Just the thought of appearing on TV tomorrow kept me tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. Perhaps sensing my uneasy heart, Athena appeared before me under the moonlight.
"Silly little brother, what are you doing?" Athena asked, holding back a laugh.
Looking at her, I leaned over the edge of the bed and said, "Sis, I’m going to the TV station tomorrow!"
"Oh, going to the TV station? That’s great, you can become famous now!" Athena played dumb.
Hearing her say that, I sprang up, sat on the edge of the bed, and said, "Going to the TV station... Sis, did you forget what you promised me?"
"Huh? What promise? How come I don’t know about it?" Athena turned her head away so as not to look at me, though her shoulders were shaking with laughter.
Only then did I realize Athena was just teasing me. I put on a helpless expression and said, "If you won’t help me, then I’ll just have to ask Kavuri for help!"
"No way..." Hearing that, Athena panicked and turned around to speak urgently. But catching the mischievous gleam in my eyes, she immediately realized she had fallen for my trick. Quickly trying to salvage the situation, she said, "What good could come from asking her? All she knows how to do is tie people up and force them to yield. Are you trying to court a girl or be a flower-stealing bandit?"
Hearing her clumsy attempt to cover it up, I burst out laughing. Athena fumed in annoyance, "Well played, Fuitsu! Getting smart now, are we? You even dare to play tricks on me today—quite ambitious, aren’t you?"
I hastily coaxed her, "Isn’t it all thanks to your great teaching, Sis? Hurry up and help me, I really have no confidence in myself right now!"
"It’s just pursuing a girl, what’s there to panic about?" My flattery eased the tension in Athena’s brow, but her lips still refused to let me off easily: "Though to be honest, I’m really not an expert when it comes to this sort of thing!"
Hearing this made me anxious. What did she mean by not being an expert? Where did all that enthusiasm go when she promised me back then? Not daring to say any of those thoughts out loud, I could only stare at Athena with tearful, pleading eyes.
Athena couldn’t take my gaze for much longer, so she gave up her plan to keep torturing me: "Alright, alright, look at you! I brought you an expert." She looked at me with a slightly smug expression.
"Huh? There are experts for this kind of thing? Introduce me quick!" I said eagerly. High school was over in a flash, and I definitely didn’t want to miss out on the experience of chasing a girl. That would be way too miserable and embarrassing.
Athena smiled at me, turned toward the open space before her, and called out, "Venus, come out now!"
Immediately, a dazzling beam of five-colored divine light appeared in the room. Just as it grew so bright that I could barely keep my eyes open, the light began to gather from all around and slowly spin. The originally circular light gradually stretched upward, stopping only when it reached Athena’s height. Then, from within the rotating light, a pale hand with a soft rosy hue reached out. Two fair, slender legs shimmered in and out of sight within the colorful glow.
After half a minute, the light gradually slowed down until it came to a complete stop. The still cloud of light transformed once more, slowly taking on a human shape. The light clung closely to her perfectly sculpted body, gradually turning into a five-colored divine robe. Her face was entirely veiled in mist, making it hard to see clearly, which only added a sense of mystery to her figure wrapped in the divine robe.
"Alright, Venus, stop playing around!" Athena said with a hint of helplessness.
"Hmph! Meanie sister, it’s so rare for me to come out after sleeping for so long, can’t you just let me play a bit?" A voice as sweet as an oriole’s echoed from behind the mist. Soon after, the mist dispersed, revealing the speaker’s true appearance.
I couldn’t help but gasp again—she was breathtakingly beautiful. Charming phoenix eyes, slender willow-leaf eyebrows, and a pair of lively, big eyes that blinked as if they could speak. A delicate, perky nose, and light-pink lips that were slightly turned up at the moment, capturing her playful nature to perfection. She had smooth, fair skin, and long purple curly hair behind her head, with a single lock draped over her slender neck and cascading casually over her generous chest.
"Venus, this is my younger brother!" Athena introduced me happily.
I stood completely dazed, not even realizing I was supposed to say hello. Seeing my silly reaction, Venus burst into a giggle and said to me cheerfully, "Hello, Fuitsu. You might not know me yet, but I’ve known you for a long time! I am Venus, the goddess in charge of love!"
Hearing Venus say she had known me for a long time, Athena hurriedly called out loudly, "Venus, what nonsense are you blabbering about?" Her tone clearly sounded like she was trying to cover something up!
Hearing Athena’s sharp call, Venus realized the slip of the tongue and looked at me nervously. Seeing that I hadn’t paid attention and was still standing there like an idiot, she finally let out a long sigh of relief, turned around, and playfully stuck out her pink little tongue at Athena.
Looking at Venus, I rubbed my fingers together nervously and stammered, "H-Hello, my name is Fuitsu. Nice to meet you... wait, no... I mean, I’m very glad to meet you! You’re really beautiful! Wait, didn’t you lose an arm? How come..."
Hearing my incoherent babbling, both goddesses burst into laughter, shaking like trembling blossoms. When they finally managed to stop, I wished I could just jump out the window—it was way too embarrassing. Venus looked at me as I lowered my head, a subtle smile creeping onto the corners of her lips. Athena, who knew Venus all too well, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, sensing that something bad was about to happen.
Venus smiled and said, "Really? Am I really that pretty right now? Who said I only have one arm?"
Hearing her words, I quickly put on an honest expression and nodded vigorously! A surge of pride swelled in my chest—in the entire world, I, Fuitsu, was probably the only person to witness the Goddess of Love, Venus, in her complete form!
"Hehe, actually, I have another form that’s even prettier. Let me show you!" Before Venus even finished speaking, mist wrapped around her face again. Then, the mist vanished suddenly, and her angelic face instantly turned into a monster face with blue skin and protruding fangs! One of her eyeballs was hanging down over her upper lip, connected only by a bloody, dripping strip of flesh! Opening her bloody maw, she said to me eerily, "Brother Fuitsu, isn’t my current look even prettier?" As she spoke, she even leaned closer to me.
Staring at this terrifying scene, I let out a horrified shriek: "Monster!" After that, I keeled straight backward and passed out cold.
After I fainted, the monster turned back into Venus’s young maiden form from earlier. Running over to my side, she checked on me and burst into loud laughter, "He’s so easy to scare? This is way too much fun!" As she laughed, a cute glint of a successful trick shone in her eyes.
Athena was about to stop her loudly when Venus wrapped her face in mist, but Venus was simply too fast. Before Athena could stop her, she had already turned into that monstrous state. Seeing her looking so proud of herself now, Athena angrily gave her small head a sharp knock, saying with a furious expression, "You’re being completely out of line, turning into that form just to scare Fuitsu! If you keep being this mischievous, I’ll have Goddess Hera deal with you when she wakes up!"
Venus rubbed the spot where Athena had knocked her, stuck out her tongue, and said coyly, "Dear sister, this Fuitsu is just too fun! He’s so easy to scare. Next time I’ll turn into a bull monster to show him!"
Athena patted her forehead in frustration, then said to her sternly, "Don’t you dare forget Goddess Hera’s instructions! If you keep fooling around like this and she blames us, I won’t help you! Besides, Fuitsu is just a mortal, how could he handle your torment?"
Venus stole a glance at my unconscious self and said disheartenedly, "If only he were a dummy like Apollo, then he’d be tough enough to play with!" Her tone dripped with disappointment.
Hearing Venus’s words, Athena rolled her eyes once again.