...It made her heart ache. Just a little.
"Not at all." Neol smiled at Yura and said, "It might not be my ideal. But nothing in life is ideal. And besides." He reached out to grab her hand and gently placed a kiss on it. "I'd take my lovely Yura every lifetime over an ideal woman I've never met."
Yura froze. Then her eyes softened and she said, "Idiot." She leaned against him and said, "You don't know that."
"I do. Because I'm a man of choice, not feelings. And I've already chosen you in this and every lifetime."
"...You're ridiculous." Yura laced her fingers with Neol's and said, "...But that's why I love you."
"I think I'd rather you love me for more reasons than just that I'm ridiculous... but I appreciate the sentiment."
Yura rolled her eyes. "Well pardon me for not being a master wordsmith like you are, Neol."
"You're not pardoned. We'll get you better at that. Maybe by having you more vocal in bed."
Yura instinctively shivered at Neol's tone of voice, but then she swatted his arm and said, "Stop that! You're always so... so...!"
"Forward? Bold? It's only because you have such glass defenses against my advances, Love~"
"Ugh." Yura crossed her arms. "...I hate that you're right."
"Love you too."
Yura shook her head and watched as Neol started slicing one of the steaks into pieces. As she did, she said, "...You really do mean it, huh? Weaving your life with mine."
He was still here.
Despite her demands, despite her over the top reactions...
Neol hadn't left. And he was here, cooking for her and taking care of her.
Yura stared at Neol and said, "...I love you, Neol. Really."
Neol held out a piece of steak for her with the tongs and chuckled. "I know." He let out a soft smile. "So let me take care of you. Don't worry. From now on, a tragedy like the one you suffered along with your friends will never occur again."
Yura quietly nibbled on the piece of steak. Then she sighed. "...I'm a ruined woman. But..." She leaned her head against Neol's shoulder and said, "...I'm glad it was you."
Neol fed her more pieces of steak and said, "That makes me sound like a villain, Love."
Yura huffed. "As if you aren't. Stealing my heart, my first time, my whole life... even if you aren't a villain, half the world's already your enemy, Hubby."
"Mm. Good. I'm itching for a challenge, Wifey."
Yura rolled her eyes and leaned against Neol, watching the fire as he kept cooking, letting him feed her.
'...This is nice.'
Sitting there, enjoying her pampering, Yura quietly made a wish that these peaceful days would continue forever.
===
"So." I looked at Yura as I washed the dishes and said, "We should talk about our daily life."
Yura flinched, almost dropping her phone. "Y-Yes? Daily life?"
"Mmhm." I nodded. "Our life situation."
After grilling and feeding Yura her delicious steak and tuna slices, I had gone back inside to clean things up.
Personally, it was a bit heavy for breakfast, so I didn't actually eat anything and just spent the time feeding Yura.
She, however, was apparently a complete glutton.
Two 16 oz steaks, then a pound of tuna sashimi... all gobbled up by my lovely Yura.
Definitely wasn't a lie about her needing a lot of energy for her ability, at least.
But anyway.
It was late Sunday morning, so there wasn't too much going on. But come Monday, that would change.
Not for me, but rather, for Yura.
You see, since Hunters were given a government stipend, there were also certain expectations. Since you were getting government money, you should be doing government work.
Of course, it wasn't much. It was just that you had to actively be either clearing dungeons or Gates. That, or training.
There wasn't an hour requirement, but if you were a Hunter... well, you had to be a Hunter.
*Legally* you didn't have to do anything. If you were shameless about it, you could just register and collect your paycheck.
But of course my lovely Yura wasn't like that. Moreover, her dream was clearly to be a Hunter. Not to mention she was already a member of the Eternal Horizon guild that her grandfather founded.
So, because of that, we needed to talk about logistics.
Yura paused and then set her phone down. "That's right. We should..." She hesitated. "...I'm pretty busy. Or, I probably will be. Since I'm an S-Ranked Hunter and part of Eternal Horizon... especially since we lost so many people because of me, I'll need to work to make up for it."
"Mmhm." I finished washing a dish and said, "And what does that look like?"
"Well..." Yura hummed. "...I'll need to go into Gates. Probably try to turn a few into dungeons. That's what we originally planned with my first expedition. Although..." She hesitated. "...Since all of that happened, there might not be anyone who wants to go with me..."
"Oh, don't worry about that." I started scrubbing down the steel grate I used to grill with a brush. Then I said, "I'm going with you, so don't worry about back up."
Yura blinked. "...Excuse me?"
"What?" I smiled at her. "You don't think I'd let my lovely fiancee go out alone where people could get ideas about her, do you?"
"Of course not- What do you mean, Fiancee?! You haven't even proposed!"
"It's a done deal, Love. But anyway, I AM serious about it. If you have to go into a Gate, I'm coming with you." I finished scrubbing the grate and then started cleaning up the last few plates. "Besides, it'd be great inspiration for writing."
Yura pursed her lips. "Neol. This isn't something you can be so flippant about. Gates are serious business. If you aren't careful-"
"All the more reason for me to come with you." I finished putting the plates away and wiped my hands down. "Besides, I'm a writer. I can work anywhere."
"...Why do I get the feeling you're going to try and take your laptop with you into a Gate?"
"*Try*? Oh, Love." I laughed. "My laptop runs on magic stones, mithril, and overall magitech. It's rated for up to A-Ranked Gates."
"...Why?!"
"Because I can. Now." I sat down across from her and said, "Tell me about your daily schedule. Properly. Let's see how we can weave our lives together, hm?"
Yura stared at me.
I stared back.
Yura sighed. "...Fine. You're clearly just going to show up out of the blue if I don't..."
"Guilty~"
"Tch." Yura smiled. "Alright. Then..."