ODYSSEY (Punishing: Gray Raven X Arknights X OC Characters)

Vol.1/ Chapter 5: Unexpected happenstance

County Hillock
Around 10 A.M, Lee's bedroom.

Lee kneaded the side of his face while sitting down cross-legged in his bed. He wore a huge slap mark on the side of his cheek, which was now a fading red color. He could swear that when he was slapped, he saw a light at the end of a pitch black tunnel, followed by the quick realization that he was lying on the ground.

He sensed movement in his peripheral vision and looked at the source. Jane, who was sitting in a chair in front of him, handed him a bag of ice and a towel. She still had a flustered look on her face, which made him cough a bit.

"Again, I'm sorry if I slapped you too hard." Nino, who was standing near the bed, spoke after a couple minutes of silence. Her arms was crossed in front of her chest while she shook her head to the sides.

"You went too hard on Lee." Jane commented with a joking tone.

In a sense, it is somewhat a laughable thing to hear, but it was also excruciatingly painful when the person in the receiving end of the slap was you. Of course we have to take note the lethality of it considering that it came from a Vouivre woman.

"I-I mean you can't blame me! When I saw you two in t-that position, my body just moved on its own." Nino exclaimed with an embarrassed expression.

"I just thought, you know, he forced you or something. Or he got secretly drunk last night and wasn't still sober. I-I'm sorry for thinking about it that way Lee, and for doubting you. It's just, I still think of Jane's safety, and those types of unlawful violations are rampant outside..." she added with an apologetic tone.

Lee waved her off with a smile. As much as he hate to admit it, he was overcome with a sudden impulse because of his hormones. It may be a subject of debate since he was literally a teenager going through the middle of puberty.

Again.

His construct body was no more, so even though he had a private part installed while he was an android, it was just cosmetics. While it did gave of some sort of feeling when exposed to a certain degree of stimulation, having a real one was a wild experience for him again. He had to wake up everyday with another plus on the 206 bones on his body.

“It's alright, it's alright. I totally understand your point looking out for your best friend. I was the one in the wrong anyway. My dumbass brain kept telling me it was all a dream. A-And Jane is very pretty! B-But still, it wasn't a sufficient reason for me to act that way so... I'm truly sorry.” He bowed his head and made a prayer pose.

"I-It's okay Lee! You didn't hurt me or anything, so it's fine." Jane stood up and made him raise his head.

Nino watched Jane and Lee interact with a crestfallen feeling. After seeing them both lying on the bed, she immediately felt immense anger for some reason. She was confused that not only was she angry with Lee, but also with her best friend.

She knew next to nothing about how relationships work, especially if the sort of connection you have with the person of the opposite gender was love. Over the course of the past weeks, she has grown quite fond of Lee. Sure, they would always squabble and wrangle with each other even if the topic was trivial, but that caused them to have a close friendship.

Apart from growing up within the confines of her small hometown, she didn't put much effort into those types of feelings. All she wanted was to be a good soldier that protected normal civilians. She didn't expect to find herself in a completely different place of a battlefield.

Just thinking more about it made chest tighten, to the point it felt like it was hindering her breathing. She moves a hand in her chest and felt her heartbeat, which was beating slow yet hard at the same time. Was she experiencing her first heartbreak? That, she'll have to find out.