See the Words as the Face
The moment Aisaka Noya saw the familiar handwriting, he could almost picture her face in his mind — that stubborn, serious girl who always acted like an older sister, even though they were the same age. She'd scold him without hesitation and defend him without asking, her fierce sense of justice packed into that small frame.
Noya couldn't help but laugh. Sipping the cool herbal tea the restaurant provided for the summer heat, he unfolded the letter and began to read, while Rosin watched enviously from across the table.
The opening paragraphs were exactly what he expected — a barrage of accusations.
Why hadn't he written back sooner? Did he forget about her? Was he just pretending to be busy?
The words were practically shouting at him from the page, each exclamation mark like a flick to the forehead from an angry girl a thousand miles away.
Halfway through, though, the tone softened. The exclamation marks disappeared, and concern began to peek through her scolding.
Was he being bullied by senior officers at headquarters? Was the food any good? Was it enough to satisfy his appetite? Had he grown taller since leaving Higashi Umi? He'd been just over 180 centimeters then — had he shot up again?
"…That's a pretty accurate guess," Noya muttered, scratching his head. In truth, he had grown a few centimeters in the past months. If he kept this pace, he'd probably be over two meters tall by the end of the year.
He imagined meeting Berumere again — she'd probably only reach his chest now, even if she stood on tiptoe. Would she be shocked?
He smiled, flipping to the final lines of the letter — and froze.
The exclamation marks were back.
[That's everything I had to say! Hehe, are you moved to tears yet? Thinking about me every day?][And finally, you idiot Noya! You promised you'd marry me after your twentieth birthday! There's less than a year left now — are you ready? When are you coming back to Higashi Umi to keep your promise and marry me?!]
"Pfft!"
Noya choked and spat out a mouthful of tea — directly onto Shiryu across the table. But for once, he didn't even care about the murderous glare aimed at him.
He stared at the letter in disbelief.
Marry her after turning twenty?
When did I ever say that?!
Sure, he and Berumere had grown up together. Childhood friends, inseparable since forever — but they'd never been in an actual relationship. How had things jumped straight to marriage?
Then, with a grimace, a memory resurfaced.
When he was about six or seven, Berumere had climbed a tree to pick oranges for him. She'd slipped and fallen, crying in pain. To comfort her, he'd said anything that came to mind — including, apparently, something about marrying her when they turned twenty.
Noya took a sharp breath through his teeth.
No way… that actually counted?!
He'd said all sorts of dumb stuff back then! Why did that one stick?
He rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling a headache coming on. In his previous life — and even now — he firmly believed marriage was something you only considered after twenty-five. At his age, he still had so many things to do before even thinking about it.
Especially now, when he'd just activated the Love Cell Cultivation System — the one that could supposedly help him surpass his physical limits and achieve his dream of becoming the Navy's strongest warrior.
How could he think about marriage now?
"Wait a sec…"
A thought hit him, and his face tensed.
If Berumere had gone so far as to write something like this, did the system recognize their relationship? Did it count under the rules?
He hurriedly opened the system's properties panel and checked the status window. Sure enough, there was a new notification:
[Berumere has completed the preliminary strategy. Ambiguous relationship established.][Player receives first-stage reward: 4,000 points.][Relationship not yet solidified. Player is encouraged to continue progress to complete the final strategy and obtain a second reward.]
"There's… an actual reward?!"
He blinked at the updated point balance — 5,501 points.
For a moment, Noya felt like someone who had just won the lottery. Not exactly rich, but definitely no longer broke. With this much, he could finally afford two of the cheaper random items available this week and have enough left to boost his base attributes — no more scraping by like before!
"An ambiguous relationship, huh…" he murmured.
He rubbed the letter between his fingers, deep in thought. Getting Berumere to officially become his girlfriend wouldn't be hard — the bond between them was already strong. A single phone call would probably do it.
But he couldn't. Not now.
Noya made up his mind: he'd only reply by letter for the foreseeable future. No calls, no direct contact. He couldn't let things spiral into a conversation about marriage.
Love — and promises — needed to be treated seriously.
No matter what life he was in, Noya had always considered himself a man of principle. People might call him stiff or naive, but that didn't bother him.
To enter a relationship just for system rewards? That would make him no better than a scumbag.
He wasn't that kind of man.
First things first — use the points wisely.
Excitement returned as he imagined what he could buy.
Intermediate Paper Art? Add some attributes? Let's go!
He tucked the letter carefully into his jacket, polished off the rest of his food in a few bites, burped with satisfaction, and waved to his friends.
"See you guys later," he called, practically bouncing out of the restaurant toward the training grounds.
His daily drills were technically done, but Aisaka Noya's reputation as a training maniac was well-known throughout the headquarters' elite camp. Rosin and Shiryu barely even blinked.
Still, something about today felt… different.
They watched his retreating back, then glanced at each other with matching smirks.
"You noticed it too, right?"
"Yeah," Rosin said with a small grin. "The guy's practically glowing today."
"The reason's obvious," Shiryu replied dryly. "Must be that pink letter Gabu brought in."
Rosin laughed. "Honestly? If I had a girl writing me love letters, I'd train twice as hard too. Who cares about exhaustion when you've got someone waiting for you?"
"…Fair point," Shiryu muttered — for once, without sarcasm.
And so, on that early summer night of the year 1501 in the Sea Calendar, the air in the quiet corner of the restaurant was thick with a sweet, sour scent — the unmistakable aroma of love and envy mixed together.