."

"Look at Himeko, Don't think just because she gets drunk and lazy she doesn't deserve to be a Valkyrie, but she became like that because of the bitter experience she had after becoming a Valkyrie, and it wasn't once but many times."

Kouro paused and looked at Ayame worriedly, "I'm worried about you Ayame... I don't want to lose you, the power you have is just a natural stigmata that appeared when you were a child while your Herrscher power has been purified by Higokumaru."

Ayame's body shook, she lowered her head to hide her expression.

"Then how about you Kouro?!"

"You who don't have that all walked forward without caring even though your body was full of wounds! You were always like that, calmly facing everything alone… You saved Kiana-chan, Mei-senpai, Bronya-chan, even me… But who will save you later!?"

Ayame raised her head, she looked at Kouro with shining eyes.

"That's why I trained to be strong! Just to be able to help you Kouro..."

"Ayame..." Kouro was shocked before being touched. He didn't expect Ayame to aim to become a Valkyrie just to be able to help him.

Yes, Ayame's goal of becoming a Valkyrie is only one. She wants to be someone who can help Kouro. She wants to become someone Kouro can rely on. That's why she trains.

Ayame knows she is not as strong as Mei, not as smart as Bronya, not as wise as Fu Hua and inexperienced in fighting Honkai compared to Kiana.

All she had was the mutated stigmata that was on her back.

But there is a secret about the stigmata that she even keeps from her closest people, even Kouro.

Herrscher Ayame's consciousness is still there. She doesn't disappear after being purified but hides in her stigmata, which causes the stigmata to mutate.

Herrscher Ayame's consciousness is asleep to absorb Honkai's energy, but sometimes she wakes up to teach her some strange knowledge, which Herrscher Ayame calls knowledge from previous civilizations.

It's just that Herrscher's personality is a bit annoying, so Ayame doesn't really like her Herrscher's consciousness.

Well, luckily this awareness rarely wakes up at least once a month, so Ayame isn't irritated by her Herrscher consciousness.

Just when Ayame was thinking like this.

"Psst… Psst… Ayame." Kouro whispered.

"Y-yeah, Kouro?" Ayame came to her senses and looked at Kouro with her eyes slightly avoiding Kouro's gaze, she was a little embarrassed by her previous words.

Kouro pointed using his thumb towards the front.

Ayame followed the thumb's direction before noticing that all the girls who were jogging, gymnastics, yoga, or even other activities stopped and stared at her and Kouro.

Ayame who felt uncomfortable with their gazes then subconsciously looked at Kouro.

"H-how is this Kouro, they are all staring at us?"

"Well… Isn't it your own fault for speaking too loudly." Kouro said with a relaxed expression.

"But, Thanks Ayame, I didn't expect you to want to become a Valkyrie just to be able to help me, I really appreciate it." Kouro said with a big smile.

Ayame who saw Kouro's smile felt her heart beat fast and subconsciously made her face turn red as a tomato, 'Ahhh!!! This is why I love him!! '

Kouro stared ahead, before Ayame saw his movement stop as if remembering something.

"Ah, I almost forgot about that."

He then turned to look at Ayame and said in a happy tone. "Ayame, you want to become stronger, right? Tonight come to my house, I have something that can make you stronger."

"Eh?! Tonight, at your house, alone with you?!" Ayame said with a surprised expression.

Kouro nodded before standing up, he looked up at the sky which was about to be morning, after that he said goodbye to Ayame.

Ayame froze, there were too many emotions rising in her heart, from excitement, anticipation, and nervousness, because she felt that she was the first girl that Kouro invited to his house.

(A/N : Poor Ayame.)

"I have to wear nice clothes." Ayame smiled and chuckled to herself imagining her alone with Kouro.