Time Traveling Hero

"Fufu, are you so shocked by my beauty? It's okay to gawk, I put a lot of effort into this you know!"

For once, I couldn't disagree. Well, I could, but I would just be lying to myself at that point, and I really rather not have to deal with that. I slapped my cheeks together and somehow managed to snap out of stupor before staring at the changed girl.

It was a complete and total makeover. She wore a yellow skirt, showing off her slender legs along with her matching heels. Tucked into her shirt was a simple white-button down shirt, allowing her c.h.e.s.t to seemingly magnify in size, with a little ribbon around her collar. She had makeup on, but just enough to accentuate her natural beauty to the point of it almost radiating. Also, she did her hair into a simply ponytail, which somehow made her ten times hotter.

Am I into ponytails or something, because I really am digging that look on her. I had to give myself another slap on my cheeks. Now is not the time for self-discovery damnit!

"Hey, can you at least say something? It's kinda embarrassing for you to keep on staring at me like that," She said, giving off a slight blush and twirling her ponytail around her fingers.

It was like a shot to my heart. I nearly collapsed from the shock, but somehow managed to stay standing. "It's not that at all. You're just way more stunning than I thought you would've been."

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment!" She happily went down the stairs, and stopped it front of me with a smile. Upon closer inspection, she was also wearing cute dolphin earrings, along with a small purse as well. "I was feeling kinda nervous, so I decided this would be a great confidence booster!"

Wait, this girl needs confidence? "I'm sorry, but you seem to be the type to brim with confidence. Why would you feel nervous?"

She pouted before crossing her arms. "Is that how I really come off? Well, every girl has their secret I guess..." Her smile faded as she lost herself in thought.

I sighed before clearing my throat. "In any case, I can get the confidence thing, but did you really have to go this far?"

"I always go all out!"

"Figures." This damn girl, if I was a chump who didn't know about her quirky nature, I would've fallen for her for sure. "Well, what I am supposed to do then? It's kinda awkward if I didn't at least put in some effort as well..."

Old tennis shoes, basketball shorts, and a faded shirt was my attire today. Honestly, I don't like dressing up, but seeing her kind of makes me...

"Oh, it's fine! I just get bonus points in the scoring!" Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she said this, and she happily clenched both her fists.

"Her true motive comes out after all! Well, we should probably get going if we actually want to go anywhere."

"Alright, then I hereby declare that the Hidden Club's Activities begin!" She roped herself around one of my arms and began to drag me out of her apartment.

Honestly, what did I get myself into today? First Trials, now this stupid activity? How crazy can one day get!?

"Eh? Trials...?" I muttered these familiar words to myself as I let myself get dragged by a happy Prez into the elevator. Trials, what Trials did I do earlier today? Wait, how could I possibly do any Trials since I was in school? My head gave a slight throb as I tried to think back to earlier today.

Huh? Why can't I-? Before I could think anymore, I was suddenly faced with a Prez, mere centimeters away from my face. Due to her heels, she was almost my height now, and could look me straight in the eye without trouble.

"Wha-what do you-?"

"On a date, the guy is supposed to give the girl his full undivided attention!" Crap, she really needs to stop doing this. And why does she smell so good? Is it perfume? Before I could move away, she pulled me in closer, breathing softly into my ear.

"It's my first time, so treat me well okay?" My ears turned bright red as I heard these words, and the elevator dinged to a stop. She swiftly moved away from me, grinning her usual smile.

"Now come on, I know the perfect place to start!" And then she walked away, leaving me in the elevator. I put a hand over my hammering heart. Damn, is she good. I grinned to myself.

"All right then, let this challenge begin!" And I walked out, following the Prez to our unknown destination.

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"Wow, this is somethin' alright," Deimos whistled. "Who would'v' thunk that this gal was hiding somethin' so terrifyin'?"

"Never underestimate a woman's tenacity," Astraea agreed, watching carefully. "He was close once again, but that girl stopped him. Hmm..."

"Is something wrong Astraea?" Hebe asked, offering her a lollipop. She accepted and started to suck on it.

"It's nothing, it's just, the people of this age are quite different from what I imagined is all."

"But, aren't you from this age too?"

Astraea turned around to see a confused Hebe, her head tilted. She patted her head before turning back towards the screen. "Ah well, it is nothing you need to concern yourself with young one."

And from afar, Anna watched the screen silently, a vague sense of a foreign feeling slowly enveloping her, although the true meaning of that emotion would not be put into words for a while yet. Instead, she simply did what she could, and continued to wish her Master Hiro good luck.

And the room was hushed into silence once more, as his Trial continued onward.

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"Hmm! So delicious!" Prez continued to happily eat her parfait, a look of bliss passing over her face.

Of course she wanted to come here. I glanced around the place, looking at all the couples around, doing couple things. I watched one guy feed his girlfriend her parfait and sighed before taking a bite out of mine. Do all girls have this insane sweet tooth or something? I let the sweet taste roll over my tongue before chewing it and swallowing.

Well, I did have sweet tooth myself, so I guess I couldn't complain.

"Alright, now then Hiro, isn't there something you should be doing right now? If I remember correctly, you still have zero points!" Damn this conniving girl! I turned back toward the couple feeding each other, and an awful idea came into my head.

I took a spoonful of my desert and right when Prez opened her mouth to eat hers, I forced my spoon into her mouth.

"Hmm!" A look of shock passed over her face at the unfamiliar taste, and her eyes widened at my sudden boldness.

"Now, now darling, you really should have a taste of mine! Isn't it simply divine?" Crap, I didn't mean to rhyme.

I let slowly her eat it out of my spoon, before taking it out of her mouth. She gasped as she held her c.h.e.s.t. "That was... an impressive move." She blushed as she turned away from me.

"Next time, be more gentle okay?" She squirmed cutely in her booth, and I once again felt the heart throb. Damnit, how is she so easily getting these points!?

"Well, how many points did I get?"

"Not enough to catch up to me!" She regained her former demeanor, smiling at me. This was going to be a long rest of the day, wasn't it?

"Well, have some more, Darling." I put another spoonful in her mouth, and I got similar reaction. Okay, she must be doing that on purpose. I shoved some of her parfait into my mouth using her spoon.

"Ah, wait!" Too late, I had already eaten it.

"Hey, this actually pretty good! You wanna split it with mine?" I asked, smiling at her. She gently tapped her fingers together, her face scrunched up cutely.

"...kiss."

I chuckled, knowing full well I didn't hear that from her mouth. "Could you repeat that?"

"You idiot, that was an indirect kiss!" She pouted and crossed her arms, her face flushed.

"..." I was left speechless, and people had started to take notice at our antics.

"Oh, they're so cute together!"

"Reminds me of how we first started out, huh Honey?"

I put my hands up to my face. "Am I in a shoujo manga or something, is that it? Have I been teleported to the land of anime romance, where hand-holding is the l.e.w.dest thing you can do!?"

She regained her composure before frowning at me. "Shou..jo?"

I ruffled up my growing afro and sighed. "Don't worry about it. So, do you wanna split or not?"

She nodded, and we happily ate out of each others bowls without too much trouble. We both set down our spoons at the same time with an "Ah," before smiling at each other.

"Wait a second, what's with this current development!?" I yelled out. Why are we suddenly like this!?

"Calm down Hiro! Now, as the gentleman here, you can pay for both of us on this fine afternoon."

"Wait a second, a real lady wouldn't allow the guy she likes to pay for everything, especially in this day and age."

"We're talking about etiquette here, not about social norms. Now hush and pay!"

She totally just wanted a free meal, didn't she? I rolled my eyes before getting up from the booth. I stopped in front of her side and hesitated.

"What's up Hiro?" She smiled warmly at me, her charms easily giving her points. I honestly can't believe I'm doing this, but here goes!

I offered my hand towards Prez, who's eyes grew big at my offer. "You and your surprise attacks are going to give me a run for my money, huh?" Still, I offered out my hand. She slowly put her hand on top of mine, and I helped her up out her booth.

"Now come on, let me pay for the both of us." I grasped her hand and walked over to the register, a Prez in tow.

The cashier smiled at me as she looked at the two of us awkwardly holding hands. I pulled out my wallet and handed the exact amount.

"You got yourself quite a catch there!" She said, smiling at me as she put the money in the register.

"Whatever. She's crazy."

"Yep, love will do that for you! Here's your receipt and have a lovely day you two!" I walked out in silence, stunned at her words. Love? Yeah right, she was using this for her own entertainment. Nothing good will come out of me misunderstanding her anyway.

"Can you believe that cashier? I can't believe she would say that. It's clear you're just using me, so why did she have to say something like that...?" I trailed off as I got a look at the Prez's face, and I was shushed into silence.

What was up with that look? She was beet red, and her eyes were wavering between embarrassment and joy. That look, it looked so much like girls from the shoujo manga's I read. But, why would she have a...?

I quickly turned around, my heart starting to go aflutter once more. "An-anyway, where shall milady like to go next?"

"Eh!? Oh right! Ooo, I know! Follow me!" Still holding hands, she started to drag me toward our next destination, back to her normal attitude. I kept pace with her as she started to chat amicably, but that vision of her face still lingered in my mind.

Why is it, that she had that look of a girl stricken with love...?

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"A skating rink?" I asked, looking up at the sign.

"Yeppers! I've never been, so this is a perfect time to go, especially since I have my reliable gentleman here to help me out!"

I looked at her gaze up in amazement at the sign, like a little kid about to go on a field trip for the first time. She caught me staring and gave me a sly smile. Oh no, here we go again.

"Did you fall for me? I guess it would be obvious, since of how beautiful I am. Fine, you may teach me how to skate as a reward!"

I flicked her forehead, and she held it pain. "Ow, what was that for?"

"For getting the wrong idea. No one likes a girl too crazy, no matter how hot they are. There is a crazy hot scale for a reason you know."

"Huh? Is that your way of telling me I'm hot!?"

Another flick on the forehead. "You've lost yourself some points, so I think I'm in the lead now. No one likes an arrogant lady after all."

She pouted before sighing. "Oh all right. Now come on Hiro, let's skate!"

"Hold on, do you even have socks? You need those to skate you know."

She gave me a thumbs up. "Don't worry, a lady always comes prepared!" She whipped out some socks from her purse, and we began our skating adventure!

Or, what should've been our skating adventure. It started off pretty poorly. Prez fell down on her b.u.t.t ten times before she came to me, almost in tears.

"Please help me!" I was about to decline before she gave me puppy dog eyes. Damn it, Luna really has made me a sucker for those eyes.

"Alright, wrap your arms around my waist." She hesitated, glancing away from me.

"Prez, now isn't the time to be diffident. Now come on." I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and hoisted her up back to her feet.

"Eh!? Wait, I'm not mentally ready!"

"Just relax. I'm not gonna let you fall, alright?" She looked at me with trusting eyes and nodded. She proceeded to wrap her arm around my waist, and I slowly started to move around the rink.

"Now then, skating is all about balance! If you know how to ride a bike, it should come quite easily to you."

"Hiro, I don't know if I can do this after all."

"Nope, the Prez I know won't quit so easily! After all, weren't you the one who said that you always gave it your all at whatever you do?"

She looked at me with shining eyes. "You just gained so much points for that! Alright, I can't lose now!"

We went around the rink a couple times, as I taught her how to skate, all the while our arms wrapped around our waist.

"That's it! Keep your legs bended and lean forward a little bit to improve your balance!"

"I-I'm doing it!" Well, she was still attached to me, but she gets points for cuteness.

After our sixth go around, I was confident she could do it by herself. "And don't worry, I'll be right behind you to catch you if yah fall, gotcha?"

She clenched her fists. "Right, let's do this!" We released each other, and she slowly started to move on her own, with me right behind her, giving her words of encouragement.

She stumbled a little bit, but still managed to keep going, until we had done on loop around. "There we go! Keep it up!"

One turned to two, and two into four, and when she reached eight, she was finally confident enough to go fast. She looped around quickly and waved at me from the other side, giving a bright grin.

Yep, that's my daughter right there, and look at how much she's grown! It was enough for me to almost shed a tear.

"Look Hiro, I did it!" I watched as she made her back to me, and I turned around, waiting for her.

"I knew you could do it! You ain't number two for nothing!" She gave me another bright smile, as she held out her outstretched arms in front of her.

"HIIIRO!" And I almost fell down as she ran into me, and I twirled around, holding her in a tight embrace.

"Hehe! Thanks a bunch Hiro!" We managed to stop twirling around, and she squeezed me even tighter. And yes, I could most definitely feel her c.h.e.s.t. She looked up at me and gave me a smile, her intoxicating perfume sending my heart rate through the roof.

"...You sure are strange today Prez."

"You think so? Well, I think this is closer to the true me! Now come on, let's race!"

She left our embrace and started to speed up. I quickly caught up and started to skate backwards so I could get a good look at her shocked face.

"Like I said, you ain't number two for nothing. But, I am still number one after all!" And I beat her while skating backwards for all our races.

After we finished, I got us two water bottles, and we sat down on a nearby bench, tired.

"Hey Hiro, are you secretly a genius or something? How could you beat me while skating backwards!?"

"Hmph, you're looking at a genius and a prodigy!" I gulped down my water and finished it with an "Ah!" before turning back to see Prez's face scrunched up into a look of disgust.

"You just lost a whole buncha points by saying that."

"Eh! I'm pretty sure I just gained a bunch of points just by coming here alone. I'm in the lead by a landslide for sure!"

"Can't deny that." She also drank some of her water before sighing. "At this rate, I won't be able to give you your penalty..." She seemed kinda sad about it though.

"Prez?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing, I'm going to go to powder my nose, so be a good gentleman and wait here." She got up and smoothed out her skirt before walking to the bathroom.

When she was gone, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. My body slumped down into the chair, and I ended up staring at the ceiling.

I put my hand over my heart, and it was still beating fast, her perfume still lingering in the spot where she sat. I reached out my hand towards that spot before clenching it tightly.

"What am I even doing?" I let both my arms slump to my sides, and I continued to stare at the ceiling. This Trial really is tiring, but yet, I am enjoying myself nonetheless.

I scowled. "Trials again, huh?" That word kept popping up in my head, as if my brain was trying to find some sort of awareness through that word. Does it have to do with the fact that my memory is hazy of everything that happened before I went to the club?

A shot of pain went through my head, and I sighed. "What mystery is behind this word 'Trial', and why do I feel as if it's really important..." As if this Present wasn't...!

Before I could continue my thoughts, I heard Prez's voice coming from near the bathroom. I g.r.o.a.n.e.d as I looked over, and saw three guys crowding around Prez.

"Ah crap, how cliché could this be?" I got up from the bench and made my way over to the three guys, before I noticed something odd.

"Come on, we just wanna take you out to a nice time, yah know?"

"Yeah, come on little lady, we'll show you what real fun is like!"

"Her silence means compliance, so come on, let's take her boys!"

Huh? I watched as Prez did nothing against the three guys, almost as if she was frozen. She was shaking slightly, and she was positioning herself in a way that made her seem super vulnerable.

"What are doing?" I muttered out, and the three guys turned around, glaring at the one who was ruining their fun.

"What's wrong little twerp? You jealous or something? Sorry, but she's way outta your league man."

I ignored them and continued to walk towards Prez, who was cowering in fear.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing!? Hey! Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you!"

I felt a hand grab my shirt, and I was suddenly facing the main dude, who had piercings all over his face.

"Whadya want, you creeps?" I asked, bored at the situation I was in.

"You little brat! Looks like someone needs to teach you to respect your elders!"

And suddenly all three of them were down on the ground, clutching various body parts as they g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain.

"Beat it yah wastes of space." I said, glaring at the three of them. They all froze up before scampering away. "Serves those damn idiots right."

I turned back towards Prez only to find that she was gone. Great, don't tell me she's hiding now? Well, I have a guess to where she's at.

I walked back towards the empty bench and sat down. "You know, I never knew running away was your style."

"How did you?"

"Yep, pretty sure I scored a ton of points with that one." I said, ignoring her question. I glanced to my side to see Prez gloomily holding her water bottle.

"...Thank you."

"No problem. We all have secrets after all, and I'm not looking out for why you acted the way you did. But," I turned and grabbed her shirt, pulling her face closer to me.

"Don't act that way again. It's unbecoming of a lady to do so." Her face widened in shock before she nodded. "Good, I'm not going to take points off for you, but I will get my points. How will you win I wonder..."

"Oh, don't worry, I have a surefire plan to win!" She was back to normal now it seemed. That was good. I offered my hand, and she took it with a gorgeous smile,

"So, lead the way Prez."

And we walked hand in hand out of the skating rink, onwards to our next destination. Yep, this "Date" was shaping up to be something really interesting indeed...