The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual.
Got dressed. I made my way down to the lobby and settled into one of the chairs near the entrance.
As I waited.
I was looking forward to this. It had been too long since Sona and I had gone on a proper date. No agendas, no emergencies, no supernatural incidents bleeding into the schedule. Just the two of us. Kyoto. A full day with nothing expected of me except showing up.
The Youkai faction matter was handled. Preliminary terms were set. Dinner tomorrow with Yasaka would finalize the social side of things, but that was tomorrow's concern. Today wasn't about politics or partnerships or anything.
I owed this to Sona after all.
Things had been... complicated lately. Between the press conference, the Hero Faction incident, the constant meetings, the expanding operations of the Mishima Corporation — I'd barely had time to breathe, let alone spend time with her properly. Our relationship had taken a backseat to crisis management more times than I was comfortable counting.
She never complained about it. Not once. Sona understood the position I was in, understood the weight of what I was trying to build. She was practical like that. But understanding something and being fine with it weren't the same thing, and I wasn't naive enough to think she hadn't noticed how often I'd had to cancel plans or cut conversations short because something urgent came up.
This trip was supposed to be different. Kyoto. Just the two of us. A proper date without interruptions. I'd promised her that much before we left, and I intended to keep it.
Also, after this I'd be gone for a long time.
I thought about the Dimensional Cube was sitting in my inventory.
The fight with Ophis had made one thing very clear — I wasn't where I needed to be. Not yet. Not even close. She'd barely been trying and I'd still gotten pushed harder than I was comfortable admitting out loud. If she'd actually wanted me dead, the fight would've gone very differently.
Waiting around for items to slowly manifest in the Celestial Workshop wasn't going to cut it anymore. The system had its uses, but passive accumulation wasn't enough. Not when the canon timeline was shifting under my feet faster than I'd planned for. The Hero Faction was just the beginning
I needed to get stronger. Faster. And the Dimensional Cube was the answer to that.
Other worlds. Other power systems. Resources, techniques, knowledge that didn't exist in this dimension. That was the plan. That had always been the plan.
But the moment I stepped through that portal, I'd be gone. Weeks, maybe months depending on how time dilation worked in whatever world I landed in.
Though I also made sure that the time difference won't be huge as I don't really want going back here learning that years have passed. I made sure to include that in the Dimensional Cube function.
I glanced toward the elevators again and settled back into the chair.
She'd be down any minute.
I was still waiting when the elevator chimed.
Serafall stepped out first.
She spotted me immediately and made her way over, unusually quiet for her. She dropped into the seat across from me with none of her usual theatrics.
"Morning, Leon~"
"Morning," I said. "Sona still getting ready?"
"Mhm. She's being very thorough about it." A knowing smile. "You know how she is."
I did.
Serafall was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.
"I never properly thanked you. For what you did at the peace conference."
I blinked. "You don't need to—"
"You saved my life back then, Leon. But I never got the chance to say it properly." She met my eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said simply.
She smiled.
"Also," she added, leaning back again, "don't worry. I'm not going to interrupt your date. I know how important today is." A pause. "For both of you."
I raised an eyebrow. "You're not tagging along?"
"Nope!" The cheerful tone was back. "I've got my own plans. Kyoto's a big city. Lots to see. Lots of magical girl cafes to investigate~"
I laughed .
We were silent for a while before the elevator chimed.
Sona stepped out. She wore a simple cream-colored blouse, dark jeans, hair still tied back but looser than usual. She looked beautiful.
She walked over, and I couldn't help it.
"You look pretty."
Sona stopped mid-step. Blinked. Then color rose to her cheeks almost immediately.
"Thank you." she muttered, but the blush stayed.
I grinned. "Ready?"
"Have fun, you two~ And Leon, if you make her cry, I'll freeze you in a block of ice!"
"Onee-sama, please," Sona said without turning around.
"What? I'm just saying—"
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The day went exactly how I'd planned it.
I'd spent time on this — researched places, made an itinerary with time blocks and backup options, reserved every single venue on the list. When I handed Sona the folded paper with the schedule on it, the look on her face made the effort worth it.
It wasn't until we arrived at the first stop that she realized what I'd actually done.
"Leon. Is this place... closed?"
"For the day, yeah."
"You didn't."
"I did."
She stared at me. "You reserved the entire tea house?"
"And everywhere else on the itinerary."
"That's—" She adjusted her glasses. "That's excessive."
"It's a special day."
"It's borderline renting out half of Kyoto."
"More like a quarter, actually. I checked."
She didn't know whether to be exasperated or impressed. I think she settled somewhere in the middle. We sat down and she tried three different kinds of wagashi, critiquing each one like she was grading an exam while I watched her work through them with the kind of focus most people reserved for actual problems.
Kiyomizu-dera was the same. The temple grounds, usually packed with tourists, had been quietly cleared for a private visit. We stood on the wooden platform overlooking the city with no one else around.
"This is nice," she said eventually. "Having it to ourselves."
"Yeah."
I looked out over the city. Then back at her.
"I need to tell you something."
Her expression shifted. "Alright."
"After this trip," I said, "I'm going to be gone for a while."
She was very still. "Gone where?"
"Training...The fight with Ophis showed me I'm not where I need to be yet."
"How long?"
"A few months. Maybe a year."
Sona didn't say anything immediately. She just looked at me.
"So this is a goodbye."
"Not goodbye. Just... I'll be back. I promise."
She was quiet for a long moment. Then she drew near me, her hand sliding up to cup my face. Her lips met mine in a deep, lingering kiss—soft at first, then hungry, her tongue slipping past my lips to tangle with mine. When we finally parted, a thin strand of saliva connected our mouths, glistening in the temple's soft light. Her eyes burned with unspoken need.
"Let's go," she whispered, voice husky. I knew she didn't mean the next spot on the itinerary. I teleported us straight back to the hotel room.
The hotel room materialized around us. The door clicked shut behind us and neither of us spoke. There was nothing left to say that words could handle properly.
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