The approach to Moral High Ground was strewn with fallen demons. Within the the first wall the bodies were charred, outside they were covered with flowering shrubs. What fighting there was appears to have been very one-sided, but there are spots of twisted metal where vehicles were destroyed and bloodstains where the human defenders were struck down by malign spells.
You have a stab of guilt when you consider if more of them would have survived if you had been there. It's easy enough to say that you couldn't have been in multiple places, but it doesn't stop the memory of failing to act. Of a city screaming before your eyes as you stood back and watched. How you wanted to intervene, but were persuaded to stay and guard the perimeter.
It's different now. They, you, all of you are working together and risking your lives for victory. They fought and died so you could nearly get killed trying to disable Hell's gateways. And it's not for you to decide if it was worth it, just to do your best while others do there best in making those choices.
Besides, you probably saved most of them by preventing a horde of Hell Beasts from being summoned in.
It doesn't make the sight of a battle you weren't there for easier to view, even if it makes sense.
Oh, there's Kei. You can tell by his distinct magic (Love), maybe you'll feel better if he talks about the fighting and how Magical Girls were effective. You fly to him.
"Summit! I heard you killed a bunch of demon sentinels!" he calls out as you start to land.
"I may have dueled a few..." you offer, "did everything turn out alright here?"
"Smooth, Rokusabe, you've got an MG worried about you." said a soldier (Metal) from where he was making a hole in an armored vehicle flow shut.
What.
There must be a misunderstanding, you'll need to address this immediately.
"D-don't get the wrong idea Kei! It's not that I lov-"
Wrong word!
"-L-like you or anything. I just wanted to hear that everyone was okay."
You're making eye contact, doesn't that implicate intimacy? You dart your head to the side.
"So don't get the wrong idea, okay." you finish.
That should clear things up.
Kei grins, steps forward and lightly touches your chin.
What is he doing? You turn to face him and start to ask him, "Wha-"
He cuts you off by kissing you, fingers tracing from your chin to the collar of your bodysuit while his left hand clasps your own.
!!!
!!!
What are you supposed to do? Did you say something weird? It tingles where he's touched you.
For a handful of seconds he holds the kiss, his breath tickling your face when he exhales. Then, after a too-short subjective entirety, he draws backs.
"I think I get it." Kei says with a wink, then lets go of your hand.
Your face is already flushed, and becomes more so when Kei's group starts clapping slowly. You cover yourself with your hands before deciding to just let your Panoply cover you completely.
"Wargle." you tumble over trying to say eight things at once before Shifting away.
That ottua put enough of a damper on it. Madama Morte has taken it upon herself to keep Dark Steel under control by threatening to kill her and zapping the 'not-quite-dead' sworded girls back to health.
