Chapter 152 - Kisses

"Heh, seriously Ikarus? This is your masterful plan?"

"Just have faith in me Petra and watch the magic unfold, it'll work"

Me and Petra are currently chilling out at break time up on the school roof scoping out a potential place for Nat x Lotte to meet up. Directly below us at the side of the school building, is an alleyway perfect for a love confession or two if you understand my hinting...

Actually witnessing it go down is slightly difficult due to this wire fence being a little in the way but better this than falling off the roof I suppose. We should still be able to see and hear them though.

As for last night, we had a lovely romantic evening together basically just doing homework, eating dinner and then going to sleep. Her place is really cosy though, fits the stereotype of this anime world perfectly like everything else so I'll leave the finer details of description up to imagination. All it really lacked is a couple of parents trying to get too heavily involved with our love life but we don't get fake parents inside here unfortunately.

Then, in the morning, we just simply walked to school again. I have fake memories of this place like the others so describing something like this seems a little pointless. Just imagine we're in a Japanese high school romcom and leave it there, alright? I am sick of this world already though.

"So let me get this straight Ikarus. Nathan believes someone is confessing to him and Charlotte believes someone is doing the same?"

For the actual masterful plan I've conducted, there was two conveniently placed notes on several desks in the classroom that also have two anonymous confessions from someone in the class. Did have to try and make the handwriting a little different which was kinda tricky and not be seen, but both of them have definitely read the notes, I saw them reading it last lesson.

Conveniently enough, the boring couple are both coming from separate directions right now...

"It will work! Quiet now, they're here right on time..."

Both of them arrive at the alleyway together, stop for a second and quickly realize the other is apparently the one 'confessing'.

"Huh? It was you who wanted to confess Lotte? Isn't this a little odd?"

"You received something like that as well? Oh, that silly Ikarus-sama and her pranks, she's obviously played us both, it must've been her. I'm going to have to give her another detention now"

'Fuck's sake...'

Almost instantly, my plan has backfired and Petra can't help but quietly chuckle at my misfortune. I'm hoping this'll still work though, those two are more in love than people seem to realize. If me and Petra's love carried over, then their feelings must be the same even if they're braindead right now.

"At least this presents a good time to talk Lotte, you fancy having lunch together like the old times?"

"Lunch together? We've already been through this before Nat, a teacher and student can't date each other, end of"

'They even have history together? Turns out I was righter than I first realized, if that even makes sense'

"No one has to know; we'll just use the same spot we always do!"

"It's tempting... no! Sorry Nat, but all that'll happen is both our hearts will break again. We can't keep going through this same routine, it's not fair on me or you"

And of course, it's the forbidden love cliché some people love so well. It makes me want to scream in frustration but I still reckon this will turn out favourably. Petra however doesn't.

"This isn't going to work Ikarus, we're not even sure if they've gotten to the kissing stage in real life yet"

"I'm telling you Petra, those two are not as innocent as they let on! Just keep watching, their innocence disappears when they think people aren't watching"

Still watching on, I'm now starting to get worried this won't work but don't let Petra derail your confidence Ikarus! You only ever teased those two because they didn't like to be seen!

"You know this isn't right Nat. It doesn't matter how much we love each other; it'll always end badly"

"Then I'll leave, drop out and get a job somewhere so I won't be a student anymore! This cannot end on a technicality; you want this as much as I!"

'Argh, just hurry this up already. I cannot deal with this sort of boring romance!'

By now, Natty has even grabbed Charlotte by the shoulders, not aggressively or anything like that since he is feminine as hell right now. Watching yuri go down would be fun if it was more to my preferences, I guess it's still alright to watch.

"I erm... you're right but... screw it! I can always go repent for my sins later..."

And like the evil genius I am, both of them end up embracing each other in sweet lip action with the female knight being gobbled by the teacher turned succubus.

I always knew those two would eventually develop behind the scenes and it was always me noticing their development which actually made it slow down. At least that confirms they got way past the hand holding stage, I wonder if they've reached the love making one yet? I'm betting they have on that as well, no chance in hell am I asking about it though.

"We'll... talk about this later Nat. That was... lovely though"

"I wasn't kidding about all that Lotte, just keep it mind, okay?"

"Okay Nat, I promise I will..."

Both walk back off in separate directions while I obviously can't hide my grin towards Petra, I was also a lovestruck idiot once upon a time so I know how these sorts of scenes go. Now I'm just a love-teased idiot, much prefer this over anything else...

"Looks like you owe me a massive apology Petra, one couple down so one more to go. That's actually the first kiss I've seen them do that thinking about it, does it really count if Nathan's a girl though?"

"Heh, guess you were right then Ikarus, that was way easier than I thought it would be. Now we're onto the difficult part, do have an idea that may work though"

"Great! I'll follow your lead then. Should probably get back to class now though..."

__________

"Right class, this is the homework you'll need to complete this weekend. Please make sure you don't forget about it again"

'Heh, Charlotte has been looking flustered all day. I wonder who could've caused her to do that?'

"Erk, more homework!? Come on teacher, you've given us some everyday this week!"

Zeki does appear to be the most vocal and class clown out of us five students, would you expect him to be any different? He is speaking for all of us though, homework might be the single worst thing about school. And the crowds, and the bullies, and the everything else. It's really obvious I enjoyed my younger years, rather have that than what Petra's gone through though.

Anyways, after a long, hard day of intense boredom, the bell has already rung and Charlotte is giving out homework... actually, scrap that. She's stopped it now.

"Well... I guess I can go easy on you this time around. Just make sure you all come in"

'I guess teacher-sama is kinder than she first seems'

(Zeki) "That actually worked? Damn, teacher is really in a good mood today"

And so, all of us get up ready to leave again for the day. Beforehand, we need to say something real quick so we can enact the plan she wants to do. Not sure on everything just yet but I do know we need to invite them somewhere first.

"Me and Petra are having a quick party round hers later on today, are you two up for it?"

(Ariza) "Hmm... uh huh, that sounds oka-"

"Hang on one second orangey, what sort of party is it? If you're inviting loads of other people, count me out. Crowds suck"

'Huh, I guess all us phoenixes prefer smaller crowds it seems, I guess we're all pretty anti-sociable then'

"Heh, the sort of party with barely any people Zeki... and alcohol"

Petra whispers that alcohol part under her breath almost as if we really shouldn't be mentioning it, we are supposed to be at school I guess. Despite our actual ages, talking about booze like this could get us in a shit tonne of trouble by teacher-sama. Charlotte was always anti booze, main reason being it turns her really horny.

"Then you can definitely count both me and brother in. Is brown-hair boring going to be joining us as well?"

(Ikarus) "No, we already know Natty is busy"

Looking towards the leaving knight, his face seems pretty happy and almost a little suspicious as well, reckon he's got plans tonight that don't involve meeting someone...

I'm assuming those two lovers are going to meet up outside of school grounds. Best give them their privacy and don't involve them any further, we're nearly done after all. Well, not really considering this task will be much harder but still. Petra seems pretty confidant on completing this now.

"Great! Me and brother will head back to get changed first"

(Ariza) "Can't we just go like this? Uh, I guess not then..."

Zeki ends up taking Ariza's hand and basically drags her away to hurry on back to their homes. I guess Zeki's looking forward to this then, he's really going to be disappointed when he figures out what's going down.

'I guess that part was easy enough. Let's get home and see how she's going to do this then...'

__________

"Uh... what sort of party is this?"

"The best kind brother! Who need anyone else when just us four will do?"

All four of us are currently chilling in Petra's living cosy room, things have already been prepared for this 'party' with the coffee table now covered in bottles of alcohol and paper cups. Other than this room being dimly lit and classical music playing in the background, Petra's preparations have been purposely lacking. Not that it matters in the slightest, the entire point is to get them to kiss after all.

Petra's music tastes are kinda weird but I like how it's different, this world does seem to have its own theme to music, mostly being pretty energetic and lack of lyric based. Her playing classical sounds so out of place but she is over six-hundred Ikarus, she would have some old person tendencies.

I could go into extreme description on how every inch of this house is spotlessly clean and how living somewhere like this could warm your heart. but at the end of the day, I've made way too many anime comparisons already. I would love to live somewhere like this though but even Earth buildings would struggle to meet this happy vibe lingering around the place.

"Heh, you should try this Zeki and Ariza. Both me and Ikarus aren't fans but you two may like it"

'We aren't fans?'

Petra very quickly gets things rolling along by pouring them both a cup of the blue coloured liquor and I'm a little surprised why we aren't getting any as well.

"Are you sure this is okay Petra? We're not going to get in trouble because of this, right?"

"Erk, don't be like that brother! Sis is offering us alcohol; it would be insane to turn it down. Drink with me!"

Both of them do end up drinking the liquid and seem to enjoy it quite a bit, really can't remember drinking that before but Petra says we don't like it so I'll assume she's right.

"Can you come outside to check something with me Ikarus for a second?"

"Sure sure Petra"

Doing as she asks, both of us head into the kitchen while Petra's face has a mixture of guilt and slyness on it. I quickly close the door and I should probably know now what scheme we're going to conduct.

"So, what's your plan then Petra? Are we going to play spin the bottle or something like that? Maybe blindfold them and try something that way?"

You know, some of those ol'party games that can happen... if it isn't obvious yet, I never got invited to many parties as well. I much preferred the scene of a stiff drink at the local pub and getting drunk that way, now I sound like the old lovebird in our relationship.

"Heh, they both would still refuse so I've given them something a little more direct. That blue liquid is this world's version of a love potion"

Petra's drugged them with love potions? That won't work, right? We've seen what happens when we've all taken them before. The only person to ever have a reaction was Petra and she just turned a little horny.

"Love potions Petra? Didn't you say they only enhance feelings?"

"Heh, the ones inside this world are a little different than what you might expect Ikarus. There's a reason why we're out here and not in there right now, any second it'll kick in and we don't want to be in sight when it happens"

This evil woman of mine! This is actually quite the wicked plan and I'm all for seeing Petra showing her dark side a little more. Sure, it's not great for Zeki and Ariza but the end result justifies the means... Okay, I swear pure evil people say that. Eh, I'm slowly turning so who cares that much?

"So... we just leave it a minute and hopefully those two might kiss? Feel like your plan is as basic as mine was"

"Heh, guess it is Ikarus. You want to do the honours and see if we're good to go?"

"Nah, wait a little longer. I really don't want Zeki deciding he finally loves 'orangey' or something and getting in the way"

Giving it a minute or two, both of us walk back into the living room only to find both Zeki and Ariza making out! I instinctively look away from it as this just simply feels a little wrong but at the end of the day, this had to be done. Name me a better combination of partnerships we could've done and I'll have done it. Some of us were bound to be put in an uncomfortable position here and unfortunately, it's had to be our phoenix brethren.

"I guess I stand corrected as well Petra, this task was a hell of lot easier than it seemed"

"Heh, that was before I knew those potions existed. This world non-surprisingly has quite the selection on things related to forcing love like this. It's actually not great, really"

I'm in complete agreement with Petra, this place really isn't great. Those anime romcoms can be entertaining and all but you really wouldn't want to actually live in those worlds. No one watches them for realism anyways so why am I even bothering?

"This Aphrodite really is sus... Are you two done yet!?"

Finally clocking on to us two witnessing what's going on, both Zeki and Ariza suddenly stop kissing and finally realize what's just happened. Confusion and redness plagues their faces like a disease and I really can't help feeling like we've done something unforgivable right now.

"Erk, what the hell are we doing!? I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Zeki, wait! Uh, my head..."

Both of those two have extremely flustered faces and look to regret every second of what just occurred with Zeki running to the bathroom... Actually, Ariza seems to be handling this a little less seriously than Zeki and doesn't seem that disgusted... wait...

Nah, no chance of that. Had the slight feeling Ariza may not have hated it that much and maybe has a crush on him but that's bullshit, right? Yeah, utter bs, there's no way that's a thing. 

I still feel shit doing this though even if this was Petra's plan, it wouldn't have made any difference since I would've done the same exact thing. We could've spent a load of time trying to find some subtle and secretive way of doing this but alas, this was clearly extremely effective and got the job done.

'Me and Petra aren't fully taking the blame for this, Aphrodite and her tastes are massively at fault for this as well...'

__________

"So now then Petra, it's just down to us two to finish the deed. It's mad to think we haven't kissed yet inside here, doesn't help the mood massively sucks though"

After that 'party' came to a close with both Zeki and Ariza now questioning their life decisions, me and Petra are currently chilling on her balcony looking to the night sky trying to remove that guilty feeling festering over us. It doesn't matter how many times we justify it; this entire thing really isn't great. I'd have honestly felt less guilty nuking a thriving city than was we just did...

"Don't feel great as well Ikarus. We could always stay here a day longer and do it when we feel a little less guilty if you want"

Huh? Has Petra gone mad or something? Why would she want to stay inside a dungeon voluntarily? Every second we spend her, out bodies are undefended and exposed. I'm pretty sure dungeons have something to counteract it but still. We may just have to force a kiss out even if we don't want to right now.

"Are you alright Petra? Why would we want to stay here any longer?"

She ponders a little before giving me a response but it doesn't take long for me to understand her point.

"There's something happening tomorrow Ikarus that both of us could enjoy together, could be good to take our minds off it and we do tend to neglect going on actual dates or other things like that. Heh, we still haven't told the other couple we're getting married yet"

I guess she's got a point about the dating thing but it still seems a little risky though.

"You're not worried about the timespan or our bodies outside Petra?"

"Actually Ikarus, we're alright on that front. The timespan in this place is even slower than your headspace, a day would be nothing to worry about. The dungeon would have the same effect to anyone standing over our bodies as well so I think we're safe"

Well, that's good to know then. I'm not exactly sure what the scale of it was again but it couldn't have been long, maybe something like a minute equals an hour? Eh, I've actually forgotten that.

"You know, how can you even tell Petra? The timespan thing I mean"

"Something that Athena did. Everything feels slightly different now, almost as if I can sense things that aren't there. Even I'm not too sure about it all Ikarus, sort of like a six sense?"

Oh right, that blessing Athena gave Petra. It's kinda become a background thing because of all the teleporting and kissing shenanigans going on.

"That reminds me of something, what did your level end up as anyways? You stopped mentioning it pretty quickly"

"It's one off a thousand now Ikarus and doesn't appear to be rising anymore"

Petra's basically max level!?! What the fuck did Athena do to her?

"Are you feeling okay though? Last time I gained a load of levels, it either ended with me getting cursed or feeling like everything is in slow motion"

That's my main concern, just how she's adapting really. Remember that dragon descendant curse I had years ago? That was apparently due to a levelling and even that demon lord we killed made things like combat seem a little different.

"Heh, perfectly fine Ikarus, just my perception on the world seems to be a little different. I think it's broken everything a tad, and not in the way you're thinking"

Heh, she knew I was thinking of the overpowered sort of brokenness. Petra's basically that sort of broken anyways with me always being her lovely sidekick so her suddenly gaining six hundred plus levels in the blink of an eye isn't that big of a deal.

Would Petra be considered an demigod now or has Athena just broken her level counter? Eh, who knows? I couldn't care either way, she's still my lovebird and no heavenly being status would change that. I'd literally turn myself into a demon lord to stay by Petra side if it was needed, really can't see that becoming a thing though...

"Oh well then, I'm always up for you being a Goddess, being a level nine-nine-nine is basically the same thing. Let's make sure we avoid kissing till tomorrow so we can go on that date you want. I do warn you though, going that long fighting off my Petra addiction may prove an impossible task..."