Boosted Continuation

Chapter 274 – Catching up

The group finally made it to Raumont, Maya’s home, and promptly ran into Chiyo, the cat-girl who had developed a bit of a crush on Sophia back when she and Fen met her. At first, she and Maya thought things would get a little complicated because the blonde gave the impression of being a demon back then, and they'd have to explain a lot to her. However, Chiyo was the one who shocked them after revealing that she was engaged to Dannie, another good friend of Maya.

“Okay, tell us everything!” Dannie and Chiyo had just revealed that they were engaged, and Maya wanted details. After all, she was good friends with both of them, and while she knew that the dog-girl liked the resident cat, she also remembered that Chiyo still hadn't realized it at all back when she left with Sophia last year.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story.” Chiyo scratched her cheek.

“It better be if it ended up with you two being engaged!” Maya just stared at her.

“Good point, actually.” The dog-girl couldn’t argue with that.

“I still remember how you got jealous when I called getting cake with Chiyo a date to get the couple menu!” The white-haired cat-girl lightly shook her head. “How did that turn into this?” She then gestured at the ring on the dog-girl’s hand.

“I was not jealous.” She shook her head. “Envious is the word you’re looking for.”

“No, you were jealous.” Chiyo disagreed with her. “Back when you told me about it for the first time, I could only think about how cute it sounded with how jealous you were. At best, you were envious and jealous.”

“Hehe.” Maya liked that. “So, you two grew closer after I left? I mean, you made me swear that I never mention that to Chiyo.”

“Ahaha…” She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Something like that, yes. How I approached finally getting closer to her wasn’t the proudest moment of my life, though.”

“But it certainly got the point across~.” The resident cat-girl smiled at her.

“Details!” Maya was getting even more excited.

“On the day you left, Chiyo came to the tavern here and got absolutely hammered while wailing about her broken heart to me the entire time.”

“…” Sophia felt like it was best to stay silent there.

“I might’ve gotten a little upset over how she was complaining about a crush she had on a girl she just met while being utterly oblivious to my tries. Though, admittedly, I probably should’ve been more proactive…” Dannie paused for a second. “Anyway, not wanting to listen to her heartbreak anymore while being sober, I also got smashed back then before going ahead and kissing her on the spot.”

“It sobered me right up~.” It seemed to be a fond memory for Chiyo. “Though, it didn’t exactly help my confusion that day.” She stole a quick glance at the tiger at the end.

“S-Sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.” The orange cat-girl smiled at her.

“What happened then?!” Maya wanted to hear more.

“Things got awkward for about a week.” The dog-girl looked at her fiancée before continuing. “I felt horrible for having taken advantage of her when she was vulnerable. Yes, it was only a kiss at the end of the day, but it still wasn’t the right thing to do.”

“I spent that week thinking.” Chiyo let out another chuckle. “I remembered how I always had a good time with Dannie around and how she always smiled when we were together. Little things, as well, like how her tail always got extra excited the moment she spotted me, or a light touch here and there. Things I never paid attention to before all flew through my head during that week.” She then paused for a second. “Sophia kind of awakened my feelings for romance, I guess? Still, after Chiyo’s kiss and thinking about all the little things surrounding her, my heartbreak was over. Sophia was the punch I needed to notice my surroundings.”

“THAT’S THE SECOND TIME THAT HAPPENED!” The tiger didn’t want to get too involved in the story for reasons, but that made her raise her voice. “That’s exactly how it went with Anna when she had that crush on me, too! Afterward, it made her realize her feelings for Ari, and they started dating, as well! Well, they haven’t gotten engaged immediately, but still!”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We also haven’t gotten engaged immediately!” She glared at her.

“I proposed to her last month!” Dannie had the same reaction. “That’s way over a year after all of what we were just talking about!”

“Congratulations~.” Having vented enough already, the blonde just responded with a gentle and sincere smile.

“T-Thanks.” The couple didn’t know what to say to such a genuine reaction.

“We can talk about that later, but I first want to know even more about your story!” Maya was far from done questioning them. “What happened after that?”

“I turned into an even bigger idiot…” Dannie hung her head in shame.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” The orange cat nodded. “After that week, I visited her and asked what that kiss meant. Guess what she said? Exactly, it was because she was drunk.” She didn't need to wait for their answer, as it was too obvious after all.

“You useless lesbian!” Maya and Sophia had the same reaction.

“I have nothing to say in my defense.” She sounded even more ashamed of herself. “T-Then again, I’m engaged now, so I had my redemption arc!”

“And that’s thanks to who?” Chiyo stared at her.

“I would’ve recovered eventually!”

“Really?”

“I-I’m the one who proposed!”

“Mh-hm.” The cat-girl just kept looking.

“Thank you so much for taking the initiative back then!” The dog-girl quickly caved in.

“It’s amazing how much romance can change someone!” Maya was impressed by how different Chiyo seemed compared to when she left a year ago. "In a good way, of course.”

“Funny you’re saying that.” Hearing that was enough to make Dannie recover. “Who’s the one who had no interest in romance and went on pretend dates with people with the sole goal of getting limited edition cakes? Probably the same person who looks more girly and glowing than I've ever seen her now that she has found her own partner." She shot a small smile towards the blonde at the end.

“Hehe.” Sophia liked that.

“Urgh!” Maya, however, wasn't a fan of the sudden reversal. “T-This isn’t about me! Tell us more!”

“I didn't know that the Maya could get embarrassed." The dog-girl chuckled again.

“Grr!”

“What a cute reaction~.” Chiyo smiled at her before continuing. “Back then, I wasn’t too confused about it. Or, well, it didn't really confuse me any further. "I mean, I just started getting interested in romance, and my first crush I was aware of was over before it started. A drunk kiss from someone else, well, in a way, it just perfectly fit in there with everything else…” She paused for a moment. “There were still all those little things I remembered and noticed about her behavior, though, like the stuff I mentioned before.”

"The dog folk are known for not being able to hide their excitement.” Dannie scratched her cheek.

“I know.” Sophia nodded a few times. “My sister’s also a dog-girl, and she’s utterly unable to do any sort of scheming because she always has her emotions out in the open. Not to mention the mood indicator on her back.” She took a quick glance at Dannie's tail, which stopped wagging in that exact moment.

“It has been a great help to read her, yes.” The orange cat-girl agreed with her. “Anyway, after things stopped being awkward, I got the urge to spend more time with her to see if the reactions she had were actually the case and not just my imagination. It wasn’t my imagination.”

“Seeing her always has been, is, and will be the highlight of my day!” The dog-girl’s tail was at full wag-intensity again.

“Once I became more observant about all sorts of things, I also began to notice that whenever I saw Dannie being happy and or excited, it had the same effect on my mood, as well. Getting closer to her was so much fun!” She got a little bashful over admitting that. “Fast forward a month, the guys and I just returned from a successful hunt and went to the tavern to celebrate the fact that we were able to take down three rock golems without getting into danger even once. Lots of alcohol was had that evening, as well. Dannie was also there celebrating with us, and I remembered what happened the last time I was drunk with her around. Long story short, I kissed her that time.”

“Not only once, either.” The dog-girl had a bright smile on her lips.

“Yeah, turned out I become a clingy drunk with people I’m interested in.”

“It’s the best!” Dannie seemed to be a fan of that quirk of hers.

“Contrary to her, I wasn't a coward and didn’t use the alcohol as an excuse the day after, though.” Chiyo smirked at her partner towards the end. “I actually admitted that I wanted to do it because I was curious about a lot of things.”

“I totally didn’t panic when she did that, by the way.” Dannie’s ears and tail turned a little twitchy while saying so.

“She panicked a lot.” The orange cat-girl let out another chuckle.

"We figured." Maya and Sophia didn't look surprised when they noticed the dog-girl's reaction.

“We then spent another month getting closer and maybe even kissed a couple of times when there wasn't any alcohol involved.” Chiyo awkwardly rubbed the back of her head while remembering it. “I never felt as comfortable and happy before when I was with her, so I ended up asking her out, and she luckily accepted."

“She totally beat me to it!” The dog-girl started pouting. “I was hyping myself up to ask her out and all that, only for her to go ahead and just do it out of the blue!”

“Hehe.” Her expression turned smug.

“That’s why I proposed to her last month!” Dannie lightly raised her voice. “Things were going so smoothly between us that some of our friends already began asking us about it. It’s silly, but I wanted to be the first! We probably could’ve waited a bit longer, there’s no need to rush after all, but I also knew that I’m never going to change my feelings for her, so I went and did it~!”

“I actually was rather surprised, but I accepted instantly~.” Chiyo’s expression turned incredibly warm. “I had just started thinking about how it would be nice, and it was like she read my mind!"

“Aww~!” Sophia and Maya liked everything about that.

Afterward, the girls kept chatting for a long time because Maya and Sophia wanted to hear even more from the freshly engaged couple.