197 Side and After Story #2 : Memories
(N/A: Note that this chapter is also an after story. It shows a glimpse Lucias' life after the final arc)
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"Wow! Papa look at this!!"
An adorable 8 year old girl with long light blue hair and golden eyes said while raising an album up in the air. Showing it to Lucias who was watching a children's show together with a 4 year old little girl with soft fluffy tails and ears.
"Grandpa... What's that?"
The little kitsune asked while pulling his shirt. Pointing at the album held by his daughter, Aimi Nonaka.
"I'm surprised you managed to find that"
Lucias said as he carried her beside him on the sofa. Wiping the dust off the album with his sleeves as a nostalgic smile appeared on his face.
"It's your mother's photo album years ago... I thought we had already thrown it away, but... I'm glad it's still here"
He said with a nostalgic smile on his face as he opened the album while the two little girls peaked at it on both of his side with a sparkling eyes.
"Oh!"
Aimi said as she pointed at the photo on the first page. Showing Lucias and Morgan inside of an aquarium, causing Lucias to smile as he remembered his first date with Morgan. Even though it was awkward at first since he first married her before bringing her out on a proper date.
"It's grandma Morgan"
The young kitsune, Himari, the daughter of Kunuo, said causing Lucias to give her a pat on the head.
"That's right... This was my and your grandmother's first date"
"You're appearance haven't changed at all papa"
Aimi commented before glancing at the photo just below it. Showing Cerberus and Kuroka who doodled on Lucias' face while he was sleeping.
"Well... We're immortal after all so... even if a hundred more years pass. I'll still look the same, just like your mothers"
Lucias said as Aimi turned the page of the album. Looking at the various pictures that Lucias and his harem took in the past to store and treasure the memories that they have created.
"It's uncle Issei and uncle Adam... Uncle Issei look so young in this photo..."
Aimi said while pointing at the photo of him together with Adam and Issei who both wore the Kuoh academy uniform. This picture was taken months before the start of the war, and was a picture that has a significant value to Lucias since in that day did he meet Aimi's mother, Yuuki Nonaka.
"Nee~ Papa what did you do in this photo?"
Aimi asked while pointing at the hand mark on his face in the photo. Making Lucias nervously smile in response.
"Why is mommy Kurumi glaring at you in this photo?"
"..."
-Flashback-
"That's what I'm talking about Issei!!! I'm glad you can join us in this afternoon, Lucias!"
Motohama greeted with a wide smile on his face while facing Lucias and an unknown handsome man who both wore the Kuoh Academy uniform. Standing in front of a karaoke bar, while both Motohama and Matsuda had a excited expression on their faces.
"Hehehe, this is possibly the day that we will have our own girlfriends!!"
They whispered to themselves as Adam and Lucias both glanced at Issei who had a strange expression on his face. Like he didn't expect any of this to happen.
"Issei so the urgent business that you have with us is... a mixer?"
Lucias asked, causing Issei to jolt before scratching his cheek with his finger. Looking away with a guilty smile on his face.
"You..."
"I-I got tricked too, Lucias-sama!! Why would I join them if I already have Sandra-chan!?"
He loudly defended before being pulled by Motohama and Matsuda inside. Making Lucias narrow his eyes before glancing at Issei's direction.
"... Issei... If you want to kill yourself, please don't drag us along"
"... Eve's going to kill me once she finds out I joined a mixer"
Adam muttered as they watched Motohama and Matsuda waited for the girls to arrive after they rented a large karaoke box.
"You're not the only one, Adam... I think we should just g-"
"You're here!!"
Motohama shouted while waving his hand at a group of girls. Making Lucias lazily glance at the girls who were all in their uniform before his eyes landed on Mio and Basara who both entered the Karaoke with a reluctant expression on their faces.
"Mio don't be so down, I'm sure you'll have fun"
Her classmates said, causing Mio to sigh before looking at the group of guys inside the bar. Making her see Lucias who was staring at her and Basara with wide eyes, causing her to freeze in place.
"Matsuda... We hit the jackpot"
Motohama said with a perverted grin on his face. Staring at Mio's large breast intently, causing Lucias to look at him with a dark expression on his face. Clenching his fist as he prepared to give him a light smack at the back of his head.
"Oh? Who are you~"
A girl with long wavy orange hair asked as she walked closer to Lucias with a seductive smile on her face.
"Y-YOU CAN'T!!"
Mio shouted as she hugged him defensively. Making the girl take a step back while looking at her in surprise.
"Mio?"
"H-He's my boyfriend so don't touch him!!"
She declared without thinking causing her classmates to widen their eyes in surprise. While Motohama and Matsuda both looked at Lucias with a look of disbelief in their faces.
"L-Lucias, y-you-"
"Sorry, but I also didn't expect to meet her here"
He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to blush in response. Making Motohama and Matsuda to grit their teeth as a look of envy and betrayal flashed in their eyes while looking at Lucias.
"Y-YOU TRAITOR!"
Matsuda shouted while wiping the tears at the corners of his eyes. Making Lucias look at him with a helpless expression on his face before Basara and an unfamiliar girl. She had a light blue, neck length hair that has a braid placed on her right side of her face and a longer portion of hair placed on the her left.
"Basara? Yuki?"
Their classmates asked, causing Basara to cough before wrapping her arm around his.
"I'm also with him so..."
"Wait... You're both in a relationship with him? Together!?"
Their classmates asked in shock while pointing their finger at Lucias. Making the 2 of them awkwardly nod their heads in response.
"It's under our consent... and it's more or less our own decision to get into this kind of relationship with him"
They said, causing a few of the girls to narrow their eyes in dissapointment but looking at Lucias' facial features and physique. They could probably understand why they were willing to do such a thing.
"Then, Yuuki don't tell me..."
"Not yet"
The light blue haired girl answered as she wrapped her arms around his back. Making Motohama and Matsuda bite their lips while crying tears of blood. Looking at Lucias having 3 beautiful girls flocking around him.
"The world is unfair... Matsuda"
"I know..."
They whispered to themselves, causing a girl in the other group to clap their hands once. Grabbing all attention towards her.
"We should hurry up and enter our box, we don't have all afternoon since we have our curfew"
She said before the rest of their classmates, both boys and girls, in their school came inside. Making Motohama and Matsuda to cheerup after seeing that there are 7 more girls that they could try their luck on.
"Hey, Basara... Who's the girl behind me?"
Lucias whispered as they walked towards their karaoke box. Issei couldn't leave because of his promise with his friends, Adam couldn't just abandon Lucias, and Lucias couldn't leave because Mio and Basara were here. So the three of them were forced to join in.
"That's Yuuki Nonaka. She's a childhood friend of mine when I was still in the Heroes Village... I hope you don't mind letting her tag along. Both of us were just forced to join, since I really can't leave Mio alone in this place"
Basara whispered, causing Lucias to nod his head in understanding before glancing at Yuuki's direction.
"Why does she look so serious when she answered "Not yet" a while ago?"
"... I don't know... She's strangely obsessed with me so... once she heard about you, she said that she'll also join in the harem so that she can be with me"
"... You do know what you're doing is going to get me beaten, right?"
"Don't worry, I already got permission from Origami"
"... Why are you girls always deciding who joins without consulting me first?"
"It's good for you..."
Basara said as she patted his shoulder. Making Lucias look at her with a strange expression on his face before he sat down on an empty spot. Making Mio and Yuuki sit down beside him while Basara sat down beside Mio. Making the guys look at him in envy as he already hooked 3 girls before they even started.
"This world really favours good looking people..."
"Tell me about it"
They whispered to each other, but was ignored by Lucias who recieved a call from Kurumi. Making him raise his eyebrows before answering the call.
[Oh my~ You look like you're having a lot of fun, Lucias~]
"..."
Lucias stayed silent as he heard her playful yet scary tone.
"... What are you talking about?"
Lucias asked as he decided to just lie his way out. Making Kurumi giggle from the other side of the call.
[No need to lie, Lucias... After all, I can see you]
She said, causing Lucias to immediately look around in terror as soon as he heard her words. Making Lucias nervously hold the phone close to his ear.
[Don't think of escaping... Me, Ariel, Chris, and Asia are already here. Why are you running away if you haven't done anything bad?]
She said from the other side of the call, causing Lucias to suddenly look towards the direction of the door. Making her see Kurumi who wore a waiter's uniform while waving her hand at his direction. Smiling at him while pressing the earpiece in her left ear.
[Fufufu~ I hope you're ready for our little pu-ni-sh-ment later, Lucias~]
"..."
-Flashback end-
"Papa?"
Aimi asked while waving her hand in front of Lucias, causing him to snap out of his daze. Looking at his daughter with a weird smile on his face.
"S-Sorry, what were you saying?"
He asked, causing Aimi to pout before pointing her finger at the photo showing Lucias standing with his back facing the camera. All while a large could of clouds and particles were floating in front of him.
"What's this?"
She asked. Making Lucias place his hand on his mouth. Trying to remember what he was doing at that day.
"I think... that's the day when I destroyed the Throne of Heroes and the Root using the realm of destruction"
"Huh?"
"Don't mind the small details, Aimi"
Lucias said before he turned the page, causing him to see an old photo of him, Lily, and Asia when they were still childrens. Cutely posing in front of the camera inside of their large floating mansion in the past. The very first place that he could call home before everything turned the way it is now.
"Wow! Mom's so cute in this picture!"
Aimi said, causing Lucias to show a nostalgic smile on his face while caressing the photo with his finger. Remembering the day that they took this photo.
-Flashback-
"Lucias, let's take a photo of the 3 of us!!"
Lily shouted while looking at the 9 year old Asia and Lucias who were both relaxing in their large sofa. Making Lucias look at her in confusion.
"Why so suddenly?"
Lucias asked as he closed the book in his hand. Making Lily placed her both of her hands on her waist.
"It's to save memories together, who knows maybe in the future when we grow up and got married. We'll look at this photo and remember this fated day!"
She said with a wide smile on her face, causing Asia to smile before holding Lucias' hand.
"I agree with Lily. Let's take a picture together Lucias... I want to save this memory while the 3 of us are here together. I'm not saying that were seperate in the future but... who knows what the future may bring us... and I want to look at this photo again once I get married in the future"
She said with a blush on her cheeks while looking at Lucias, causing Lucias to look at her in confusion.
"Marriage, huh?... I hope you two don't forget about me in the future once you both marry someone. Invite me to your wedding in the future, alright?"
"..."
Asia smiled and looked at him with a dark expression on her face like she wanted to slap him across the face. Lily on the otherhand looked at them with a wide smile on her face. Seeing how clueless Lucias is to Asia's feelings.
"Lucias, do we still have the camera that you bought a few days ago!?"
Lily asked as she ran towards his room. Rummaging through his stuff before coming out holding a large camera in their hands.
"You two get in your position! I want this picture to be perfect!"
Lily said as she created a clone of hers using [Blood Magic] to take the picture. Making Lucias sigh before standing up from the sofa together with Asia. Positioning themselves in front of the camera while Lily moved between them. Wrapping her arms around their shoulder while showing a wide smile on her face.
"Say cheese!!"
-Flashback end-
"Those were good memories..."
"Yeah"
Lily said, causing Lucias to quickly look behind him in shock. Seeing that both Asia and Lily were looking at the photo with the same nostalgic expressions on their faces.
"So, still want me to invite you to my wedding?"
Asia teased, causing Lucias to helplessly smile in response. Making Lily who was watching them giggle in response before suddenly giving Lucias a kiss on the cheek.
"I kind of miss those days when it was just the 3 of us"
Lily said, causing Lucias and Asia to smile in agreement before Lucias gave the photo album to the two little girls on the sofa.
"You two can enjoy looking at our photos... I'll have a little "talk" with your mothers..."
He said, causing the two of them to look at him in confusion while both Asia and Lily pinched his waist with a frown on their faces.
"You... What you saying in front of the children?"
"What? I just said I'll talk to you two... What's wrong with that?"
Lucias asked before he held both of their hands. Smiling at his grandchild and daighter's direction with a smile on his face before pulling both of them out of the room. Going towards his bedroom where they'll "talk".
"Did mom say anything to make papa angry?"
Aimi muttered as Himari turned to the last page, causing them to see a picture of several children with two nuns in the middle. Making Himari tilt her head in confusion before seeing both Asia and Lucias at the back of the group photo.
"Auntie... what's this?"
She asked while showing the photo to Aimi who had a similar confused expression on her face.
"Why is papa and mama in the church?"
She asked before a single note with one word was taped below the photograph.
"The saintess and the heretic? What's that?"
"Aimi! Himari! Lunch is ready go downstairs!"
Mei shouted from the dining room as the scent of their favourite pancakes wafted in the air. Making both of them quickly close the album and placed it on the table. Cheerfully running towards the dining room of the palace.
"Coming!!"
