Chapter-90<* perseverance *>

Houki and Cloud were heading back to the Academy, and this time the two of them were alone.

Cecilia and Charlotte had had the decency to leave them alone at the end.

"Dinner wasn't that great..." - Houki muttered with clear annoyance.

"I'm sorry about that" - Cloud said as the two walked through the illuminated streets of the city.

"You don't have to"-Houki said as she shook her head-"It wasn't your fault that Charles-san and Cecilia-san showed up at the Restaurant"

The girl slowly got closer and closer to the blonde's side as she tried to hold her hand. She could feel her heart pounding at the thought of being by her childhood sweetheart's side, so with a quick move, she made one last effort.

Cloud didn't say anything, he just gave the girl a look when he noticed how she had taken his hand.

". . ." Houki blushed when she noticed the look she was giving him but didn't back down, she just moved a little closer to the blonde, and in the process, she brushed her arm with her large breasts.

Cloud gave the girl a new look as he felt how lovely she was, though this was mostly because he had no defenses against her two friends.

"Cloud...."-Houki said as she looked at the boy with an embarrassed expression that made her look much more beautiful than she already was.

"Houki..."-muttered the boy as he saw how the girl got closer and closer to his face.

Slowly, she took his cheeks and kissed him without a second thought. She had already missed an opportunity and she wouldn't let anything interrupt her again.

She could feel how the love that she had planted when she was a child, now she had grown with the years, more when all this time she was worried about not knowing what had happened to him.

Cloud slowly let himself be carried away by the girl's kiss and carefully approached her.

Houki was shocked for a few seconds, but quickly gave in as they continued to tongue-fight her.

After a few minutes, the two parted ways.

Houki's face was red as she gave the boy a charming look, who could only admit the beauty she was displaying.

"Cloud... I..." Houki said seeing that things were progressing as she wished. She only had one thought... she had to hit now that the iron was hot - "I want..."

"I know"-Cloud said as he looked into her eyes-"But first we have to talk about something important"

". . ." -Houki nodded when she heard this, although deep inside her, something told her that what he would hear would bother her.

* * * * *

Both of them stopped at a park so they could continue their conversation.

Cloud had informed Chifuyu that they would be arriving a little later because they would be talking about something important.

The teacher was a little upset when she heard this but after talking some more, she decided to give them a little more time, although as 'payment', they wouldn't be able to leave the Academy next week.

After that, he called Charlotte so he could ask her permission to talk about her.

At first, she seemed to be upset with the situation but after arguing for a while, she decided to accept, but she left one condition on the table, and that was that she would talk to Houki face to face when they got back to the Academy.

"I think it's better that we start"-Cloud said as she looked at the girl, who was sincerely confused by the reason that he called her roommate to ask her permission to talk.

"Okay" - agreed the girl.

"I understand that you have to be curious about the reason I called Char"-Cloud said as he looked at the girl, who nodded when she heard her words-"The reason is simple... what I want to talk about has to do with with her"

"��She?" Houki asked in surprise.

"Yes...she"-nodded the blonde as he started to tell her about his roommate.

Houki couldn't believe her ears, though she now understood why she felt so upset when she remembered the situation with 'Charles' when she talked to him in the blonde's room.

"Did they sleep together?!" The girl exclaimed furiously. The boy she liked had slept with another of hers and that infuriated her.

"In my defense, we didn't have anything back then"-the blonde replied as he tried to talk to the brown-haired girl.

Houki slowly began to regain his composure, because she couldn't contradict that argument- "Sorry for my outburst... it's just..."

"I understand, you don't have to continue" - replied the [Raiden] user - "But if it gives you some comfort, we didn't do anything"

". . ." Houki just sighed ruefully, though she was explaining why Charles...no, Charlotte, had walked in so abruptly when she'd kissed her date. It was obvious that the girl from France couldn't resist seeing her boyfriend kissing another.

"Are you dating her?" Houki asked as she felt a hole form in her stomach because she didn't want to hear an affirmative answer.

"Yes…" the blonde answered as he watched as the girl started to cry when he heard her answer-"Houki"

"I'm an idiot..." murmured the younger sister of the genius Shinonono. She could feel her heart breaking into hundreds of pieces-"I should have known..."

"Why...why couldn't I act sooner?" The girl murmured as she began to cry.

"Houki, I..." - said the blonde.

"Do not say more!" The girl exclaimed as she bit her lip. She was really hurt because she felt like someone was stealing what was hers-"I...I've loved you since we were kids...you were always by my side, even when Ichika had to go somewhere else with Chifuyu -saint..."

"It hurts Cloud... it hurts me..."-said the girl as she began to cry uncontrollably-"But... I don't want to give up... I can't do it... not when you were the one who taught me not to do it..."

"Never give up Houki..." - the blonde murmured as a scene from the past flashed through your mind - "Because I..."

I'll always be by your side…" Houki said as she took the boy's hands in her, "Those words were what kept me going even when you disappeared…"

"I never gave up, Cloud... because I felt that as long as I didn't, we could meet again" - the girl said while squeezing his hands with all her strength - "I didn't give up when I trained Kendo... I kept going and didn't stop even when my hands bled from training so much…I didn't give up trying to find you even though Otousan told me that we might never meet again…I didn't give up even when Onee-chan told me that the chances of us meeting again, they were almost nil..."

Cloud could only look at the girl sadly. He could feel how much she had been through these years.

He had read reports about how the Shinonono family had had to be moved to a classified location because the family's youngest daughter had been the victim of multiple kidnapping attempts.

"That's why I won't give up…" Houki said firmly as she released a hand to wipe away her tears, "I didn't do it before, I won't do it now…"

"I'm going to fight Cloud... even if everything is against me..." Houki continued as she felt her mentality change a bit. She could feel as if she was released from a great burden, as if she finally found that which she had lost.

Cloud for his part, was surprised because in front of him, there was something he hadn't seen for a long time, a mission window.

[Mission Activated: Perseverance]

[Never Give Up, always keep going no matter what the world throws at us]

[Objective 1: Inspire, Support, Help Houki Shinonono but not give her what she wants easily]

[Goal 2: The higher the goal, the more potential we release]

[Reward: Houki acquires Skill [Perseverance], Houki's Potential increases, Recruitment requirements decrease]

[Failure: Houki loses that which drives her forward or fails to meet her goal in the stipulated time]

[Completion: Houki achieves her goal in the stipulated time. Higher the level of potential released, higher the final reward]

[Minimum time: 2 weeks]

[Maximum time: 4 weeks]

[Perseverance (EX)]

[Move forward, never give up, never look back]

[Information blocked because the user does not have any recruits with this skill]

[Additional Information: Skill only accessible to 'Main Characters']

". . ." -Cloud could only watch this in silence because he sincerely felt that he was playing with the emotions of his… friend of his, for his benefit.

Houki for her part, she had closed her eyes to be able to better analyze this sensation that she was feeling right now. It was as if she had finally broken through that barrier that had been trapping her for so long.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the blonde firmly - "I'm going to do it Cloud... even if I have to fight Charlotte-san... even if I have to end up in a bad state, I'm going to fulfill my goal, I'm going to keep moving forward." , I am going to remain firm in my decision, because that is my way of being"

Cloud was silent when he heard the girl's words because it was more than enough proof to show that she wanted to improve. He could just tell her that Charlotte was willing to share, he could just accept her and get this over with quickly, but he wouldn't, and this wasn't because of the mission, but because he could see that she really wanted to show that she could improve, that she could moving forward with him, that she could turn their love into a force, a force that would be unstoppable.

"That's why I'm going to promise you this, Cloud..." - Houki said with a resolute look - "I'm going to be strong... strong enough to raise my head and say that I can be by your side and not behind you "

"I'll be waiting for you"-answered Cloud with a smile as he put his hand on the girl's head.

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