Hey I hope yall enjoy
-
-
Chapter 45: Almost and then success
Varion and rimuri walked through the forest until it opened into a small clearing. Wildflowers swayed in the gentle breeze, and a soft carpet of moss covered the ground. Rimuri's hand stayed laced with Varion's the entire way, her fingers warm and a little nervous. She hadn't let go once since they first started holding hands.
Varion said something funny and Rimuri burst into laughter, the sound bright and carefree. She tilted her head back, light-blue hair catching the sunlight like liquid sky, her golden-yellow eyes sparkling with genuine joy. At that moment she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.
His heart started beating harder.
Then without overthinking it, Varion stopped walking. He turned toward her, still holding her hand, and slowly leaned in. Rimuri's laughter faded into a soft, surprised breath as she noticed. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink, but she didn't pull away. Instead she leaned in too, eyes fluttering half-closed.
His free hand rose gently, fingers brushing her cheek as he guided her closer. Their faces were an inch apart, their breath mingling, lips almost touching—
Then Rimuri jolted back like she'd been shocked.
She yanked her hand free and stumbled a step away, eyes wide with sudden panic.
Varion froze. The warmth that had been building in his chest turned cold in an instant. Embarrassment flooded him first — *I pushed too fast. I misread everything.* Then came the hurt, sharper and deeper than he expected. His hand dropped to his side, fingers curling into a loose fist as he tried to keep his face neutral. It must not have worked, because Rimuri's expression crumpled the second she looked at him.
"Varion— no, wait, it's not— I didn't—" She fumbled, words tumbling out too fast. "I wasn't— I mean, I wanted to— but Ranga just— no, that's not helping, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pull away like that, I swear I—"
Every frantic explanation only made it worse. Varion's shoulders tightened, the sting in his chest growing. He looked away, trying to swallow it down.
Rimuri took a deep, shaky breath and forced herself to slow down. She stepped closer again, reaching out to gently touch his arm.
"I'm sorry," she said, voice softer and steadier now but still hurried. "Ranga sent me a thought communication. He and the hobgoblin team that went out to gather food… they ran into a group of ogres. They're in trouble — really bad trouble. We have to go help them right now."
Varion's eyes snapped back to her. The hurt vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by sharp focus. "Ogres? How many?"
"I don't know yet, but Ranga sounded desperate. We need to hurry."
He nodded once, all embarrassment forgotten. "Then let's go."
Rimuri grabbed his hand again — this time with purpose — and the two of them broke into a run, racing through the trees toward the distant sounds of battle. The peaceful date was over. The village needed them.
The two of them arrived at the scene just as the battle was reaching its peak.
Ranga, Rigur, and Gobta were the only ones still fighting. The rest of the hobgoblin foraging party lay unconscious on the ground, put to sleep by the Ogre Princess's magic. The six ogres loomed over them. The leader, a young male ogre with a fierce glare, barked orders while the princess stood back, her spell keeping the majority of the goblins down.
Rimuri's eyes narrowed. "Wait — we can talk this out! There's no need for—"
The ogre leader snarled and charged, refusing any peace. The battle exploded.
Varion moved without hesitation. He stepped forward, emerald eyes calm but focused. "I've got these three."
He raised one hand. **Stellar Domination** activated.
Gravity suddenly quadrupled around the Hammer Wielding Ogre, the two Sword Wielding Ogre, and the Female Warrior Ogre with lavender hair. The three slammed to their knees, weapons dropping as the invisible weight crushed down on them. They shouted in defiance, muscles bulging as they tried to push back against the force, but Varion simply increased the pressure. The ground cracked beneath them as gravity doubled again, pinning them flat.
The other two male ogres tried to rush in to help their comrades. Rimuri intercepted them instantly, black lightning crackling around her as she forced them back.
The fight was intense but controlled. Varion kept his gravity manipulation precise, never using enough only to immobilize them. The three ogres beneath his power struggled fiercely, veins standing out on their necks, but the weight only grew heavier with every attempt to rise. Rimuri handled the remaining two with efficient, non-lethal strikes, her movements fast and practiced.
The Ogre Elder, the most dangerous of the group, identified each skill as it was used. His eyes widened in shock at the sheer number of powers on display. When Rimuri attempted one last peaceful resolution, the elder tried to sneak behind her for a decapitating strike. She reacted instantly, and dodged losing only an arm that was quickly regenerating the severed arm in seconds.
The young ogre leader unleashed a full-power Ogre Flame attack. Rimuri stood completely unfazed, her Thermal Fluctuation Nullification and the Anti-magic Mask rendering the flames harmless. She taunted him lightly, then removed her mask and produced a controlled mass of Black Flame to demonstrate her superior power, followed by a precise Black Thunder that obliterated a nearby boulder.
The ogres finally faltered.
The Ogre Princess stepped between her kin and the group, revealing the misunderstanding. Rimuri was not the leader of the orc army that had attacked their village. The mask she wore was different, and her power was far beyond anything that would require using orcs as fodder.
With the tension broken, Rimuri reabsorbed her attack and revealed her true form as a slime. "Come back to the village with us," she offered. "We can figure out who's really behind the orc army together."
The Ogre Princess removed the sleep spell from the fallen hobgoblins. The group — now including the six ogres — began the walk back to the village under a fragile but hopeful truce.
The walk back to the village felt longer than it should have.
Rimuri stayed near the front of the group, guiding the ogres, but her mind was elsewhere. Every few steps her thoughts drifted back to the clearing, to the way Varion had leaned in, the gentle touch of his fingers on her cheek, how they almost kissed, the hurt that flashed across his face when she suddenly pulled away. The memory made her chest tighten. She could only imagine how it must have felt from his side.
'I would feel awful if the person I liked suddenly jerked away like that,' she thought. 'I hurt him. I have to fix this.'
She made her decision right then. The moment the ogres were settled, she was going to find him and kiss him properly. No hesitation, no second thoughts.
When they reached the village, Rimuri moved with purpose. She assigned the six ogres a newly finished house near the edge of the square, making sure they had everything they needed. The ogres looked confused by how fast she was moving. The young leader even scratched his head, muttering something about "that slime is in a hurry." Rimuri barely registered their reactions. She gave one last quick bow, promised they would talk more later, and then turned on her heel running.
She could feel Varion alone in his house. No one else was near.
She didn't knock.
The door swung open under her hand and she stepped inside, closing it behind her with a soft click. Varion was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring off into nothing, clearly still thinking about what had happened earlier. He started to look up, mouth opening to say something—
Rimuri didn't give him the chance.
She crossed the room in two quick steps and threw herself at him. The momentum knocked them both backward onto the bed. She landed straddling his hips, hands braced on his chest as she looked down at him. Varion's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could speak, Rimuri leaned down and kissed him.
It wasn't tentative. It was eager, warm, and full of everything she had been holding back.
She pulled back just enough to breathe, then kissed him again. And again. On the fourth kiss his hands finally came up, sliding around her back and pulling her closer. Rimuri melted into the embrace, her light-blue hair falling around them like a curtain as she deepened the kiss.
The door to the house creaked open.
Gobta poked his head in, mouth already open to ask something. "yo Boss, I was wondering if—"
Rimuri didn't break the kiss. She simply raised one hand and flicked her wrist. A focused blast of wind slammed into Gobta and launched him straight back out the open door. He yelped as he tumbled across the grass outside. Catching the attention of those nearby.
Rimuri finally pulled back just enough for them to breathe. She sent a message with thought communication that reached every one of her subordinates in the village:
**"The next person who steps through that door and interrupts me is getting hit with Black Lightning."**
She slammed the door shut with another wave of wind manipulation, the latch clicking firmly into place.
Varion stared up at her, chest rising and falling quickly, eyes wide with a mix of surprise and something warmer. Rimuri looked down at him, cheeks flushed but her expression was soft and determined.
"I'm sorry about earlier," she whispered, voice barely above a breath. "I didn't mean to pull away like that. I just… I didn't mean to hurt you, I know it might not have mattered to you after you found out why but it mattered to me, I don't want to see you hurting like that because of me. I want this. I want you."
She leaned down again, capturing his lips in another slow, lingering kiss. This time Varion pulled her deeper into the kiss, one hand gently cupping the back of her head as the other slid down to rest on her waist, pulling her close.
Outside, the village continued its evening routines, completely confused about the earlier orders but no one questioned them. They carried on but avoided Varion's home as ordered.
And for the first time since she had arrived in this new world, Rimuri felt completely, perfectly at peace.