[Book of Eros] Chapter 125: Exams and a walk. (Patreon)

Leonardo had to send a text apologizing to Victoria for his absence. If he had known that he’d be taking exams after class hours had ended, he’d have sent it the day before. Yeah, missing yet another day of workout wasn’t ideal, but Leo was more worried she’d think he didn’t want to see her. They parted with him falling unconscious in the middle of sex, and though Leo didn’t think Victoria was one to blame herself over something like this, it wouldn’t do to keep quiet. He wanted to talk to her face to face, and he had planned on doing that today at the gym… But the teachers had other plans.

When classes were over and students had gone home or were attending their club activities, Leo was taking tests. They wanted him to take two a day, but he had things to do and asked to take them all immediately. It seemed to be a burden taken off the supervising teacher’s back, so he happily let him. Not worried about his results, huh? Well, whatever. So long as they weren’t failing grades he’d be okay, and he wasn’t worried about getting mentally exhausted. His Gift might not be as flashy as Angela’s, Valerie’s or Seina’s, but boy did it make daily life easier.

After being done with that, Leo headed to the beach to meet up with Angela. She had sent him a text already saying she was on her way from the gym. She wanted to talk about something, and Leo didn’t think it was anything fun. He waited sitting on the steps leading down to the beach, watching the sun set. Angela arrived some 10 minutes after him.

“Sorry I’m late, but I literally had to walk down a mountain,” she said, smiling.

“No worries,” Leo answered, standing up. “How was the workout?”

“I’m learning hooks now, and Valerie’s learning uppercuts,” Angela said and the two started walking on the sand. “Victoria had me practice dodging them by sparring with… what was his name? Inoue?”

“Oh, him,” Leo nodded.

“He’s good. He throws better punches than you,” Angela teased.

“I’d hope so. Seems like he’s been training for a while.”

“He still never hit me though. Victoria wanted me to see his form.”

“Got it down?”

“Almost. I was hitting the mats with Victoria but I had to leave a little earlier. Didn’t want to keep you waiting too long. How did exams go?”

“Took them all once. Had to rush it, but English was a breeze at least. Reiko helped me a lot with Japanese and Kaede helped me with Math, so I’m confident. Science might not have gone very well, however.”

“Yeah, that one sucked,” Angela groaned. “Do they really want me to memorize the whole periodic table? I can barely remember oxygen is O, and that’s only because the name starts with the damn letter.”

Leo nodded while looking forward, but he stole a glance to Angela’s face. She was stalling. This was a conversation they’d have any other day, but the forced aloofness in her face and her eyes looking towards the ocean, away from him, made him believe she was just buying time. Unfortunately, Leo didn’t feel like being kept in the dark any longer.

“You’ve never been one for beating around the bush, Angela. Not since I met you, anyway. What did you want to talk about?”

She let out a soft groan and sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m only doing it because I know how you’re going to react. I’m gonna say it, but I want you to shut up until I’m finished, okay? If you speak I’ll flick you on the forehead.”

“…Alright. Go ahead.”

“I want us to break up, Leo.”

“…HUH!?” Angela flicked his forehead the moment the sound left his mouth. It was hard, and it would’ve left a bump on anyone else.

“Listen to me, okay? Don’t go freaking out. I’m not saying this because I’ve stopped liking you or because I’m mad at you or anything. I’m just being stubborn with myself. See. This whole deal with everyone else got me thinking. I’m not blind. Lucia and Seina like you a lot, and I know you like them too. There’s Victoria, too, who I’ve come to seriously respect. She asked me if you were doing alright today, and she looked really worried. Then we have Valerie and Kaede, who may or may not end up sharing a bed with you too. And of course I haven’t forgotten about Reiko. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be in this situation, and I mean that in a good way, obviously. She’s even okay with sharing you, far more than I am. I can’t really help it, but I do feel jealous when you’re with other girls, okay? I try not to be, but I am. But recently I realized why I get jealous.”

“…Why’s that?” Leo asked, earning himself another flick on the forehead.

“Because you’re my boyfriend. I feel like, in a way, you’re mine. I admit, one of the main reasons I agreed to share you with Reiko was because I felt like I had no other choice. It was either that or not being with you at all. And now there’s these other women who seriously like you and the only reason we’re in a formal relationship is because I was here before them.”

“That’s not…!” The third flick actually hurt a little since she was hitting the same spot.

“I say I want to break up but I’m not suggesting we stop having sex or going out. I still like you. I just think that things aren’t right as they stand now. I want to start over, be on even footing with the others. See what I mean when I say this is just me being stubborn? Well, there’s also…” Angela had a small, nervous smile on her face. A rarity. “I guess I’m also kind of scared that you’d be the one to break up with me. If we do it like this, I don’t think it’ll feel AS bad if you end up choosing another girl over me. Maybe. I’m not exactly sure.”

“…” Seina, Lucia and now Angela had all said the same thing: pick one by the end of this. Angela believed he’d have to do that too, and was scared she wouldn’t be the one. Considering how brash she was and how she looked a little older than her actual age, it was easy to forget Angela was 19 years old, just like him. “That defeatist attitude doesn’t suit you, you know?”

“Shut up,” she told him, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. “You’re pretty much the only one I can act like this around. Be thankful.”

Leo smiled. “I guess I kind of deserve this,” he said, sighing as he looked at the darkening sky. “I haven’t been an exemplary boyfriend, huh?” His chest felt tight, like someone was gripping his heart with no other intention than to cause discomfort.

“I told you, this is just me. You’ve been complying with my whims even before we started going out. You spar with me, singed up at the gym because I asked you to, you cook what I ask, sleep with me… Hell, you even do my laundry. I’d say I’ve been a pretty shitty girlfriend. I’ve known from day one you’d have to sleep with many women, and yet I’ve still given you bad looks for it.”

“I know I wouldn’t be very happy if the situation was reversed,” Leo admitted.

“I bet if you were in my shoes you’d just abstain completely,” Angela said, grinning. “If I was the one with the book and had to sleep with a lot of men, you’d probably just leave me to it and not get involved with me. You have the mental fortitude for it.”

Leo flinched. That actually sounded like something he’d do. Would he really rather get no sex than having to share a girlfriend? Felt like it. Maybe he was more of a hypocrite than he thought.

“So? What happens now?” he asked.

“I use the rest of the time we have to make sure you pick me by the end, that’s what,” Angela shrugged. “Now that we’re not technically together, I don’t have to hold back out of respect for the others, right? If I did, they’d be getting ahead of me.”

Leo chuckled. “Now I think I understand it a little better.”

“I like you, Leo. Not because you’re the only guy I can have sex with, but because you’re… well, you.”

“I like you a lot too, you know? I don’t want us to break up, but if it helps you and the other be a little more comfortable…”

“Sorry for always being so selfish, but I really do think this is for the best. And I’ll probably be even clingier now, so get ready for it.”

“Oh?”

“Of course! Seina and Lucia are practically throwing themselves at you! I’m not gonna lag behind!”

“By the way, does Reiko know about this?”

“Ah. Yeah, she does,” Angela nodded. “I ran this by her before telling you, and I told her she didn’t need to do the same as me, if you were worrying about that. I’m not gonna drag her into my own issues.”

Leo sighed. He was asleep for a week and things had turned into a very different kind of complicated. Now everyone seemed to be okay with the sharing thing… on the condition that he had to pick someone by the end. It made him think that he wasn’t anyone so special that women would fight over him, and also that his silly dream of a harem was nothing but a stupid fantasy to begin with.

***

Leo parted with Angela when he told her he needed to go check on Victoria, saying it bothered him to not give her an explanation face to face. Angela, now with far less pressure on her shoulders, didn’t have any issues with it other than telling him to come back soon to make dinner.

He walked all the way up to Victoria’s gym. He sent her a text saying he was outside, and the coach quickly walked outside.

“Not interrupting anything I hope?” he asked with a small, sheepish smile.

Victoria sighed with a hand on her hip and smiled. Her shoulders relaxed and she shook her head. “I’m done for the day. Come in.” She led him to her house at the back of the gym, putting some water to boil to offer him tea. “If you came walking all the way here then I have to assume you’re doing well.”

“Yeah. I’m feeling fine now. I’m sorry about… that. I screwed up on something.”

“The old lady gave me the gist of it already. Still, you’re all in some deep, scary shit, huh?”

“Not as scary once you get used to it,” Leo said. “Still complicated though.”

“I almost don’t want to know,” Victoria said, pouring tea for them both. “Almost. Can you tell me or is it all a secret?”

“I’ve never been told to keep things secret,” Leo shrugged. “And you know most of it already.”

Leo gave her the whole story, from the moment Mrs. Wisler went up to him when he was working back in the US to the current date. He told her more about the Book of Eros, the Gifts and the gods, about his relationship with the other women and about the recent changes in everyone’s behavior.

“It’s all a weird mess,” he said, sipping the last of his tea. “So I wouldn’t blame you if you’d rather stay away from all this.”

“Do you want me to stay away?” Victoria asked, meeting his eyes.

“Not really. I had a great time the other day, ending notwithstanding.”

“Good, because I had a great time too, and I want to keep doing it,” Victoria said, grinning and crossing her arms below her chest. “If it’s not an issue for you, that is.”

“Far from it. I’d welcome it in many ways,” he chuckled. “I’m just… worried, you know?

“If I was in your shoes, I’d be worried about that thing about passing out happening again and having superior beings watching my every move, but I’m guessing that’s not what you mean, right?” she asked with a small smile. Leo nodded. “Well, I have some seemingly contradicting advice for you. So long as you keep worrying about it, you won’t have much to worry about.”

“…Excuse me?” Leo blinked.

“I’m saying that I think it’s good that you worry about people as much as you do. It’s one of your strongest traits. Too many in the world worry only about themselves, and yeah, I’m one of those people,” she laughed as she admitted it. “You won’t ever make everyone happy, and trying to do that is unhealthy. But being caring isn’t a quality you should abandon, I think. I think it’s what makes the others, and me, give you a chance despite the situation.”

“Ugh, if you say it like that it’s embarrassing.”

“Well, endure it! Hahaha!” Victoria laughed even louder, but after a moment her smile softened. “Just remember that it’s okay to want things of your own. Not everyone who works hard succeeds, yeah, but everyone who succeeds has worked hard.”

“…” Before he knew it, Leo had a faint smile on his lips. That struck a chord with him. “So you’re a life coach too?” he asked, teasingly.

“I dabble on it once in a while,” Victoria shrugged and grinned.

Leo would’ve loved to stay a little longer, but he needed to go back home. It was getting late and he had to make dinner. And yeah, that was one pleasure he wasn’t willing to give up just yet.

***

Author's Note: I don't know if my intentions come across well with this chapter, but I hope so. As I keep writing, I've felt like the state of the relationship between Leo and Angela was stagnating due to the people around them. Leo doesn't want to favor Angela and cause more jealousy in the others, and Angela gets it but doesn't like it. I needed a reset, and I want to believe it's in character for Angela.