Pause System: Harem In The Apocalypse

Ruby's quiet figure could be seen sat by the edge of the ship. She was on her own and staring off into the distance.

It was a little past dawn, and so the sky was still a little yellow. She slowly turned her head downwards before watching as the tears dropped down one by one onto the her legs.

"...Gray you idiot."

"How could you..." She cried.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing out.

She repeatedly rubbed her eyes, but they would surge out on their own again and again as memories of him would flash through her mind.

Memories of the times he had saved her.

Memories of the times they spent having fun at the festival.

Memories of the words he had said to her, of the times they kissed and made love to one another.

All those memories came flowing in, making it all more painful than she could ever imagine.

Her heart felt like it was breaking to pieces. She couldn't hold it in.

She raised her head, gazing into the far distance again before shouting.

"Gray! You idiot!!!"

Her nose and ears were bright red, her throat hurt and her eyes felt puffy. It was such a bad feeling. And to make it worst, she couldn't help but think about what happened at the table just now.

She felt so embarrassed that she wished that someone with a memory altering ability could have showed up and

-Memory

Violet and Aurora were openly flirting with him on the table even while they ate.

"Why do you ask? Don't tell me you also..."

The cheeky smile on Violet's face was what annoyed Ruby the most about it all.

-Memory End.

"Yeah! You're right! I also love Gray!! I love him a lot!! I love-love-love-love-love-love him a lot more than any of you!"

"Which is why...!"

"It hurts so much..."

Ruby clenched the air above her chest where her heart was.

After having shouted out everything she needed to, she quieted down and stayed silent for the following seconds.

That silence only lasted a moment however, as someone called out to her.

"...Ruby..."

Ruby's eyes widened, she raised her arms up in a fighting stance, and almost leapt off the ship from both surprise and fear as the source came from right beside her.

With her head turned to the right, she was shocked to find Gray seated right there beside her.

"G-Gray!? H-How long have you been there??"

Gray rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uhm... Since the idiot part."

Ruby's face turned bright red as she heard that.

'If he heard the idiot part then that means he also heard...'

-Memory

"Yeah! You're right! I also like Gray!! I love him a lot!! I love-love-love-love-love-love him a lot more than any of you!"

-Memory End.

"Y-Y-You... Did you hear it!? What I said after that...!"

Ruby felt so embarrassed that she was stuttering at every word.

Gray smiled brightly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to overhear but... Yeah! I heard it!" He spoke proudly.

"AH!!! Stop smiling like that! You weren't supposed to hear that part!!"

"Why not...? It made me really happy." He replied with an even brighter smile.

Ruby felt even more embarrassed from his reaction, if she got any redder, she might as well have fainted.

With a pouting expression, she suddenly let out a high-pitched squeal before smacking both hands on her face to calm herself down.

It seemed to have an effect as after that, she stopped talking and lowered her head to avoid him seeing her tears or looking at him.

"It made you happy...? Why are you saying something like that now... You already have Violet and Aurora... You love them, don't you?"

"..."

"Go away... I don't need your pity..."

Gray really had no idea what to do. He ended up in this situation in the first place because he was selfish and not completely honest with them.

Because of this, he ended up hurting them.

He was scum, and he acknowledge it. Therefore, he decided to just be completely honest with all of them from now on, even if they would end up hating him for it.

"Yeah... I do love them."

A sharp ache surged through her heart as she heard his response.

"Because I loved them and couldn't pick between them, things ended up the way they are now."

'It hurts...' She thought to herself. 'I don't want to hear anymore...'

"If that's the case why!? Why did you do all those things with me if you liked them!? It's not fair!!" Why did you make me fall for you if things were going to end up this way!?"

Was he just playing with her feelings the whole time? Was she just a joke to him?

"Because I fell for you."

*Thump*

Ruby's pupils dilated.

"...Honestly, I didn't know things were going to end up this way. All I knew was that I wanted the three of you to stay together with me."

'Stop...' Ruby thought to herself.

"I was selfish... I couldn't choose and didn't think about how it might hurt you three..."

'Don't say that now...'

"But there's one thing that I did know... And that's that I..."

'Don't say it...!!'

"I love you, Ruby."

Ruby raised her head and looked him right in the eye as he said it.

No a trace of dishonesty could be seen in his expression nor heard in his voice, instead a flustered expression rested on the faces of the two.

Ruby rubbed her teary eyes repeating the words over and over.

"It's not fair... It's not fair... You can't just do that... You're selfish... You're a selfish idiot..." She pouted as she punched him weakly with her little fists.

Gray stood there with a helpless smile as her punches landed like a feather tickling him.

"You're a selfish idiot but..."

*Thump*

"I can't imagine what I'd do without you..."

Hearing her last words as he stared into her sparkling golden eyes set off something within him, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

The two's faces slowly drew closer to one another before their lips were only a few centimetres apart.

"Then... That means-"

*Kiss*

Gray was interrupted by Ruby suddenly moved in connecting their lips as she got past the final few centimetres.

The longer their lips stayed connected, the faster she could feel her heart being repaired.

'I'm the empress... if I were to love and marry someone It'd have to be the king or emperor of another nation with power... That is the responsibility that my title and bloodline comes with.'

'But I can't... I don't know what it is about him... But I just can't picture life without him... I don't care what anyone says... Or care about who else he might have his eyes on...'

'As long as there's still places for me in his heart then...'

*Smooch*

There lips parted, a bright smile appeared on Ruby's teary face before she said.

"I'll become the one you love the most."

Gray's eyes widened as she poked his nose after her bold declaration. He felt his chest fill up with an even warmer sensation than before.

"..."

He was both speechless and flustered.

And so was she after realising how straightforward what she had said was. But she didn't regret saying it.

Instead she got up and gestured for him to follow after.

"We left in a rush didn't we...? Let's head back before the others get worried..." Ruby muttered

"Yeha..." Gray replied as he slowly got up.

Ruby glanced back as she waited for him.

'...Honestly... That guy... He's going to end up giving me a heart attack one of these days...'

'He's hopeless...'

'And I'm... Even more hopeless for loving someone like him...'

-

Inside of the deck, at the kitchen table, the four girls along with Kylo and Lita were all engaged in a cheerful conversation.

'Those two have been out for a while... I wonder if they've made up.' Aurora wondered.

Just as the thought flashed by her mind, familiar figures appeared by the deck's door.

It was both of them. The tension around them had lifted and the mood was brighter.

"Looks like they made up." Violet whispered with a smile.

"Looks like they did." Aurora happily nodded.

The one who was the most worried out of all of them was Kylo.

'They're not going to get into a fight again are they...?'

'No... Surely not. They're more mature than that.'

-

A few minutes later.

-

The plates were empty, their stomachs were filled and the group finally moved onto discussions.

"So, what's the plan for now? Now that we're all assembled?" Violet asked.

"We'll be leaving towards the new base. Ruby's already explained the plan to me and I've already explained that we'll all take a short break before moving in to conquer the Labyrinth."

'The Labyrinth may be producing more monsters but based on what she said, there's at least another two to three months before it enters it's final stage. A few days of rest won't change anything.'

"I'm sure she had, did she tell you anything else? For example... Anything relationship wise?"Violet asked.

"Violet, now's not the time for this..." Aurora responded.

"But I'm sure you're curious too, aren't you?"

"Tell us, Gray. Have you two made up?" VIolet continued.