Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Kiss, and the Future

In that single, crystalline moment, the world seemed to fall silent. The distant hum of the city, the rustle of leaves in the park—it all faded into nothingness, leaving only the cool evening breeze and the warm, sweet scent of Kiana’s breath, so close it was almost his own.

The Homu doll she’d won slipped from her grasp, falling to the grass without a sound. A thought, fierce and overwhelming, surged through Lucian, drowning out every other rational impulse.

Almost by instinct, he lowered his head.

The last sliver of distance between them vanished.

Kiana’s breath hitched in a sharp, surprised gasp. Her brilliant blue eyes widened, the silver strands of her bangs brushing against his forehead, sending a tremor through his entire body. Her arms, already draped around his neck, tightened reflexively, pulling him closer.

An unfamiliar, impossibly soft sensation met his lips, carrying with it an indescribable thrill that shot straight to his core. The world seemed to shrink, collapsing until only the two of them remained—a universe defined by the warm breath exchanged between their lips and the frantic, connecting beat of two hearts pounding as one.

After what felt like an eternity compressed into a few seconds, Lucian finally, reluctantly, pulled back.

His own breathing was ragged, his gaze locked onto the dazed, unfocused look in the girl’s eyes.

Kiana gasped for air, her own chest rising and falling rapidly. She stared into his eyes, so close to her own, and saw her own reflection: a girl with a flushed face and an expression of pure, flustered bliss.

“You… you kissed me…” she finally managed to whisper. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum, thick with a sweet, rosy embarrassment.

“…Mhm.”

The simple confirmation was enough to snap Kiana back to reality. She jumped back a step, like a startled rabbit, her cheeks blazing a furious, adorable shade of crimson.

“You… you you you…” Her mind went completely blank, the gears grinding to a halt, utterly failing to form a single coherent sentence.

Seeing her in such an utterly flustered state, Lucian couldn’t help but let a helpless, fond smile grace his lips. He bent down, picked up the astronaut Homu doll that had fallen to the ground, and gently brushed the dust from its plush surface before handing it back to her.

“Your Homu.”

Kiana instinctively reached out to take the doll, but as her fingers brushed against it, Lucian suddenly caught her hand, pulling her forward and straight into his embrace.

She was completely stunned.

Her mind, which had just begun to reboot, shut down completely once more, short-circuited by the sudden, warm embrace.

Then, Lucian’s voice, low and serious, sounded again from just above her head.

“I’m sorry, Kiana.”

Leaning against his chest, Kiana could clearly feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing, a comforting rhythm against her ear.

“…Why are you apologizing?” she asked softly, shifting slightly in his arms. She tilted her head up, trying to see his expression.

“I’ve lied to you,” he admitted, his voice soft and laced with a vulnerability she had never heard before. “About so many things. So many that I’m afraid… if I tell you the truth, you’ll leave me.”

His arms tightened around her, an unconscious gesture of desperation.

“But if you want to know,” he continued, his voice barely a whisper, “I’ll explain every single lie. Right now.”

Kiana looked up at him, her heart aching. This was the first time he had been so completely, unreservedly honest with her. There was no evasion, no attempt to change the subject. Just a simple, terrifying offer: Ask, and I will tell you everything.

His arms were a warm cage around her. She raised her head, meeting his gaze directly, her own blue eyes searching his.

“Do you love me?”

The question hung in the air between them, simple and devastating.

Lucian didn’t speak.

Instead, he lowered his head and kissed her once more.

“Mmm…”

This time was different. His hand gently cradled the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her silver hair, while his other arm wrapped securely around her waist, pulling her flush against him until there was no space left between them.

Kiana’s eyes flew wide in surprise, then slowly fluttered closed. She didn’t push him away. This time, she leaned into him, her lips clumsily, shyly, trying to respond to his.

And once again, the world shrank until only the two of them existed.

After another long, breathless moment, Lucian slowly pulled away.

“Do you understand now, Kiana?” he asked, his voice husky.

“…Mhm.”

“Come on,” he said, his smile finally returning, gentle and warm. “I’ll walk you home.”

——————

Hand in hand, they walked side by side through the quiet streets. The soft, golden glow of the streetlights softened the edges of the night, illuminating the two figures leaning into each other as they walked.

When they arrived at the entrance of Kiana’s apartment building, the moment felt both too soon and just right.

“Then… I’ll go up now?” Kiana said softly, her voice full of a reluctance that mirrored his own as she let go of his hand.

Lucian nodded, releasing her fingers. “Mhm. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow…” she replied.

Kiana turned and walked a few steps toward the entrance, then suddenly stopped. She spun around, ran back the short distance between them, and stood on her tiptoes to plant a quick, firm kiss on his cheek.

Before Lucian could even react, she had already dashed into the stairwell without a single glance back.

“This girl…” Lucian sighed, but a wide, helpless smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he touched the spot on his cheek where her lips had been.

——————

The heavy security door clicked shut behind her, cutting off the light from the hallway and plunging the apartment into darkness.

Kiana didn’t bother to turn on the lights. Leaning her back against the cold metal of the door, she slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor of the entryway.

In the pitch-black silence, the only sound was the violent, thunderous pounding of her own heart, a frantic drumbeat against her ribs.

She was back.

She had really just run back like that.

Like a frightened rabbit, without even a proper goodbye. She’d kissed his cheek and then fled as if her life depended on it.

“Ahhh! Kiana, what have you done?!” she groaned, burying her burning face deep into the fabric of the Homu doll she was still clutching, squeezing it so hard it was a wonder it didn’t pop.

She sat there on the cold floor, hugging the poor, deformed doll for who knows how long, replaying the night over and over in her head.

“Liar…” she muttered quietly, her voice muffled by the soft plush.

He was a liar. A big, stupid liar, full of secrets. His identity was fake, his background was a fabrication, and even his reasons for getting close to her were probably…

So why? Why, when he kissed her, did her mind go completely blank, filled with nothing but a sense of absolute, willing surrender?

【Because you like him.】

A clear, feminine voice echoed not in the room, but inside her own head. Kiana froze completely, her breath catching in her throat.

‘I… like Lucian?’

【Yeah. What are you so shy about?】

The voice emerged again, this time tinged with a hint of playful mockery.

“Who—who’s shy!” she retorted to the empty air, though her voice came out terribly weak and unconvincing.

【But your heart is beating so fast.】

【Admit it, Kiana.】

【You like him. You like him so much that even knowing he’s full of suspicious holes, you still want to hear his explanation instead of just walking away.】

Kiana fell silent. She couldn’t refute it because it was the absolute truth.

But a second later, a far more pressing realization struck her.

“Wait, who are you? How can you talk in my head?”

Kiana sprang up from the floor, her heart now pounding for an entirely different reason. Those voices… they weren’t her own thoughts!

【Oh, don’t be so tense~】 the voice sounded again, laced with a casual, almost bored amusement. 【Explaining is such a hassle. Why don’t you… come and see for yourself?】

The moment the words fell, a wave of intense, world-spinning dizziness washed over Kiana.

“What—?!”

She only had time to get out a single, half-choked syllable before her vision abruptly went dark. A moment later, the darkness was replaced by a soft, total white light.

Steadying herself, Kiana looked around in shock and utter confusion.

She was in a pure white space. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor—only a gentle light that seemed to emanate from every direction at once. The ground beneath her feet had the shimmering texture of water yet was exceptionally stable. Stepping on it only caused faint, silent ripples to spread outwards.

“This is… where am I?”

Kiana looked around in a daze, and then her eyes landed on a figure standing quietly a short distance in front of her.

It was a young woman with white hair tied into a neat ponytail, the ends of which were tinged with streaks of vibrant purple. She stood with her back to Kiana, wearing a form-fitting combat suit of white and purple that had the sharp, clean lines of a formal military uniform.

“Hmm, how should I introduce myself…” the figure mused, her voice the same one from Kiana’s head.

She turned slightly, revealing a stunning and unnervingly familiar profile. A pair of blue eyes met Kiana’s, but within their depths swirled regal, diamond-shaped patterns of purple light.

“Finally, we meet,” she said, a faint, knowing smirk on her lips. “The me of the past.”