Early morning with Reina.

Will got the sex doll off his lap and left it sitting on the couch before he stood up. His heightened awareness seemed to be going away, probably due to broken concentration. Regardless, he still felt good, and that session of practice had been extremely productive. He was confident he’d be able to replicate it next time.

He stretched in place and turned to Reina with a small smile. “You’re here earlier than usual. I haven’t started on breakfast yet.”

“And you’re up earlier than I expected,” Reina said, mirroring his smile. “I thought you’d still be asleep after a night of partying and sex, so I thought I’d make breakfast for once.” She then scowled, went up to Will and cupped his cheek. “Wait. Did you sleep at all?”

Her hand was warm and the contact sent some nice shivers down his back. Will nuzzled into her touch, putting his hand over hers. “No, but I’m feeling well. I did spend all night with Amelia, Cynthia and Aoi, so I feel like I just had three energy drinks.”

Reina chuckled. “Right. Sexual energy.” She caressed his cheek, giving him a loving look that warmed his chest. “Sorry I interrupted your practice.”

“No, I’d been at it for about an hour already.”

“How was the gathering?”

“I’ll tell you when Anna and Nanami are here, too. Ruth isn’t coming over today, right?”

“Yeah, she has dance group stuff to take care of today.” Reina then pursed her lips, giving Will a closer look. “Are you really okay? I mean, you look fine, but…”

“It was an… eventful night. I just have a lot on my mind. There are plenty of things I have to do.”

“I… see.” Reina looked down, then up at Will again. “Um… Is there anything I can do to help?”

Will smiled, leaned closer and gave Reina a peck on the lips. “I’m fine. You have your own goals and you should focus on them. You’re being offered to model for a TV commercial, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah. If that goes well I might be able to do even more.”

“See? Don’t worry. We have another photoshoot in a couple of days, too. And that’s on top of the regular shoots and your other job. You’re busy, too, so don’t worry.” Will leaned in again and kissed Reina’s forehead. “Now I better get started on breakfast. I ate like seven fruits just a while ago but I’m still hungry.”

He stepped away and turned back, walking towards the kitchen. However, Will felt Reina’s eyes still on him, on his back. When he opened a cupboard to get the plates and cups, Reina was beside him getting the coffee, tea and sugar.

“Alright. Just… don’t overwork yourself, okay?” she said. “You’re a university student, train with Aoi, work as a photographer, practice your magic stuff, you go check on the incubus tribe every so often, you’re starting that hunting agency stuff… Do you really have to take on so much?”

“...” Will remained quiet for a short moment before answering. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to sit still. I need to keep myself doing things.”

“But why?”

“...” It wasn’t a concrete thought but more of an idea, a wish that Reina didn’t continue that line of inquiry. It was awfully close to the train of thought he’d been on last night. Will sighed and smiled wryly. “I think it’s the only way to answer some questions I have for myself.”

Reina chuckled. “What does that mean? Are you getting philosophical?”

Will laughed along. “Maybe.”

Reina left the can of instant coffee on the counter and turned to Will. With her hands on his shoulders, she made him face her and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Fine. I’ll stop. Look, I think that being diligent is one of your best qualities, but there is such a thing as getting way over your head. Be careful, alright? And don’t forget to relax and have fun. Which is why you and I are going on a date next weekend.”

Will grinned. “Are we?”

“Yes, we are. Maybe with some of the others, too, if they want to.”

“I promised Anna we’d go to a nightclub. Maybe we could go as a group?”

“Oooh, that’s good! I haven’t been to a nightclub in forever. Hmm… You think Nanami ever has?”

“Good question. With her it’s a coin toss. Her family could’ve prohibited it but she could’ve gone regardless during her rebellious phase. I went for the first time with Anna. What about you?”

Reina pulled away and the two got back to preparing breakfast. “I used to go a lot, more so back when I was studying. After I dropped out it felt wrong. I kept thinking that I didn’t have time for fun, that I needed to make up for my decision by working my ass off. You know, prove to my folks I could take care of myself. The only thing I really regret about it is losing contact with some good friends.”

“You fought?”

“No. Life just takes you different directions. They kept up with their studies and kept going to nightclubs while I was working and looking for modeling agencies who’d take me in. It became hard to schedule time together and eventually we stopped talking.”

Her words made Will remember high school. No, incorrect. He always remembered high school. He always remembered the bad parts. But it wasn’t all terrible, really. He had good friends, went to fun parties, had fun hanging out with people.

How would his life have been if he had chosen another university? If he had known that following Helga was a mistake and instead had gone to the same town as some of his other friends?

Bah. Useless thoughts. He was here now, and despite the hardships, Will didn’t hate this life. If anything, it was more interesting this way.

…

Man, what was happening to him? His body was getting restless again. He wanted to move, do something. Particularly, he was getting an itch to train. And God knew he had to because he had already agreed to a fight with an honest-to-goodness amazon warrior.

But first, breakfast. Then, conferring with everyone over last night’s gathering.