The Black Bulls all gathered outside the hideout, just as the sun broke over the horizon. All of them had gathered and were sporting various beach wares.

“So, we heading out?” Magna asked.

“You bet,” Luck laughed, “I wonder what kind of things are in the ocean to fight?! Oh, I should bring back a shell for my lady!”

“I’m too hyped to be depressed about that comment,” Finral flicked his hair with a chuckle, “We’re going to the beach, after all! Where there’s sand, sun, and fun! And plenty of pretty ladies in bikinis! AHAHAHA!”

Most of the female members of the Bulls just stared with a mild air of disgust about them.

One other had something totally different on her mind, “Oh, I can’t wait to try all the yummy seafood I can have the sheep grill up!!!!” Charmy daydreamed and drooled all at once.

“Where’s Yami, anyways?” Gray, disguised as Gordon, asked.

“He said he’d join us later,” Asta said as he walked out of the house with a yawn. “He said something else about the toilet, too, but I didn’t really care and kept walking…” he shrugged as he looked at Noelle from the corner of his eye, and she quickly looked off to the side.

Asat sighed and kept walking.

“Hey, Magna,” Noelle caught her senior’s attention.

“Yeah, what is it?” Magna looked over his shoulder as he walked over to his Crazy Cyclone.

“Mind giving me a lift on your…,” Noelle looked at the gaudy broom, “...broom?”

“Ah, not really, but why me?” Magna asked as perplexed,. “I thought you’d be riding with Asta. Aren’t you two dating or something?”

“Ehhhhh….” Noelle made a complicated face, “It’s just… It's complicated right now, okay…?”

“This is why I don’t date,” Magna relented with a sigh. “Hop on,” he motioned.

Asta pulled his slayer out of his black grimoire and propped it against his shoulder. “I hope we can at least start talking again…” he said to himself as he looked at Noelle from the corner of his eye. “Alright, let’s head out!” he yelled as he jumped up onto his sword and surfed toward the beach.

Later on in the morning…

The group arrived at the coastal town of Raque. In front of them were shops aplenty and beaches galore, with the sprawling blue of the ocean just beyond that.

Everyone in the Black Bulls looked out in amazement.

Asta walked up beside Noelle. “It looks like an endless sapphire,” he said.

“Yeah, pretty…” Noelle answered.

“Alright, you idiots,” they heard Yami behind them. The knights immediately turned around and saw their captain and a severely annoyed Finral closing a portal. “Listen up. Low tide is in about three to four days from now, which also means the currents surrounding the Temple will be at their weakest.”

“Question, Captain Yami, sir!” Magna shouted, “How exactly are we going to get to the Temple, Sir?”

“Yeah,” Finral said, “This place may be a beach paradise, with lovely ladies galore, but it’s also a Grand Magic Zone, too. Even at low tide, the Under Sea Temple is on the sea floor, and not exactly an easy place to access. Less powerful currents or not, we’d still be torn to shreds by them.”

“You’re probably right,” Yami said as he nonchalantly picked his nose, “Guess we’ll have to think of something by then, won’t we, Noelle.”

“Me?” Noelle pointed at herself in confusion.

“Until then, just have fun, but don’t forget the mission,” Yami waved them off as he went into a nearby bar.

“Well…” Vanessa said as she looked at the others, “Let’s have some fun!”

“Yeah!” most of the bulls said.

“You come with me, hon,” Vanessa said as he quickly grabbed Noelle, who’d tried to inch away, “We’ve got to get you into that swimsuit!”

“Vanessa, please!” Noelle said as the string witch dragged her junior away.

“Guess we should, too,” Asta said as he grabbed the bag Vanessa had conveniently left at his feet and walked onto the beach.

He set up the umbrella and towels underneath, while the others were doing what they did best, annoying the hell out of each other and causing trouble doing so.

“These guys can’t even change clothes without issue…” Asta grumped. “Oh well…” he sighed as he took off his shirt to reveal his severely scarred and muscular features.

The crimson five-leaf clover on his chest was on full display for the others to clearly see for the first time, along with the black dragon coiled around his left arm.

“Asta…” Magna spoke up, “Why didn’t ya tell us ya had a sick tattoo? Man, that is thing is awesome!”

“It’s not a tattoo,” Asta looked off to the side with a good bit of annoyance. “It's another scar from… Just drop it,” he demanded and walked off.

“Guess it was a really bad experience?” Luck said, “I was gonna ask him to spar, but I think it’d be best to leave him be. Hey, Magna, wanna see who can swim faster?”

“Well, that was a quick shift,” Magna looked at his best friend, “You’re on!”

The lightning and fire mages both dove into the water and took off.

“Hmph…” Asta shook his head, “Goofballs…”

“We’re back!” Vanessa called out from behind Asta.

“Great,” Asta looked over his shoulder at the witch in her bikini.

Vanessa was in a mostly cyan flower print two-piece, with her bust slightly over the sides while she had a bottle of wine in her right hand.

“Like what ya see?” Vanessa posed provocatively.

“How is that any different from what you wear around the hideout?” Asta waved off the seductress. “I set your crap up over there,” he pointed to the chair and umbrella. “I’m going for a swim,” he started to walk away.

“Hold up there, kiddo,” Vanessa said, catching his wrist with a string. “You’re the only one we can count on for an honest opinion about our looks. After all, you really want me to ask the loser,” she thumbed over to Finral, who was hitting on a trio of unknown girls.

“Make this fast,” Asta said with slight annoyance as the string released him.

“First, we have Charmy in a slimming one piece!” Vanessa sang as she revealed the young woman in a dark blue and white horizontal striped one-piece.

Charmy however quickly reverted back to her child form, “Let’s go play watermelon smash!” she said as she pulled out a blindfold, watermelon, and stick.

She immediately got to work and missed the melon, sending it sailing toward Asta’s head.

Asta caught the melon with a deadpan stare. “I’m not in the mood for games,” he remarked as he launched the fruit like a cannonball, having it connect with a certain bronze magic using praying mantis’s head, where it was now stuck. Charmy took off like a rocket and started to chase Seikei around the beach for the melon.

“Wow,” Vanessa held her chin, “He’s really not happy with this situation at all…” She looked back to Noelle, who was hesitantly hiding behind the witch, “You’re up, hon!”

She literally pushed Noelle out and towards Asta. “Catch,” the witch giggled.

“What?” Asta turned to look at the yellow diamond-patterned bikini-clad water mage.

He saw Noelle stumbling and rushed over and caught her. Noelle looked up and saw her boyfriend holding her, and her cheeks started to heat up.

“Don’t force people to do shit they don’t want to Vanessa!” Asta shouted as he waved his fist at the witch, who was shrugging with a satisfied smirk while she sat down and enjoyed her wine.

Asta sighed and looked down, then his face started to heat up, too.

“Ah…. um….” he quickly looked away. “You ah…. That bikini looks great on you,” he scratched the side of his face with his free hand.

That one compliment was all it took for Noelle to turn red all over, with steam coming from the top of her head…

“DON’T LOOK AT ME!” Noelle yelled as she nailed Asta right in the face with her fist, sending him skipping across the water before he was left pretty far out, staring into the sky with a heavy nose bleed from his right nostril.

“Wow… she really did look good in that…” he remarked with a satisfied look on his face.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Noelle was huffing with a steaming punch. “Geez… you didn’t have to say it so sweetly,” she stood up straight and crossed her arms before glaring at Vanessa, “And you didn’t have to push me!”

“Hey, he said he liked it,” Vanessa shrugged with another fulfilled smirk before drinking some of her wine, ‘It worked better than I thought’, she mused to herself internally, ’At least you two can talk now…’

In the Middle of the Ocean…

Asta just laid back, motionless in the water as he stared up into the sky with a somewhat swollen fist print on his left cheek. The blood continued to run from his nose into the water, leaving a fading trail as he drifted as he thought about Noelle in her swimsuit.

“At least she seems to be feeling a little better,” he sighed. “I have to seriously talk to her in the next five days….”

He turned his head slightly and looked through his reflection in the waters, down to the deep blue below.

“Maybe I can use that situation to my advantage?” he mused as he went over the events of the original Black Clover story in his head, “She was more than willing to help Noelle in the main timeline. She even tried to set them up once, but that was after the fact… With her magical help, I just might be able to say what I need to though…”

He quickly changed his position, so he was floating perpendicular to the water’s surface. Asta wiped the blood from his nose with his palm, and the smell of salt water from the ocean filled his nostrils as he did. The water on his hand glowed with a bright whitish-blue light as it spread over his cheek, and the swelling quickly receded.

“Just cause I can heal my injuries with my waterbending doesn’t mean I should just forget this pain,” he sighed, “I’ll have to be very careful of what I let that girl hear.”

A low growl came from his stomach, “Can’t think when you’re moaning though. Already out here, so maybe I can catch something of decent size if I go deep enough.”

A large shadow under the water swam under the anti-mage.

“I might even be able to hit some of those mana currents and turn a little bit of it into some anti-magic to give Noelle an easier time. I just have to be careful how close I get.”

“This couldn’t be more perfect. Hehe,” he chuckled lightly as he sensed the Qi of whatever was stalking him below, “I get to do some deep water training and get a decent meal. Absolutely perfect!”

Asta inhaled a massive amount of air before proceeding to dive underwater, swimming through it like a torpedo on meth.

On the Beach…

Vanessa lounged about in her chair, chugging her wine straight from the bottle.

“Gahh!!!” Letting out a satisfied huff she looked over to Noelle. “That idiot! Why did he have to… why couldn't he just… Graaaaaaa!!!!”

“Oh, cheer up, hon,” she said with a slightly rosy complexion.

“Why should I?” Noelle glared at the witch, “He said that because you made me wear this stupid two-piece.”

“No, he didn’t. He admitted that he liked it, didn’t he?” Vanessa winked, causing Noelle’s blush to deepen further. “And I can tell you he genuinely did like it, or else he wouldn’t have blushed so hard in the first place. I think he was pretty nice to have you in his arms, too,” she chuckled.

Noelle looked off to the side, “I kind of like it, too…”

“In all honesty, it was nice to see a more normal reaction out of you two,” Vanessa laughed lightly as Charmy had her sheep cooks working a grill in the background, with Zekei flopped over not far away, foaming at the mouth.

Noelle realized what she said and stood off to the side, staring at the ocean.

“You two have to work this thing out,” Vanessa said, “Especially now more than ever. The ice was broken the moment we arrived, and you responded to him, hon. I can tell that Asta really does care about you, deep in his heart. I can tell you he told you what he did because he wanted you to make the decision on whether to stay by his side or not. I know that look in your eyes of wanting to go and be with the others, and I saw it in his eyes, too. The difference is he doesn’t have the luxury of a choice to stay like you do.”

Noelle looked at her.

“Judging from that reaction, you never thought about where he’s coming from,” Vanessa said, looking at Noelle with one eye open, “Let alone what this is putting him through and how hard it must’ve been for him to tell you about his predicament.”

Noelle looked down and away, “I… didn’t…”

“Asta loves you, and I can tell you that honestly. He doesn’t want to hurt you, hon,” Vanessa set her wine bottle down, “Asta is a lot more mature than he looks, as well as experienced, and something tells me that it isn’t from growing up where he did or as an orphan. I can say if he wasn’t so young, that might have fallen for him at some point, too, hehehehe…”

A large sweatdrop formed on the back of Noelle’s head.

“Look, Noelle,” Vanessa looked at her junior, “He was going to leave sooner or later, but at least he told you the real reason why and in person, instead of in some letter or not at all. At least try and talk it out with him, if not for his sake then your own.”

“Why my own?” Noelle asked, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Mmmm…” Vanessa thought, “Well, I can’t fault you there, but at the same time, this whole thing is eating at you on the inside, and don’t try and deny it either. You both need to make peace with each other and either reconcile as lovers or as teammates, because if you can’t, then you only self-destruct and drag everyone else down, too.”

Noelle saw the seriousness in her senior’s eyes and gave a relenting sigh, “I’ll at least try and speak with him while we’re here…”

“Alright then,” Vanessa smiled, “Now, let’s enjoy ourselves in the sun!”

Out in the Water…

Luck and Magna had both swam out pretty far in their efforts to out race each other, to the point they were both winded and barely afloat on their own strength.

“Hey,” Magna huffed, “So… your girlfriend is friends with one of Asta’s girlfriends, right?”

“Yeah!” Luck wheezed slightly, “Why do ya ask?”

“They’re all pretty close,” Magna floated on his back, “Asta and his girls. None of them even try and fight over his attention, and he goes out of his way to make them all… well, feel like they’re…. Ahhhh….”

“Loved equally?” Luck bluntly said.

“Yeah…” Magna pondered, “See as how your girl is friends with one of Asta’s, then that should mean that you might know why Noelle and Asta are, well…. Like they are now?!”

“In all honesty, I haven't the faintest idea!” Luck laughed. “Helena and Rebecca talked to each other about it, as apparently, he told all three of them something pretty heavy. He’s still been seen around town to do chores, but he doesn’t hang around for very long if Rebecca is involved.”

“So, you know about as much as the wineo does then!” Magna sighed as he floated while a bubble rose up between him and Luck, “Really, man? I mean, come on! We’re not five!”

“That wasn’t me!” Luck cheerfully shook his head, “It was way too big and no electricity either. I think it came from way down.”

“Sure, sure,” Magna waved off the comment with his hand as he lazily floated by in the water, “If you don’t want to admit it, then just stay quiet…”

“Hey, Magna?” Luck said as he looked off in the distance a little.

“Geez, man… can’t you at least try and relax?” Magna looked at the lightning mage and noticed the intense smile on Luck’s face, the look he got when he was truly raring to fight, “Okay, what is it?”

“Do you think we can take on a gigantic shark?” Luck lightly chuckled.

“Whaaaat?” Magna shot up in the water, “I mean, yeah, we could, but I also wouldn’t try with you. Lightning and water don’t exactly mix, ya know? If you tried anything, then you’d fry us all!”

“Then, I guess we should start swimming then, huh?” Luck pointed to where he was looking.

“Really, man, you should at least try and make sense…” Magna followed his friend’s finger and trailed off as he saw a massive triangular fin speeding right at them.

“Ahhhhhh….” he groaned as his glasses shifted slightly on his face, “SWIM FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!”

“Ohhhhh, a race!” Luck laughed as he and Magna swam at top speed, with the shark steadily gaining.

The duo of best friends quickly made landfall, with the shark closely following them.

“This is nuts!” Magna shook in fear, “A shark that big shouldn’t be able to come this far out of the water!”

As soon as the predator’s shadow loomed over them, Luck started to get pumped for a battle, while Magna just stared in terror.

“What are you two numbskulls doing?” came a familiar voice.

“Wait, that sounded like Asta…” Magna said, “Hang on, little buddy, we’ll get you out of there!”

“Out of where?” Asta asked as the shark fell over.

“What?” Magna said as he saw the smaller mage easily toss a gigantic shark off his shoulder. “Dude…. What the hell man?! That shit isn’t funny! ”

Luck curiously went over to the shark and poked it and then realized, “oh it’s dead! You got us good! Ahahaha!”

“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Asta looked at the two confused. “I caught this for lunch,” he pointed at the beast, “and for some materials for future projects.”

He started to walk away, “Charmy, Finral! I need some help with lunch!”

“Oooo….. shark fin soup!” Charmy hopped about the beast.

“I have no clue how to cook, so go find someone else!” Finral waved off his junior.

“I’ll talk to Twilight about trying to set up a date with a blue rose,” Asta knowingly sang.

“When do we start?” Finral sprang over.

“I just need you to open up a portal far out over the water, where we’ll toss the guts, so as to not attract any more predators,” Asta said as he pointed at Charmy, who was drooling into the ocean, “I’ll take care of the cleaning, as I want the skin, teeth, jaw bones, eyes and fins.”

“Awwwwwwww……” Charmy quickly deflated.

“Sorry, Charmy, but I rarely get a chance to get fresh shark parts like this, so I need to take it when I can get it,” Asta patted the mini-mage’s head, “I’ll hunt some boar for ya when we get back home to make up for it though.”

“Okay!” Charmy quickly did a 180 while summoning her help cooks.

The week started to pass. The Bulls enjoyed their days at the beach, each in their own ways, whether it be training or recreational activities like Asta, Magna, and Luck, or hitting on the local girls like Finral and Gray. Vanessa and Noelle would occasionally soak up the sun, while Yami was Yami and hit the local bar and gambling dens.

Noelle busied herself at night with training her magic for the upcoming mission to the Sea Temple, conveniently located under the water. Asta was never too far away from her when she was practicing either,. partially to watch over her, try to talk to her, and just be close to her.

Noelle was no fool either, as she knew he was there, though Asta made no attempt at hiding either. The fact that he was there did provide her with a bit of comfort but also a bit of unease. All in all, she was feeling more or less the same as she’d felt about him at the beginning of their relationship.

It was currently the early hours of the night with the moon shining high in the sky on the last night of its waxing three quarter phase. Noelle was down on the rock at the beach, where she’d been practicing the past couple of days now. Currently, she was just looking out over the water.

Asta wasn’t far away, practicing his sword techniques with his Demon Slayer and currently working on his swings.

Noelle looked at the moon’s reflection on the water, then at her own. She then knew exactly what it was that she wanted to do, what she had to do. After all, there was only one real way for any of the Black Bulls to work through their emotions, and that was to face them head on.

Noelle looked into the eyes of her reflection in the waves. “Alright… time to get this thing out of the way…” she said, turning her gaze to Asta.

“ASTAAAAAAA!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the anti-mage to slightly jump as he was doing a downward swing, in turn causing him to plummet face first into sand.

“Prrtthhrrrrrrrr sooooooooo grittyyyyyyy!” he jumped to his feet and then started to spit out the sand.

“Geeeeeezzz,” Noelle let out a strained sigh, “Even when you’re a bit troubled, you’re still such a clutz!”

“I’m me,” Asta snickered. “Can’t be any other way but me! Hehehe…” he snickered as Noelle stuck her wand right at the tip of his nose, causing him to shut up.

He looked right at her eyes and saw how serious she was, “I want a duel against you.”

“Noelle…. That’s not-“

“Going to happen or a good idea?” she pushed forward with her magic stick. “I know all too well just how strong you are, Asta. I’ve trained with you and seen you spar with Luck plenty enough times to know you’re physically stronger than me, and let’s not forget that I saw you fight against the captain, a fight that ended in a draw at the time. Nonetheless, you fought against him, and had you used your full array of powers, you could’ve beaten him!” she fumed, “SO, DON'T TELL ME IT’S NOT A GOOD IDEA!”

“Fine,” Asta held up his hands in relent.

“I need to know right here and now if this… if you… If I…” she tightened the grip on her wand, “if I’m even needed for this, and if I’m strong enough to support myself and my friends.”

“You're the challenger, so name your terms,” Asta stated.

“First off, you can only use your water bending. No anti-magic, no dark magic, no light magic, or any other bending or skills you may have that I don’t know about, understand?”

“I swear I’ll stick solely to my water bending,” Asta swore.

“Good. Now, let’s find Finral, so he can send us out over the water where you dumped the shark guts,” Noelle quickly withdrew her wand with a slight flick.

“Fine,” Asta grumbled as he rubbed his nose.

The Dumping Waters…

“Raava,” Asta said and his light spirit materialized next to him, “No interruptions from anyone. I think this fight is something both Noelle and I need.”

“I wasn’t going to stop you nor will I help you,” Raava hid her lower face behind her fan, “As her teacher, I want what’s best for her and want to see just how powerful she’s become, but as her friend, I know she needs this to help her find her own way through the storm raging in her chest that we created.”

“I want a barrier,” Asta looked over at his girlfriend, or at least, that’s how he still felt about her.

“Very well,” Ravva closed her fan and raised it into the air. “Spirit Light Magic, Solid Light Boundary!” she cried out, and a massive golden wall of solid light spread around the entire area.

“Are you ready?” Noelle said as she used her magic to stand on the surface of the water.

“Let's begin,” Asta took a fighting stance, as he used his bending to stand on the surface of the water instead.

Asta quickly raised his hand, causing the water to surge, and an extremely thin circle of water was sent straight for Noelle.

Noelle countered by throwing both arms up and creating a wave that, although not strong enough to stop Asta’s attack, was powerful enough to veer it off course ever so slightly, to clip a few stands of her left pigtail.

Noelle retaliated by creating a water whip from the tip of her wand. As she jumped out of the way, she flicked it, sending it straight for Asta. Asta in turn read Noelle’s Qi and narrowly dodged the whip, and it barely grazed his left cheek, drawing blood.

Noelle looked at Asta stunned, while Asta reached up and touched the cut. Feeling the stinking of his own finger, he quickly winced in pain.

He looked at his fingertip and saw the blood. “Very good, Noelle,” he said as he readied himself again.

“Tell me,” Noelle took a stance as well, “What was the plan for us: me, Mimosa, and Rebecca? Were we just some sort of goal for you to do while you waited for the gateway to your home to open?”

She sent a rain of frozen spikes at him.

Asta swiftly motioned his arms in large repetitive ‘S’ shaped motions that called forth octopus-like arms of water that sprang to life from under his feet. The arms caught the ice spikes, then applied pressure, shattering the spears in the process.

Asta moved his hands with his finger outstretched while letting out a breath of cooled air, freezing the tips of the tentacle into ice.

“What?” Noelle flinched, “He can control water whips still attached to ice?”

“Hrrmmmm…” Asta grunted as he flexed his fingers and then released them, shooting ice spikes from the ice-tipped tendrils at Noelle.

“Water Magic,” Noelle called out as her grimoire flipped. “Sea Dragon's Nest!” she called out, causing a swirling sphere of water to surround and protect her. As soon as the ice spikes collided with the barrier, they were either shredded into chips or deflected and broken into the water around Noelle. “So, I do have the advantage of stronger water-based attacks and defense when using my magic in tandem with my bending.”

“Noelle,” Asta called out, “I never toyed with or thought of you girls as a game. Believe me or not, I did try to distance myself from all of you as best I could.” He looked at her, causing her to freeze, “I didn’t want… any of you to become attracted to me in the first place, cause I never planned to stay in this world, or come back once I left.”

“Then, why?” Noelle glared. “Why did you take us on dates?! Why did you…. Why did you defend me in front of my older brothers and sister?! Why put forth so much effort if you didn’t plan to… COME BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE?!” she cried out as she sent volley after volley of water at him, with Asta only standing there and taking every hit.

“Because I feel for you girls, too!” he called out, causing Noelle to freeze as the tears streamed down her face. “That’s why I made the decision to tell all of you the truth. I… I couldn’t just wait for the time to come for me and Twilight to leave and let you choose if you wanted to come with us then. Moving across worlds like that…. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment choice to be forced but one you have to consider for everyone involved, especially those you care for.”

Noelle looked right at him and actually saw him crying as he was speaking, “I care… No, I love you girls too much to force that on you. So I told you the truth and wanted you to decide whether or not you want to come and if you… truly loved me, or if this is just a simple caring relationship.”

Noelle just stood there in silence for a moment, “Can we go back to the beach now?”

Asta looked up at her, a bit perplexed, “Ahhhhh…. Sure.”

“Y-y-y-you’re going to carry me back as punishment for all the stress you’ve put me through over the past couple of weeks, too!” she pointed with a red face.

Asta just smiled, “Sure…”

The Beach…

Asta and Noelle were currently sitting on the rocks of the beach, enjoying the quiet atmosphere and each other’s presence. Noelle was leaning against Asta, with her head on his shoulder and her eyes shut. He was just sitting there, loving that they were back on a somewhat more formal speaking basis.

“Asta,” Noelle finally cracked her eyes after many moments of silence, “it really made me happy to hear you like my swimsuit a few days ago… I’m sorry for…. Ya know…”

“Slapping the shit out of me into the middle of the ocean,” Asta remarked with a sly grin on his face.

“Yeah… that,” Noelle returned with a sour tone at his choice of wording, “That being said… I… I’m glad you told us the truth, but… I…”

“You don’t think you can come back to my world with me,” Asta let out a relieved sigh.

“Hey!” she let go of him, “Why does it sound like that made you happy?!”

“Because you told me how you really feel,” Asta replied with a calm smirk, “Can you tell me why?”

“Because I feel like there are things in this world that only I can and have to do,” Noelle looked at him and told the truth.

“And I’m fine with that,” Asta shrugged, “Just know that even if we’re in different worlds, you’ll still be in my heart as one of my girls, and if you ever need me, I’ll come run to help you.”

“Even if we’re worlds apart?” Noelle asked, skeptical of him.

“Yes,” Asta said with confidence, “even if we’re worlds apart, I’ll come running, no matter what it takes.”

Noelle just smiled with a light blush. “I’ll hold you to that,” she said as she nestled back against him.

“I hope you do,” Asta reached around and put his arm around her.

The couple continued like this into the night, but little did they know, they had a little audience, who’d been watching from the shadows on the walkway up from the beach.

Next Chapter: Journey to the Seafloor Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 59 Minutes