HSR Love Letters and Confessions - feat. Asta, Feixiao, Silver Wolf, Kafka, Seele, Topaz, Herta, and Firefly
Follow-up for my HSR Love Letter event, in which a bunch of the HSR gals sent you a love letter, but forgot to sign them. Still, you know them well enough to figure out who sent the majority of them. Now, it's time to go and visit them in person. Shall we?
- Asta -
Catching up. That's what Asta's letter to you clearly stated was the intention of this dinner at a fancy restaurant. And yet, despite several minutes having already passed since the two of you sat down and received your respective orders, barely a word has come out of her mouth. It hardly seems to be a coincidence that she's also been timing her bites at the exact moments you open your mouth to start up a conversation.
"Asta."
"Mm?" She hums in between chews, blatantly avoiding making eye contact.
"I'm not saying you can't eat as much as you want, but didn't we come here to talk? I figured you must have something you want to say to invite me all the way out here. You know, with how busy you are."
She flinches and goes to take another bite, only for there to be nothing left on her plate.
"O-oh, right. You're right. I did have something I wanted to say to you."
"Okay... And..."
"And..." Her face glows bright pink, closely resembling her hair. "Oh, this is so much harder than I thought it would be! Okay, okay, let me just take a deep breath and then I'm going to get it all out in one go."
Her eyes flutter shut as she gently rests the palm of her hand over her chest. She inhales. She exhales. Then, just as fast as they closed, her eyes reopen, now locked directly onto your own with an air of determination like none you've ever seen from her before.
"I love you. Like, a lot. I've never had somebody who I've felt as safe or seen with as I do when I'm with you, and being so busy lately made me realize how much I miss you when you aren't around. So, I wanted to ask... Will you please go out with me?"
"Of course." The words flow out of your mouth without a second thought.
"Really?! That's perfect!"
Her eyes sparkle brighter than the stars as they beam at you, only to immediately move down to stare at her phone.
"...What are you doing? Don't tell me... Are you ordering something? Right now, in the middle of dinner?
"Maaaaybe. You'll see soon. Don't worry, you'll love it!"
It's not you you're worried about so much as her bank account—or what little may remain of it if she gets too carried away with her impulse purchases. You just hope you can manage to wrangle in her spending habits a little before the holidays...
- Feixiao -
7:25.
While it's technically true that she wrote 7:30 in her letter, and as such the present time wouldn't exactly be considered late per se, she would be lying if she said she felt as lacking in worries as she so often likes to claim. A stinging sensation grows in her chest. Either you're going to show up at her doorstep within the next 300 seconds or you're not. Either you're going to greet her with the smile she loves so dearly, the one she's yearning for more and more with each passing second, or you won't.
Either you love her back or you don't. Those are the only two options. And if her fears are right and your lack of presence is proof of the latter, then, well... She'll only have one option left: Move on. Move forward.
7:26.
240 seconds left until she gives up on the crush she's been so helplessly nursing for far, far longer than she'd like to admit. So much for that line about not liking to put things off for later.
7:27.
But hey, it's not so bad. Whether you show up or not, she won't ever have to worry again about not knowing how you feel.
7:28.
7:29.
A single minute left of waiting, of wondering—although she has a funny feeling that you've already given her your answer.
7:30.
Well. That's that. She's made her feelings clear, and you have too. Admittedly, it stings way worse than she expected, but there's no pain she can't conquer with some time and movement to help clear her head.
With one last tug on her ponytail and a handful of stretches, she gets into position. It's time to run.
"Wait!"
Sweat visibly drips down your forehead as it falls forward, you nearly toppling down with it. In the blink of an eye, Feixiao turns her body into a pillar for you to rest your pretty little head on. You wheeze until, slowly but surely, the strangled noises morph into words.
"I'm so, so sorry! I don't know why my alarm didn't go off. I got here as fast as I could, though."
"Don't worry, I can tell. Glad you could make it."
You have no idea just how much she means those words.
- Silver Wolf -
"Yo."
Your profile pictures (matching, because duh, of course they're matching) light up in unison on your computer screen as you make your way into the call she'd just started.
"Hey, Silvy! What's up?"
"Nothing much. I do have some dailies to knock out real quick, though, so yeah. It's your job to help make them a little less boring. You go ahead and talk about whatever."
Once again, you've found yourself as Silver Wolf's pseudo-audiobook of choice as she follows the ritualistic motions of opening up game after game. You asked her once why she doesn't listen to an actual audiobook or podcast or whatever else instead. She merely clicked her tongue in response and claimed you just "didn't get it" and to keep yapping. Not having any argument, seeing as you really didn't get it at the time, that was the end of that discussion.
That's not to say you're complaining, of course. The opposite. After knowing Silvy for as long as you have, adapting to her quirks as often as you have, one fact about her has been made exceptionally clear: while sappiness is not and probably will never be her thing, affection sure is. She just has her own style of showing it is all. Intertwining your daily lives with one another so casually that it nearly seems like the will of the universe, all the while skillfully neglecting to admit that it's her own, was exactly what defined that style.
The chattering continues on—even if almost entirely on your account. She's far too locked in to provide any thrilling commentary of her own. You don't mind. Time with her is precious all the same.
"Oh, hey. Only one game left."
"Already?"
"Yup. A pro gamer's gotta be able to blast through their dailies super fast, or else we'd have a real problem on those nights you get all warm and snug in bed only to realize you got distracted and forgot some of 'em."
"So even you forget them sometimes, huh."
"Unfortunately."
Her voice drifts off once more, most likely from having opened up the last of her time leeches. You don't really have any more to say. Thankfully, she's quick to end the silence with a groany sigh and the sound of her stretching her limbs like a cat.
"Now that that's all over, I'm logging out. Goodnight. Love you."
The words slip out of her mouth so smoothly that your mind nearly ignores them altogether—and yet they linger and burn into your neurons all the same.
"Goodnight, Silvy. Love you too."
- Kafka -
You feel her aura before she so much as enters your vision. An overwhelming, menacing aura that could belong to one person and one person only: her.
"Hey, cutie."
Sure enough, that sensation sending shivers down your spine and blood rushing into your cheeks is none other than Kafka. She leans in closer—wait. Since when did she have you pinned up against the wall like this?!
"Oh, h-hey, Kafka..." Your eyes drift to the side. "I see you're, uh, back from your mission. How did that go?"
"Fine, but that's not what's important right now. Judging by your adorable expression, I take it you read my letter?"
That's all it takes to send you straight from mildly flustered to a barely-still-conscious puddle of pining terror. Of course you read her letter, and it didn't take much detective work to figure out who its overly flirtatious sender was, nor to understand what Kafka was expecting to occur next. She wants your response. Not another round of panicking and stuttering over your words as she shoves (in hindsight) obvious clues of her own feelings in your face. She wants a clear, concise answer. And she's not exactly keen on waiting much longer for it to come.
"I know you know how to move that pretty little mouth of yours. Don't keep me waiting."
What do you even say here? I like you too? Please go out with me? No, she already asked you out, so that'd be redundant. Ugh, this would be so much easier if you could be as forward as her. If you were, maybe you could actually do what she said to do in her letter...
Hold on. Were you actually going to do it? No way. There's no way you would be able to pull something like that.
If you did, though... Wouldn't that be the perfect way to respond?
"Hey. I'm getting impatient here. At least look at me—"
With way too much speed and not enough grace to make it work out the way you imagined, you bite the bullet and push your lips onto hers. It's horrible. Your teeth clack together harsh enough that it makes your entire head ring. There's no rhythm to be found, not when you haven't even properly decided if this was going to be a quick peck or something more involved. All the same, it's more than enough to get that precious smile back on her lips, and that's kind of all you can ask for at the moment.
You go to pull away for a breather, but before you can even try sucking in some air, she's already pulling you right back into her arms. That's what you get for making her wait so damn long.
- Seele -
"Oh, you're here. Follow me."
Since meeting with Seele and beginning your journey into the Overworld and through a set of winding paths, those have been the only words she's spoken. That itself isn't strange. She's always found herself relying on you to fill the empty space with your words and laughter far more than she does herself. Still, tonight feels different. Perhaps it's the way her back is the only part of her you can see—her determined to walk ahead instead of beside you—or perhaps it's the lingering unease still building from reading the letter she sent you. Probably both. Yeah. Both.
A sigh of relief falls from your lips as she finally gestures towards a small patch of land before sitting down on it herself. You plant yourself next to her and set your gaze upwards.
"Whoa... You were right! The stars look so pretty here—and brighter too, I think."
"Huh. I guess they are."
Again, silence overtakes the space between you two, although not nearly as uncomfortable this time around. You'd actually call it peaceful, serene even. Looking up at the stars like this serves as a potent reminder of all that's come before—between the Underworld and the Overworld, between Seele and you as you each played your respective roles in the fight for something better, not knowing if all that endless struggling would even pay off in the end.
But now you know. It did pay off, and this moment right here, basking in the tranquility that followed with the person who stuck by your side throughout it all, is ample proof of that.
"Look..."
She breaks the silence. You nearly forgot she could do that. Her fingernails scratch at exposed skin as you turn to look at her, only to find what little you can see of her face scrunched up and aimed downwards. Still, you can hear her voice perfectly well.
"Things were really stressful for a while back there, so I didn't want to bring this up. You know, in case something went wrong. But I promised myself that if everything turned out okay, I would tell you my feelings, so here goes. I don't really get romance stuff and I'm not going to act like I do, but... Well, if it's with you, I want to try it out. Maybe we could go on a date somewhere or something?"
You giggle, and then reach out for her hand, weaving your fingers in the gaps between hers.
"Aren't we already kind of on a date right now?"
She jolts upright.
"Oh. Huh... I guess we are."
- Topaz -
It only takes two seconds of being within the confines of her home before you consider walking right back out. Unfortunately, leaving Topaz behind to deal with the chaos unfolding would make you a total asshole, so... yeah. Begrudgingly, you inch closer to her hunched-over, out-of-breath form and ask what in the world is going on.
"It's Numby. They, ah, seem to have caught a bad case of the zoomies." She lets out a wheeze before looking up at you. "Sorry to ask, but would you mind helping me out? I promise I'll make it worth your while."
"Okay... What do you want me to actually do, though?"
"Well, I tried bribing them with treats and that was a no-go. Neither of us is fast enough to keep up with them, either. Hm... Oh! I got it. Here's what we're going to do."
She leans into your ear and whispers her plan. It's nothing fancy, but it should work. You think. Before long, the two of you have slotted into your respective positions, sharing a silent prayer that the little guy's intelligence that on any other day's such a delight doesn't bite you both in the ass.
"Numby!" You look around. "Oh, Numby Wumby, where are you?"
A sparkling flash of color darts across your vision. Bingo. Without a second left to spare, your feet rush to follow its trail, weaving between the many twists and turns of the home's walls. And then you stop. Continuing to blindly chase after it will only lead to you running in circles. So, taking care to remember Topaz's words, you spin around and find yourself face to face with the little guy once more.
"Listen buddy. We can do this the easy way or the hard way—"
They dash into a brand new direction. Okay, hard way it is. It's a good thing Topaz knows them well enough to have already expected such an outcome. You chase after them.
Right as your lungs are about to give out and your legs can't help but slow down to a jog, you look forward and see that Numby is in a predicament of their own, having just ran headfirst into a door. They look at you. Then, they look around. When they do, they only find one escape option left—Topaz's room. And like a fool, they take the bait.
"Gotcha!"
Just as you cross the border into her room, the lady herself slams the door shut and tackles Numby. Well, it's more like she hugs them tight into her arms, but whatever. Her fingers reach for and loop around the sparkly object they'd been carrying—a bracelet, you now realize.
"What the hell was all that about?"
"It's..." She lets out a deep sigh. "I was planning on asking you out with a heartfelt speech and then giving you this bracelet, but obviously things didn't work out like I planned. Ugh, you know what? Here. Take it."
She flings the bracelet in your direction and then promptly collapses onto the floor in exhaustion, leaving you to process her confession in silence. Just as silently, you give her your response by slipping the jewelry on before collapsing on the floor right by her side.
- Herta -
"There you are, darling! What took you so long? You're lucky I'm in a good enough mood to forgive you for making me wait like this, or I'd send you right back home and make you try again tomorrow."
As per usual, Herta's determination to run her mouth every opportunity she gets (and then some) never fails. Not only that, but if her immediately pulling you into a tight hug and twirling you around her room's anything to go off of, she's also lost any and all restraint when it comes to physical affection. You suppose you can't blame her for that last part; from her perspective, you two are already in a relationship, so why hold back? From yours, though...
"Herta, would you mind taking a look at this real quick?"
"Oh?"
You reach into your bag and pull out the letter you'd received not too long ago. A faint blush coats Herta's face, yet she covers it up well enough with a laugh and smile.
"I'm well aware of the contents of that letter. Could it be that you're so in love with my voice that you wish for me to read it out loud? I certainly wouldn't mind doing that for you."
"No, no, that's not it." With a sigh, you shove the paper into her palms. "Take a closer look at it. Tell me when you notice the problem."
"Excuse me?! Problem? As if there could be anything wrong with a masterpiece written by... me..."
As her eyes go down line by line of her past self's handwriting, her voice trails off with it. Her eyes scrunch in confusion. And then they finally reach the bottom of the letter—more importantly, the empty section where her signature should be.
"Ah."
You wait and give her brain a chance to recalculate. She waits too, probably in the false hope that a handful of seconds is plenty to shoo away the extra blood flowing through her cheeks and the tension from her quivering lips.
"W-well, ah, you see, that—that was intentional, obviously! What kind of partner would you be if you couldn't even correctly identify who wrote this? It was a test, and you, my dear, passed. Congratulations!"
"Right..."
Well, in the end, it doesn't really matter. Even if it was a lie she came up with on the spot, what she said wasn't wrong: recognizing who wrote that letter was indeed a test, and you loved her enough to get it right.
- Firefly -
Despite the romantic words she was able to write on paper just a short while ago, waxing poetic about spending the rest of your lives together and carving out your mutually desired destinies, the real Firefly's nowhere to be found. At least, not yet. You hoped all it would take to meet her would be going about your usual routine, but alas, it appears that the only way you'll reach her is by going to look for her yourself. Thankfully, Kafka was kind enough to offer her whereabouts when you asked. All that's left is to actually go there—to her room. You knock on the door.
"Firefly, it's me. You still in there?"
It takes some time to receive any response in turn, but eventually, you hear her voice break through the barrier of her door.
"Yes, I am. Sorry... Give me a minute, please. I'll be right back."
When she returns and opens the door, you let out a gasp, instinctively reaching out to cup her face with your palms. Red, puffy eyes. Water stains running down her cheeks, partially rubbed off, but not well enough to hide the evidence. It doesn't take a genius to know why this is your first time seeing her today.
"What's wrong? Is it your...?"
"No, it's nothing like that. I actually feel pretty good today, as far as physical stuff goes."
"Okay, good. But then, why were you crying? You can talk to me about whatever's bothering you. I'm on your side, remember? You even said something like that yourself in your letter."
She smiles softly at your words before breaking down into a new fit of tears. Only, this time, she's not just crying. She's laughing, too.
"I was being stupid and overthinking, and I got scared that you wouldn't take what I said well. It looks like I really was worrying over nothing though, huh?" Her warm eyes rest on yours as you wipe away the new streams of tears pouring out of her. "Oh, come on, don't look so worried. These are happy tears. Promise."
You aren't entirely sure whether or not to believe her. For all you know, she's still got plenty of fears terrorizing the mind behind those gentle eyes of hers, ones that nobody should ever have to suffer through on their own. Still, if she wants you to take her at her word, you have no choice but to do just that.
"Alright, if you say so. Did you eat breakfast?"
"Not yet."
"Alright, then let's head over and grab you something to eat."
And so, the two of you walked to the first destination of your lifelong journey together exactly the way she wished for: hand in hand.
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Author's note: Finally done writing this woo!!! Thank you to everyone who requested characters, voted in polls, and/or read through all of this! Couldn't have done it without ya <3
Taglist: @dreadcore @cmiru @wandiethewanderer @odds-games @genshingorlsrevengeance @rawcookiedough03 @derouged
