Testing My Luck in the New World

I woke with a start, not because I wanted to return to that dreamland or the world it was modeled after. Nor was it the jarring sensation of having been in a state of consciousness that felt both awake and aware, only to instantly find myself back in bed, muddled and tired from what now felt like it had been a restless night.

It took several seconds of semi-consciousness for my senses to register the fact that the sheets in the inn were nowhere near as soft as the ones I used back in my apartment, something that I should have noticed before giving into despair so quickly. But this difference was proof that I was returned to the barebones room at the Lazy Cat Inn and, most importantly, that I wasn't alone. As if my own senses were teasing me for having doubted her, the last thing my mind was able to let me take notice of was the presence of the girl leaning over me.

Yua was still here. Right where she said she'd be.

A sweet breath swept against my face and the familiar sensation of the kiss I'd tasted only once before stole all other meaning from the world. A tongue that was clearly not my own parted my lips purposefully, but carefully in search for a deeper passion. Two large and tantalizingly soft somethings pressed unrestricted against my chest where a delicate, but powerful hand clung to me.

Now awake, and ready to let out a joyous cry that would have robbed me of any lingering sense of manliness, I threw my arms around her slender form to embrace this wonderful girl. She let out a cute yelp of surprise, apparently unawares that she'd done her duty in waking me until I pulled her closer. The light swishing of her furry tail brushing against my arms forced me to smile.

She was still here.

Once I opened my eyes, the tongue invading my mouth receded before I could really enjoy the sensation of her kiss with the full range of senses that now seemed to burned like a wildfire. Our lips parted and she blushed when she looked me in the eyes. Drawn by the lingering sensation of her lips, I couldn't quite pull my eyes away from the two peach-pink lines drawn up into a smile, until they moved, dancing to the sound of her voice.

I brushed the chestnut-colored hair away from her cheek to better see her. She took my hand in hers and held it to the dimple rising in her cheek.

"Good morning, Master."

... If you love her, then why does she still call you Master?

"G-Good morning..."

Forced to remember the cold, hard slap of reality the Goddess hit me and my idiocies with, I found it impossibly difficult to focus just on her loving greeting and not that one word.

The meeting with the Goddess had been the dream, not this life in this world with this girl. For that simple fact, I was ready to say that that I was a fool all over again, but not for the reasons I originally thought. This entire time, I'd been contradicting myself, letting her get away with treating me like her master, instead of as a man when I claimed that was all I wanted. This new consideration should have been enough for me to fall into another round of vicious self-admonition, but...

"Master," Yua said again, still wearing that same smile. "Do you feel better now? Your heart sounds much more... calm."

Sitting on her knees beside me, Yua leaned over again and pressed her hand back to my chest, this time to get a better reading of what I myself was oblivious to. The quite thumping of her tail against the mattress and my leg was a threat great enough to quicken my pulse, but she seemed satisfied with what she felt.