[SFW]

It was another beautiful day. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and people were mingling throughout the park. All except for one lonely girl, who was impatiently tapping her foot against the ground.

That girl was Alice Grimwald, the youngest child of the infamously powerful Atlas Grimwald, who seemed to be more than a little peeved at what she was doing. Namely, just waiting around in the middle of the Park waiting for somebody. “Where is that blasted girl anyway? I made myself as elegant and as composed as I possibly could, and here I am, waiting for her instead of the other way around.” She muttered to herself, loathing seeping through her words.

Who could blame her? She was dressed to impress, from the elegant white suit that decorated her legs and her torso, to the gloves that would keep her hands clean while also matching the outfit in a stylish fashion. To top the outfit off, she wore a pin near her chest, depicting an earth being cupped by a hand. The characterizing insignia of Atlas Corp, her Father’s company. When combined with her slickened back hair, she stood out like a sore thumb, and yet she hadn’t been identified yet…

“Maybe I should’ve worn the ugly sweater that Mom once knitted for me. I know based on what Albert told me that she was a simple girl, so maybe that would make me stand out more, but I can’t bear to wear that thing for more than a few minutes…” The girl continued to mutter to herself as she stepped back and forth, stuck in her own thoughts for a brief period of time.

Right up until she accidently bumped into a familiar looking blonde girl, who yelped a little as she fell onto the ground. “O-Oh, sorry! You looked so restless, so I had to approach and…” The fallen girl spoke up slightly as she brushed herself off, getting back on her feet moments later. “S-Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find an Alice Grimwald, could you? She’s waiting for me, and I got here so late, and I don’t know where to find her since my friend never told me how she looked…”

‘That would explain why she did not notice me.’ Alice thought to herself as she cleared her throat. “That would be me, Emilia Muller.” The light-pink-haired girl replied as she gently dusted herself off and held out her hand in an inviting manner. “I’m sorry I didn’t call out for you earlier, I thought you had forgotten all about me, so I wanted to wait and see if you would arrive.” The words that were leaving her lips weren’t entirely sincere, but coming out of the dignified girl, they sounded like the truth.

Emilia, the exchange student that had become such a close friend with her brother, quickly blushed as she realized who she was talking to. “Y-You’re… Oh, oh my goodness, I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize it was you! I must look like a total fool, not knowing who I had agreed to meet with!” She put her hands on her face, swaying back and forth as she sheepishly muttered doom and gloom to herself. “Oh, what a horrible first impression I’ve made…”

“You’ve made no such impression, Emilia.” The older girl chimed as she smiled from ear to ear. “It’s an earnest mistake on both our fronts, nothing to get too worked up about. All we need to do now is calm down, and then we can proceed with our time together as if nothing had happened. Besides, we have much time to spare, it’s only the afternoon after all.” She continued to try and ease the blonde into things, while downplaying both of their mistakes. Mostly the blonde’s, she had committed the graver error in the girl’s mind.

Alice could see the girl swooning and swaying from side to side with every word that left her mouth. She seemed awfully easy to impress, especially if that was all it took. “Is everything alright, Emilia?” She asked, just to confirm her suspicions as she held out her hand, offering her a bit of comfort.

The blonde quickly grabbed the gloved hand, squeezing it tightly as she took a deep breath. “N-Nothing’s wrong, Alice. I-I’m just surprised that you’re every bit as amazing as Albert said you were. You know how he is, talking so passionately about how great his family is and everything. It’s just surprising to see that everything was true when it came to you. You’re responsible, strong, and… w-well, you are a little short just like he said, but that’s fine, that just means you have a big presence!” She rambled on and on, her grip growing tighter with every word that left her mouth, her breath becoming heavier while her cheeks turned redder. She was… getting turned on, it seemed like.

“Remember to breathe, Emilia. We have a whole day ahead of us, I don’t want you to pass out before we even head off to have a bit of fun. Besides, I want to hear what you think of dear Albert just as much as I want to tell you what he’s told me about you. Believe me, he’s told me a fair deal, and he’s praised you just as much as he’s praised me.” While the light-pink-haired girl tried to calm her partner down, her words grew just a little venomous near the end. Almost as if she was envious of the girl… but at the same time, she kept most of it under wraps. She didn’t want her to find out about the truth of the matters.

Emilia took a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around the older girl, nodding and resting her head against her shoulder. A shoulder that required her to lean a little downward, but the emotional support mattered more than the physical. “S-So, what’d he say? I wanna hear, he’s always been so kind, I trust he’s been nothing but truthful about me…”

Alice just put a finger on her new friend’s lips, winking ever slightly with those tender red eyes of hers. “I’ll tell you later, once we’ve had a bit of fun together. We both need to unwind and grow closer, before we can share our secrets, don’t you think?” She chimed, wanting to play a little hard to get, even if she was the dominant one between the two at the moment.

The blonde nodded rapidly, before the two of them took off towards the nearby carnival. They had so many things to try out, to see just what each other could handle…

---

“Have you ever been on a rollercoaster, Emilia?” Alice asked as the two of them were waiting in line for one of the biggest rollercoasters in the city, something that caused the older of the two to sweat just a little. “I mean, I’m an expert that can handle any kind of roller coaster, but I want to make sure that you can as well. Just so that you can help coax Albert out of his comfort zone, something that would help immensely.”

Emilia shook her head. “Whenever I’ve been out playing with him, we’ve always tried the slower rides. He always said that he was too scared to ride the high speed stuff, and that it made him have accidents. Is… Is that true? I never wanted to embarrass him, but…”

“He wasn’t lying.” The shorter of the two girls replied as she stepped closer to their cart, taking a seat before patting right beside her. “But that’s neither here nor there. I’m about to introduce you to what he couldn’t endure. I’m sure you can handle it, he said you were such a durable girl.”

The blonde girl just smiled as she was strapped in…

…

“That was so much fun!” Emilia chimed as she walked out of the exit to the ride, giggling as she spun around. “So many loops, so many thrills! How come you never tried to tell him why these kinds of things were so fun, Alice?”

Her partner smugly smiled as she stepped closer, her legs wobbling the entire time, having utterly underestimated the whiplash. “He never wanted to listen, and as a responsible older sister, who am I to judge his tastes in entertainment? But never mind that, let’s move on to the next attraction. Just, give me a few moments. I have to deal with the fun running through my legs.”

“If you say so, I’ll find something fun!” The blonde giggled as she ran off, leaving her smaller friend to carefully massage her legs until the wobbling and jittering went away…

---

By the time Alice caught up to her partner, she was waiting patiently at a shooting game, trying to fiddle with the prop gun. It was honestly embarrassing seeing her try to handle a firearm when she had no experience, but she had to keep her mouth shut.

“Oh, Alice! Can you fire a gun?” Emilia asked with a bright and naive smile on her face as she put the rifle down on the table, giggling just a little as the shorter girl noticed the holes that had been torn in the tent. No doubt from how horribly she had missed the plates that she was supposed to hit.

The light-pink-haired girl nodded as she carefully undid her gloves, laying them neatly on the desk before grabbing the rifle. “What you need to do is make sure you have a proper grip on it first and foremost. You want the stock to dig into your shoulder so you can stabilize your aim, and then…”

In what felt like just a few seconds, all the plates that were lined up to be smashed by the precise bullets shattered. It would take a master marksman to just smash one, but all of them with barely any room between the shots? And at the exact angle that actually allowed for them to be destroyed? Alice was clearly something else.

“W-Whoa.” Emilia muttered as she held her arms out to receive an oversized and overstuffed teddy bear, the first of several prizes that the two would no doubt win throughout their little trip through the carnival. “How’d you do that?”

The smaller girl just smiled as she put the rifle down. “My Father and I used to go hunting when I was younger. I didn’t get to shoot with a proper firearm, don’t worry about his parenting on that front. No, when I tried to fire with my little toy gun, he taught me what it was like to aim properly, and as I grew older, he let me play around with replicas.” She explained in detail, only to wink after. “In short, practice makes perfect. I can teach you, if you ever want to learn. You might need it someday, who knows.”

Her blonde friend just nodded in awe as the two continued their little trek, making a stop at every carnival game so that Alice could show off in all sorts of manners…

---

Eventually, those fun times had to come to an end, as the two girls found themselves sitting at a lone table on the balcony of a café, each enjoying their choice of beverage and dessert. Alice picking out a cup of black coffee with a little bit of ice cream in it to give it a strange vanilla kick, while Emilia preferred a pudding with a bit of soda.

“You’re so adult, Alice. How come you’re so different from Albert?” The younger yet taller girl asked as she hugged one of the big plushies that they had won from their escapades, giggling as she surveyed their surroundings for a bit. There had at least a dozen of those things, and that was just the big prices. They had a couple of bags full of smaller snacks and such too, another testament to how much the shorter girl had been showing off.

Her partner cracked a smirk as she took a sip from her coffee. “Oh, it’s a matter of paying him back for everything he did for me when we were younger. I was chronically sick, and he took care of me so much that I just had to look out for him as we grew older. You’ve seen how feminine he’s grown, he couldn’t hurt a fly. If somebody dared take advantage of him, then…” She made a mocking neck-chopping motion.

Emilia nodded along as she took a sip from her soda, giggling a little… “You know, I always knew that he wanted to make sure that you were alright when you were younger… But, I’m glad that he went through all that trouble, because you’ve become such a handsome young woman. W-Why, if I wasn’t… w-well…” Her love was entering the spotlight, and after the time the two had spent together, it was about time to strike.

Alice cleared her throat. “Emilia.” She kept her voice firm, highlighting just how serious she was. “You’re not the one for Albert. I’m sorry to say, but he wouldn’t be able to handle you.” She shared her opinion, keeping it brief to let it simmer.

“...W-What do you mean, Alice? Y-You must be joking, we’ve been friends for so long, I-I’m not sure you know what you’re talking ab-” The blonde girl tried to protest, finding that her words were having issues coming out of her throat. All while the tears slowly started to well up in the corner of her eyes.

The smaller girl got up from her seat as she walked around the table, neatly weaving her legs through the masses of plushies. “You said it yourself. He always looked out for somebody else rather than you. Not because he thought that you were worth less, far from it” She explained, as she put her hand on the girl’s cheek, pulling her closer. “It’s because he considered you a dear friend… and I don’t believe he has it in him to change gears from friend to lover. He’ll treat you the same, without a regard for what you might need as a lover, rather than as a friend. Do you understand, Emilia?”

Emilia’s tears started running down the sides of her face, gathering on the back of her new friend’s hand. “I… I-I don’t… I don’t think I do, I…” She emotions were hitting her like a freight train, as she struggled to keep her tears from pouring out. “Y-You’re not wrong, b-but he… He’s been so kind, so loving, such a dear friend, I-I don’t imagine he couldn’t shift gears…”

“I’ve known him for years, Emilia. I’m his sister. You have to understand, if there’s anybody that knows him well, it has to be me.” Alice said with a bit of pride lingering in her words, while she gently caressed the girl’s cheek. “And, you don’t have to stop being his friend. As much as it pains you to stop pursuing him as a lover, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

The taller girl slowly wiped away the tears in her eyes, nodding slowly. “I-I… I think I get it… B-But, I was so prepared for yesterday, what am I going to do, I can’t just call him now and say that it’s cancelled, and I was so prepared for the date too…” She started hyperventilating, her cheeks flaring red as her eyes spun around…

Right up until the smaller girl’s hands met both of her cheeks. “Emilia. Relax. Please.” She asked, with a gentle voice as she leaned closer, ever closer…

It felt like an eternity before Alice’s lips met Emilia’s, but once they connected, it felt like an explosion ran through both of them. Emotion that was erupting throughout, with the younger girl’s eyes throbbing and turning into hearts from the sudden love that overwhelmed her…

Once the smaller girl pulled back, leaving just the trail of saliva connecting the two, she spoke up once more. “Does that tell you what you need to do, Emilia?” She asked, her crimson eyes staring into the blonde’s gentle green ones.

She just nodded, sighing sweetly as her eyes continued to throb around in the shape of hearts. “Y-Yeah. I… Thank you, Alice.” She muttered under her breath, grateful that the girl could show her what she needed to see. Even if it meant that she was going to abandon her hunt for Albert. He could take the rejection, he was the kind of boy that always got up after an accident…

“No, Emilia. Thank you. If you didn’t show up like you did when I was waiting for you, I would’ve thought you didn’t care about my brother. But I know you do, and that’s why I took you along. To see if you would really fit him.” Alice explained briefly, only to chuckle as she sat back down to finish her coffee. “But, now you see that we’re better for one another, rather than him, isn’t that right?”

Her new lover couldn’t help but nod once more as she took a sip from her soda, sweetly sighing as she practically sunk into her seat. “You’re… You really are the best, Alice… Please don’t tell Albert until I can, I don’t think he needs to hear it from anybody else…” The taller girl explained, knowing that she should take any brunt of the truth. She shouldn’t subject the mature girl to anything she hadn’t earned…

“Of course. He’ll understand.” The shorter girl replied back. That suited her just fine. Albert would understand that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and that it just wasn’t going to work out, and she’d have him all to herself once more. Everything was perfect.

As the evening came to a close, the two girls would go their separate ways once more, leaving one kiss on each other’s lips as a sign of their newly bloomed love. Something that Alice would come to regret ever slightly in the future, as she realized the depths of Emilia’s character, and how she wasn’t the only girl vying for the heart of her brother.

But that was a tale for another time...