Staying By Master's Side

Chapter 4 "Hidden Desires"

     Tomoki was overwhelmed by emotions, some he didn't even understand. He felt embarrassed from Ikaros trying to cuddle with him, but at the same time he wanted to pull her closer to him and hold her tightly.

Such confusing feelings he had.

These emotions brought up a memory that he had on his mind for quite a long time, one that changed his feelings toward his angeloid forever.

Their first kiss.

Flashback

That time was one of the few times he was overwhelmed by emotions like this, feelings for Ikaros. He remembered it very clearly. It was evening, and Ikaros stirred up a lot of trouble by lying to everyone. Kinda my fault, I guess, Tomoki thought to himself. He told her to start acting more human, and she overheard that it is human to lie. So she went around saying the opposite of what she meant to everyone. While this was going on, she delivered the one line that devastated him, throwing him into an immediate depression and tempting him to get drunk off of cola.

I do not wish to continue being with you, Master.

While it all got sorted out in the end, that one sentence hurt Tomoki more than he thought possible. He never realized how much he liked and wanted her around until she almost left. But they went back home together, putting the whole incident behind them. However, on that faithful night, she asked him how he truly felt about their situation together. While he was in the middle of telling her the story about his childhood and was scared of losing someone important to him, she had leaned over and kissed him. Her lips were merely resting on his, no pressure, no force, but plenty of passion and love. Tomoki's body shook as these feelings flowed through him, and looking at Ikaros, he understood why. She looked absolutely adorable, her face in complete ecstasy, enjoying the moment to the fullest. She had her eyes closed, focused on nothing more than the love of her life, who's lips were meeting hers.

He himself had his eyes wide open in shock. When she broke the kiss and pulled back, a twinge of sadness and pain shot through his body like a bullet. He wanted to kiss her again over and over, but he was in too much shock and felt way too embarrassed from just one kiss. Ikaros revealed that she wanted to stay with him forever, and that sent happiness and warmth. It was at this point and time that he decided that he wanted to figure out his true feelings for his angeloid whether he liked the outcome or not. Multiple trips were made to both Sugata and even Mikako to help decipher these emotions. The conclusion they reached was the obvious one, that Tomoki Sakurai was in love with Ikaros.

The winged chick who fell from the sky, designed to fulfill his every desire.

While he tried to hide his emotions, telling himself that she had wings, therefore incapable of receiving his affection, eventually it was of no use. After one of his late grandfather's "visions" he finally came to terms with his desires and accepted that he was in love with an angeloid. He found that it was actually more pleasant this way, such as the multiple times he groped Astraea, or when he got pinned against a wall by Ikaros with a smile literally glued to her face. Sadly he couldn't just openly express his love for his beloved Ikaros, he didn't even know if she felt the same way. But there was another thing that sprung up to worry about. After a long enough time of observation he noticed that it wasn't just Ikaros who might feel the same way, everyone else liked him too. Sohara, Nymph, Astraea, Hiyori and even little Chaos obviously harbors some feelings for him. While he liked all of them, he loved Ikaros the most. Unfortunately he had to worry what would happen if that got out, he didn't want to break anyone's hearts. So he had to just hide it, but today, today he could show his affection and love for his true love, and no one would be any the wiser.

End flashback

"I'm sorry Master! I didn't mean to upset you..." Ikaros instantly burst into tears in reaction to Sakurai's sudden withdrawal. She quickly went red in the face from embarrassment and the thought of hurting her beloved Master. But she was surprised by him suddenly turning around and pulling her so close that they were practically merging into each other.

"No Ikaros, you didn't upset me, it's okay." He started to wipe away her tears as he spoke. "Please don't cry, it's not your fault. You just wanted some affection, that's all. Humans need affection sometimes, there's nothing wrong with it."

Ikaros' expression lightened. "Thank you Master," Tomoki suddenly though back to the time that she had confessed her love for him, and thought that this might be the perfect opportunity to finally confess his feelings for her. He brought his lips up to her ear and whispered:

"I love you, Ikaros."