The Wandering of an Unstuck Stepbro: Multiverse Travel

Chapter 330 - Dates

(Ryoto's pov)

Today, I have four dates to attend. Kaede won the lottery, so she goes first. After her is Rio, then Alme, who heard about the dates and wanted to join, and lastly, Lala.

It was a weekend, so we decided to meet up in the morning. While we could have met at either of our houses, we decided to meet in town. It's cliché, but sometimes, being a bit cheesy is precisely what a girl wants, and seeing Kaede's smile at me, it looks like I was right.

She skipped towards me with light steps until she was next to me.

"So what's the plan?" She asked me.

"Well, since you asked, the plan is simple. Since you like sweets so much, I found a great Café we could visit, and afterward, if you want, we can go shopping for a little while."

My lady seemed satisfied with the plan, so we proceeded to go to the Café I mentioned. Before we started going, though, I opened my hand and put my arm out so she could take it. She blushed at the thought of handholding, but she took my hand hesitantly. I couldn't help but tease her a bit.

"Do you think we'll go to hell because of the pre-marriage handholding?" I lowered myself so I could whisper into her ear, which made her shiver a bit, and she attempted to take her away her hand, but I didn't allow it.

"No takebacks. Also, you don't need to be so embarrassed. You shoved multiple tentacles into me. We may have skipped some steps, so I don't think handholding is a big deal anymore."

"Stop...~" She whined as she put her face into her free hand.

Her reaction made me laugh, and I grabbed her by the waist to hold her closer to me.

"You know that you don't need to feel guilty about that whole trying to kill me thing. You aren't even the closest one to almost killing me, and you definitely didn't leave the biggest scar on my body. I doubt that you are even in the top 10 at this point. Not to mention that you weren't in the best state of your mind."

She noticed something from what I said.

"You were in so many dangerous situations in your time there?" She asked curiously but with a hint of worry as well, and I nodded solemnly as I recalled many different instances where I was severely wounded.

"I was. You saw two of these moments in the album already, and they weren't even in the first 10 years of me being there. There was a time when Masaru, my son with Rin, trained his Bankai, lost control, and I needed to walk through a literal wall of flames worthy of being called hellfire. Then there was a time when my other son, Akio, tried to kill me by sending me to another dimension. Don't worry about it. And let's not forget about the war. A lot has happened, but most importantly, I survived all of this and can enjoy a peaceful day like today with one of my girlfriends, so let's forget about all these soppy things, and let's have fun."

I didn't take a no for an answer as I pulled her and hastened my steps. It was time for us to have fun, not for Kaede to listen to some old sad stories of my life.

---

The date with Kaede was enjoyable, and I loved how expressive she was when she tasted many different sweets. I didn't enjoy them as much. They weren't bad per se, but compared to my cooking, they were just subpar. I should bake something for Kaede soon.

After we had finished a short shopping trip, it was time for my second date, which was, of course, Rio.

She was very enthusiastic about the whole thing, and it showed.

"So, Mr. Boyfriend. Do you have any plans for our date?" she asked cheekily, not expecting much. But if she thought that I invited everyone without a plan, then she was greatly mistaken.

"Well, I thought that we could go to Karaoke for a bit since you like music so much."

My answer made her pause a bit.

"You... you remembered that I like music?" She asked as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"I mean, it's been a while, but I remember you mentioning it once or twice before. I may be a bit older, but I don't have Alzheimer's or dementia. I'm not even that old compared to really old souls, but I feel like it's not about that I remembered what you like despite my age that you are surprised about. I believe that some insecurities were born in your heart. Am I right?"

And of course, I was right on the mark as Rio became quiet, but after a short moment of silence, she nodded her head in confirmation.

"You know Ryoto. I really dislike boring boys, and you are as far from boring as one can get. You have Lala for a fiancé, and she is an alien. How crazy is that!? Not only that, Lala is a princess, and that means that by marrying her, you'll become an Emperor. You are also far from ordinary with your super strength, reflexes, eyes, and everything else. I thought that nothing would ever be boring with you but then you 'returned' and I realized that I'm the most ordinary of all your lovers. There is nothing special about me except that I was deemed a prodigy before. I'm not a princess. I'm not an alien. I'm not from another world. I'm not an old soul. I can't turn myself into an animal. I'm just an ordinary, typical, average, and run-of-the-mill human. I don't know if I deserve to be your girlfriend."

I let her talk, but that was enough, so I flicked her forehead, which she didn't expect. The moment the pain registered, she quickly covered her forehead with her hands in a futile attempt to stop the pain. Not that there was much of it anyway.

"Wha-!? What are you doing!?" She asked as she was still rubbing her forehead.

"I'm trying to flick away your stupidity. Did it work?"

"Huh?"

"You? An ordinary girl? The same person who was part of class 3-E. The girl who was part of an assassination classroom? The one who was learning under a yellow octopus-like creature who was also our teacher? And, most importantly, the girl who captured the heart of one and only Ryoto Yuuki? The one who you hold in such high regard? Are you making fun of me? Do you really have such a low opinion about my taste for you to degrade yourself so much?"

I put both of my hands on her cheeks and opened my eyes so we could have actual eye contact.

"Rio, I chose you because you were you and not someone else. It wasn't because you were a princess. It wasn't because you were an alien. It wasn't because you were from another world. It wasn't because you were an old soul. It wasn't because you could turn into an animal. It was because you were Rio, and it was enough."

Hearing me say it, Rio was overwhelmed by emotions, and tears started gathering in the corners of her eyes, but she didn't break our eye contact. I have a feeling my feelings went through her thick head. It was a good guess because my only clue was her kissing me suddenly. It was a bit of a challenge for her since I was taller, but she managed with a little help from me.

After we separated, we again locked our eyes, and I wiped away traces of her tears.

"Feeling better?" I asked with a slight smirk, which made Rio unusually shy, but she answered nonetheless and gave me a bright smile.

"Thanks to someone. Now, let's go have some fun!"

And so she dragged me so we could sing to our souls' content.

---

It was fun. Not worrying about anything and singing whatever I wanted without any worry was fun. Just good old fun. Rio was impressed by my singing, and why shouldn't she? I was perfectly mimicking the voice of every singer I tried to copy. After we had our fun, we ate some pizza. As we were about to end our date, someone jumped on my shoulders. Of course, I knew who it was, and I could easily dodge it, but why should I when it was my lovely fiancé nr. 2, Alme.

It was time for Alme's date, so I separated from Rio and started my date with Alme.

---

Alme was in an extremely good mood as she was humming while holding onto my arm.

"You seem to be cheerful today. What's the occasion?"

I mean, it's not that big of a mystery, as it was pretty evident that she was happy about our outing, but it's a good conversation starter either way.

My question was met with a knowing smile.

"I am on another date with a man I love. Of course, I am happy. It's also a chance to learn about Earth's culture. It's very interesting. The mating rituals of earthlings are intriguing. They are also, most of the time, overly complicated, but it also reminds me of hunting. Like everything you do is to wear down your target until you can get the killing blow, but instead of killing your target, you wear it down until he says yes. I almost wish that we could go through it because it sounds fun."

"If you want, we can always pretend to do these things. We can even go hunting today.

Hearing the words 'hunting' and 'today' had the desired effect as her already big smile widened, giving me a toothy grin. We found the woods that would become our playground during our date. I even used my Beast-form so I could run freely there. It was amusing, and Alme even rode on me while I ran, which was a thrill for her and even me. We had a game of rodeo. She tried to stay on top of me while I tried to throw her off. Of course, I didn't try my best. If I did, she wouldn't stand a chance, and it was, after all, just a game.

---

Last but certainly not least, it was time for my date with Lala. I was ready for some craziness. Maybe a device Lala built that she wanted to showcase malfunctioned, or in her enthusiasm, she just used it without thinking about it further. I love Lala, but she can be more energetic than an AHDH kid who drank five cups of strong coffee with five spoons of sugar on top of it. And still, I feel like my comparison is lowballing it.

What I got instead was Lala wanting to spend our time together at home in her room. We made ourselves comfortable on a sofa in front of the TV and covered ourselves in a warm blanket as we cuddled.

The whole time, we didn't do anything crazy. We just enjoyed each other's company as we watched whatever we wanted. I realized that Lala wanted me to relax because I spent the whole day with other girls, and she probably saw that they were in a better mood, and it was obviously because of me. She wanted me to just laze around, and she was even using her own date to do that. She really is a sweetheart. I even think she wanted me to have a good time after my time in Soul Society to some degree.

And it worked.

We stayed like this until we fell asleep. It was a great day.

---

END

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/Kurit (10 Chapters ahead.)