NOVEL NEXT [Vol. 11 pt. 25]
Once Fenrir was done talking to and relaxing with Saya on The Shoebill, he stepped off so that he could go and check up on everybody else… only to have somebody else seek him out first instead.
And that somebody was a Cassiel who was wearing a far scarier expression than normal on her face.
“C-Cass Cass?” Fenrir asked, taking a step back as Saya left his side to leave him on his own against her.
Cassiel didn’t say anything in response. Instead, she just kept on marching straight up him with the same expression a woman might wear when preparing to punch a cheating partner in the face.
“Did—did I do something wrong?” Fenrir asked, trying to get any sort of clue about why she was so upset, but nothing worked. She remained silent.
Once Cassiel reached him, she reached out toward him… grabbed him by his shirt, and pulled him close so that she could forcibly press her lips against his. The kiss lasted for a few moments, her expression softening by the second, before she finally looked relaxed and let their lips part. “Thanks,” she grumbled.
All Fenrir could do at that point was blink a couple of times in confusion. “You’re… welcome?”
“I’m gonna rant.”
“Go… for it?”
“What is it with stupid fucking edgy assholes trying to roleplay as a bunch of god damn fantasy rapists? Seriously, can’t they do anything more original? This is a fantasy world where they could literally be anything, and what do they do to try and be edgy? They act like rapists. How fucking unoriginal and cringe is that? Do you know what I had to listen to while I was kicking their asses? Those assholes just kept on talking about everything they want to do to me and,” Cassiel paused to punch the air before taking a deep breath. “I get it. Some people want to be bad guys. That’s fine. It’s a game. It’s roleplay. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to roleplay like I’m evil. But there are so many interesting ways to be evil that don’t rely on making your whole personality some wannabe asshole rapist. God, I hate lazy fucking bastards like that. So help me if you ever acted like that to anybody back when you were a griefer.”
“I promise I didn’t, and I didn’t let anybody else act like that, either. I mean, we could be sexual sometimes, but it was more like… if we knew somebody was homophobic, we’d act super gay and call him daddy, for example. We had a couple of people who joined up with us and thought it would be alright to troll others like that—by threatening rape and all that, even in games where that sort of thing wasn’t possible at all, but I always kicked them from the group when I heard that.”
“Good.” Cassiel sighed. “Seriously, it’s not even like… I don’t even fucking care anymore that they’re threatening to do that to me. Like, I’m not pissed off or afraid because I’m worried, I’m pissed off from how lazy and generic it is. Have some fucking creativity. Instead they’re all, ‘oh, look at you, I can’t wait to pin you down and fuck you,’ and other cringe shit like that. I almost wish I didn’t kill those bastards just so that I could torture some originality into them.” She raised both of her hands up in front of her, strangling the air as if there was a neck there. “You,” she looked up at Fenrir again, “are fucking me all night.”
Fenrir’s ears twitched from surprise before asking, “Are… are you really the Cassiel I know?”
“Since I already killed those bastards, the only way I can get back at them is to let you do to me everything that they were threatening to do to me.”
“This… feels like some kind of netorare even though I’m the one dating you and having sex with you.”
“It’s not only out of revenge, it’s also because I want to reward you for not being another fucking asshole guy.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you this pissed before.”
“Yeah? Look who’s talking. Your fists have been twitching this whole time.”
“That’s because I’ve been told that some assholes were threatening you. You might have said you want to torture them, but I need to torture them now. I haven’t gone full edgelord in this game yet, but hearing what they said to you… that makes me want to see just how far I’m allowed to push this game’s extreme content before I get stopped.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, they were just as shit at fighting as they were at being original. Not a single one of those bastards even came close to touching me.”
“Them even thinking about it is enough to make me want to torture them until they permanently quit the game. And trust me, I’m spiteful enough to make that my life mission until it happens.”
Cassiel smirked and grabbed him to pull him down to her again, kissing him once more. “Yeah? Count me in. If it means getting those assholes to do something with their lives other than act like unoriginal bastards in a game, I’ll bring however many spears you need to impale them with.”
“Hey, I’m the only guy you’re allowed to impale with a spear from behind.”
“I love you, you stupid dumbass.”
“That’s the hottest way you’ve ever told me that you love me.”
“I’ll make sure you get even more of it tonight. I’ll give you every single thing those bastards wanted from me and more.”
“Now if only there was a more wholesome way of getting you into this sort of mood.”
“Guess you better make the most out of it while it lasts.”
“Will do.”
The two shared a third kiss which calmed Cassiel down a bit more. “Thanks. But the the less upset I get, the less motivated I’ll feel to do everything you want tonight.”
“That makes sense. You can’t fuck me out of hate for them if you stop feeling the hate. Wait, is it still a hate fuck if you don’t hate the person that you’re fucking?”
Cassiel shrugged and said, “Ask Serra. She’s the expert on that stuff.”
“I’ll have to. Anyways, I’m glad that you’re safe. And that you kicked their asses. Sorry I couldn’t be there to protect you. I’ve got to admit… hearing that other men were talking to you like that, and I wasn’t there to help you out, makes me feel like a bad boyfriend.”
“Haah? Don’t be an idiot. You didn’t have any control over that and had your own important things to do, and I can handle myself. If anything, it’ll piss me off if you think you have to always be around to protect me.”
“You’re too cool, Cass.”
“I just know how to take care of myself.”
“And that’s cool.”
“Your standards must be buried underground then.”
“Trust me, after dating you and the others, my standards are higher than the heavens.”
“Pfftt. You’re so cheesy sometimes.”
“Also.”
Cassiel blinked a couple of times when Fenrir didn’t say anything else after that. “Also what?”
And now it was time for Fenrir to narrow his eyes at her. “If I was the one in your shoes, and a bunch of girls were threatening to do things to me without my consent, you would absolutely want to be there to kill them all for me.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Isn’t that hypocritical? You don’t want me to feel that way about you, but you feel that way about me? Not that I care, it’s hot. But still, I want to tease you about being a hypocrite.”
“It… technically makes me one, I guess. I—I’d probably be upset if you didn’t let me be there to kill anybody threatening you like that. I guess it’s not fair that I feel that way but don’t want you to feel the same. Sorry.”
“Wait, wait. I just wanted to tease you, you don’t have to actually apologize or anything. It’s fine.”
“Well, you pointed out that I’m being a hypocrite. You think I won’t apologize for being unfair?”
“I mean, I appreciate it, but at the same time… if you don’t want me to feel like I have to protect you, but you feel like you have to protect me, then that’s kind of nice in a way that I’m not sure what to make of it. But I’m still going to want to protect you no matter what. I love you too much to not want to protect you.”
“Ugh… damn it. I know that the only reason hearing that annoys me is because my dad ruined that for me by always wanting to ‘protect’ me, but I still don’t like hearing it. Sorry.”
Fenrir placed his hands on Cassiel’s hips to hold her while looking into her eyes. “If the word ‘protect’ is the problem, then… what if I say I want to be there to be your sword instead? Or your attack dog? Fuck protecting you. Instead, I want you to use me to rip everybody else to shreds. I won’t guard you, but I’ll attack for you.”
Cassiel blinked a few more times as she wore the expression of somebody who just experienced a massive revelation. “That… that actually works. It really is just that other stupid word that triggers me. Hey, try saying that you’ll guard me.”
“I wish I was there to guard you.”
A light blush colored Cassiel’s cheeks. “That’s… that’s nice.” She even giggled a little.
“Is it really as easy as just using a different word?”
“I guess so. If I try to analyze myself here… I trust you that you aren’t actually trying to control me when you say things like that, which is why it’s fine when you use words adjacent to protect, but ‘protect’ specifically is something my dad used to always say, and you know how he was, so even though I trust you, I still associate that word with him when I hear anybody else say they want to protect me? So it’s not that I don’t want you to protect me… I just want you to use another word for it instead, I guess.”
“You’ve gotten pretty good at figuring yourself out. I’m proud of you.”
“Th-thanks. I mean… if I wanted to get better so I can be a better girlfriend to all of you, then I have to know how my stupid brain works.”
“Your brain is never stupid. It’s just been through some shit.”
Cassiel laughed even more when she heard that. “I like that. Thanks. But I have bad news for you.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve made me feel so much better that I no longer have any desire to get revenge on those bastards by doing it with you all night.”
“Ah… the curse of being a good boyfriend who wants to make my girlfriend feel better.”
That was when Cassiel yanked Fenrir’s head down toward her own again, but not to kiss him this time. Instead, she brought her lips right up to one of his ears and whispered, “Instead, I want to do it just because of how much I love you, and how much I appreciate you… i-idiot.”
“Tsundere fanservice on top of what you said before that… I can die happy.”
“Too bad, you’re not allowed to die. At least not until after tonight.”
“I’m only allowed to die after a night of pleasure? Since when are you a succubus? Not that I mind. Actually, you with demon wings, horns, and a tail would be pretty hot.”
Fenrir expected to be immediately shot down, but… he didn’t hear anything.
“Cass?”
When he pulled away to get a good look at her face again, he saw that she was deep in thought for reasons unknown to him.
Then, with eyes of determination, Cassiel looked into his eyes once more and said, “I’ll do it.”
“You’ll… do what?” Fenrir asked.
“Those edgy bastards think they’re hot shit when all they’re doing is acting like the most basic, generic bad guys possible. Before this… I was trying to get back in touch with my more… divine side, because I still kind of wanted to be an angel… but maybe it’s time to officially fall from grace so that I can show them what it means to be a proper villain.”
“My holy girlfriend wants to become a fallen villainess. That could be a light novel title.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just a weeb reference.”
“Explain it to me later. I have to think about how I might go about this. Because if nobody else around here is going to roleplay a properly evil character, then I’ll do it to put them in their place.”
“I’m looking forward to that more than you could possibly know.”
“What I have in mind probably isn’t what you have in mind.”
“Still excited.”
And, once again, since the two of them apparently couldn’t get enough of each other, they kissed.
“I’ve distracted you long enough, plus I have thinking to do now,” Cassiel said. “Nell got some prisoners. She’s waiting at the center for you.”
“I’ll head over then,” Fenrir replied. “You just gonna go think about your future villainess plans?”
“Yeah. Are there any hammocks on The Shoebill still? I feel like using one for old times’ sake.”
“Yeah, there are still a couple that didn’t get fucked up.”
“Good. Anyways, I’ll be thinking. And you can think of everything that you want us to do tonight. Just… I’m sorry, but please… nothing involving sweaters. It’s been too hot lately for more sweater stuff…”
“Those words hurt me more than you could ever know. But I’ll accept the pain for now.”
Cassiel rolled her eyes before giving his arm a playful smack, then heading onboard The Shoebill in search of a hammock.
And just as soon as Cassiel was gone, Saya was back, giving Fenrir’s other arm the same kind of soft smack. “You totally understood those feelings you felt earlier.”
“What?” Fenrir asked.
“About you thinking it was hot that she wanted to protect you without you being protected.”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You like the idea of her wearing the pants in the relationship.”
“I mean…”
“You’d totally be a stay-at-home husband who wears aprons and cooks for her.”
“It’s not… the worst sounding idea.”
“So submissive and breedable, Onii-wan.”
“I have no idea how to feel about being called that.”
“Trust me, it hurt me even more to call you that.”