Time Traveling Hero

"Here we are, to sing our hearts out!" Prez exclaimed, putting her hands on her h.i.p.s with a triumphant look on her face.

"Seriously, karaoke? Why this place?" I grumbled, shoving my hands in my pockets. I wasn't the greatest singer, and I just know that she's going to make fun of me for this.

"Hey, cheer up! It's a classic of our youth, something every teen in the world should experience at least once!"

She can think on a global scale? I shook away the unnecessary thought before sighing. "I'm not singing."

"Stop being such a Mr. Grumpy Pants! You lose a whole bunch of points for your attitude!" She declared, pointing her finger in my face. Damn it, I really don't want to do this!

"By the way, you're also paying for this too! Now come on!" She wrapped herself around my arm and started to drag me into the karaoke place against my will. Well, see you on the other side cruel world. If I don't make it, someone please take care of my sister for me!

"Come on, stop being so slow!" When I didn't comply, she stopped and glared at me. She released me from her hold before grabbing my head.

"Um Prez, what are about to do?" She didn't answer, and she reared her head back before slamming her forehead against mine, sending me on my b.u.t.t.

"Ouch, what the f.u.c.k was that for!?" I complained, holding my head in pain. I managed to look at Prez, who was looking down at me, still glaring.

"It's a lady's duty to help out her man when he's feeling down! I put all of my maidens love into that headbutt, so I get plenty of points for that one!" What type of logic is that? "I don't know why you're so grumpy, but hopefully that should've snapped you out of it!"

I managed to get up, clutching my aching head. "Ugh, there are better ways to go about doing that you know."

"Hmph! You feeling better now?"

"As good as a guy who just got headbutted."

"Good, now let's go!" She grinned at me before grabbing my hand and pulling me in, and this time I didn't resist, miraculously enough.

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"So, someone wanna explain to me why're we watchin' this guy go on a date?" Deimos asked, crossing his arms at the sight of the screen.

Mars ran his hand through his black locks of hair, sighing. "Deimos, it's... complicated to say the least. Honestly though, this is a little strange. At this rate, he won't remember at all."

All the researchers nodded, scratching their heads at the predicament. "Normally, they would've at least figured it out by now, but there's always some sort of interference. It's strange, but could something from the outside be messing with the Trial?"

"Not possible. No one alive completely understands how these Trials work anymore, let alone enough to tamper with it. It should be fine though, he is progressing through it quite a bit faster than normal." Astraea commented, shaking her head slightly.

Hebe tugged on Deimos' sleeve before offering him a lollipop, which he accepted. "Deimos, do you understand what's going on?"

"Not a clue. It's annoyin' as hell, but I guess we jus' have to figure it out ourselves." She nodded, and both of them looked back at the screen, watching together.

"Master Hiro will figure it out soon, do not worry." Everyone looked back at the silent Anna, who was walking towards the screen, her silver hair swaying with each step she took.

"Where do you get all that faith from I wonder," Astraea murmured, and Anna stopped as she reached the console.

"Because, Master Hiro is my friend." At those words, everyone was hushed into silence at the ridiculous words she spoke. And yet, despite her tone of voice not changing, everyone could feel the sincerity in her words, as she clasped her hands together.

"Have faith in you friends. That is what my special friend always told me, and that is what I shall do. Fight on, Master Hiro."

And with those words, everyone turned their attention back towards the screen, silence unfolding unto the room once more.

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"Alrighty, lets' see what songs we can sing!" She said happily as we sat down in our room, grabbing the tablet to look at the songs.

"I already told you I'm not singing!"

"Ooo, let's look at some duets! It's a classic for ladies and gentleman to do these sorts of things!" She's too far gone now. She handed me a mike, and I reluctantly accepted it. Crap, looks like I really am going to have to sing.

"Lets' do this one to start off!" She pressed the song, and music started to play in the background, the song name popping up on the television. "I'll take the gal, and you take the guy!"

She pulled me to my feet and started to sway her h.i.p.s back and forth. "Let's go!!" The lyrics started to roll through, and we began our sets of duets. Honestly, it was really embarrassing at the beginning, but I slowly started to get into, and was soon dancing along with Prez.

We alternated choosing songs, with the range being just about any genre. We rocked out together, sang some pop songs, had a rapping contest, and otherwise had a goofy time together, unlike anything I had done before in my life.

After singing God knows how many songs together, we stopped to take a break, ordering some snacks and drinks.

"Oh man was that fun! I really worked up a sweat!" Prez said, fanning herself with one hand. Sweat had managed to make her shirt slightly see through, and I could barely see her black lace bra. I scowled before turning away, sipping my drink in silence.

"You know, your shirt is kinda see through now," I told her before sipping on more of my drink.

"Eh, did I really sweat that much!? That's embarrassing, thanks for the heads up Hiro! Like a true gentleman! Now, give me your shirt to wear!"

"Why the hell would I do that!?" I roared out, turning back to face Prez.

"Well, a true gentleman wouldn't allow a fair maiden like myself to be seen by the lecherous eyes of other men, right?"

I sadly understood her logic then and frowned. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to wear, hmm?"

"Just wear my shirt!"

"Like that would fit me at all!"

Prez smiled before pulling her shirt out from her skirt and started to take off her shirt. "We won't know if we don't try!"

She took it off and handed it to me, and I sighed before trying it on.

"What, what the hell is this!" Note, it did indeed fit, even with my shirt still on. She clapped her hands together before holding out her hand, smiling smugly.

"Gimme."

I reluctantly handed her my shirt after taking it off, and I turned the other way, pouting at the strange occurrence. Seriously, what are the odds of that happening?

I suddenly felt something warm and soft press up against my back. I froze as I felt her warm breath tickle my ear.

"Thank you."

I quickly recovered and crossed my arms. "Do you not have any self-preservation instincts at all? If I was any other guy, I would clearly get the wrong idea from this."

"Hmm, but I wouldn't do this to any other guy, now would I?" Her perfume still smelled amazing, and it was starting to make my head a little fuzzy.

"I'm being serious here. What would you do if I suddenly just attacked you all of a sudden, huh?"

"Well, you would clearly lose points, since that's so ungentlemanly." She breathed softly into my ear, and I could feel my heart starting to hammer once again. I think her perfume was starting to smell better by the second.

She rested her chin on my shoulder and sighed, her full body weight now on me. "Besides, I think I'm winning quite a bit of points by doing this." Yep, my primal instincts sadly agreed.

"Okay, get off already and get changed. If anyone walks in, we could get into serious trouble yah know."

"Oh, alright." She sat back, but not before blowing softly into my ear. She giggled as she put on my shirt, and I could finally relax. The smell of her perfume was still around, although it was probably from her shirt that I was now wearing.

"Ah man, it's so baggy on me! I guess guys and gals are different in that way." I turned back around to see her wearing my shirt, and my heart skipped a beat. It was clearly my shirt, but why did it look so much better on her?

Stop it brain, I won't allow you to fall for her tricks! I ate some food and drank some more before looking back at Prez, who was still admiring herself in my outfit.

"You know, I might keep this!"

"Absolutely not!" She laughed at my response, before picking up the tablet to look up a song. "I wanna sing a single real quick, is that all right with you?"

"Sure, go ahead." She nodded, and she played with her ponytail while searching her song. Oh, great Kami-sama, why must you make me go through such Trials?

"That word again," I said, and before I could think upon it further, Prez happily chose a song.

"Here it is! Oh boy, this is gonna knock your pants off!" She selected the song and grabbed the mike, and her song started to play. An acoustic guitar started to play in the background, and she sat down on a stool before taking a deep breath.

"You're not gonna look at the lyrics?" She shook her head, and her expression changed suddenly, to one filled with a certain longing, and she took her hair down, her sudden transformation complete.

"There's no need for lyrics. I already know this song by heart." I was hushed into silence by her words, and she began to sing.

I don't really know how to describe the song she sang that day, but the feeling still remains with me to this day. It was filled with longing pained with loneliness, happiness filled with pain, hope sustained by despair, and through it all, the one emotion I felt the most, was a Trial being overcome by failure...

Oh. I felt something warm on my face, and I wiped it off, and found it was wet. Tears? I wiped my eyes, but they wouldn't stop, a continuous stream pouring down off my face. Was it my realization of the situation, or her pained emotions that caused me to cry that day? Honestly, I still didn't know to this day.

This girl laid out her heart to bear with this song, and it was almost overwhelming. Still, I understood what she couldn't say with words, and the tears kept on coming.

She finished, her face hidden by her hair as she was breathing heavily. She looked up at me, and despite the emotional turmoil hidden underneath her face, she gave me an unwavering grin, her eyes filled with happiness.

"So, what'd think!?"