1.22: Heaven’s KissI was trying to think about Rui’s cryptic comment, I really was, but my embarrassment was a nuclear reactor of distraction powering every cell of my body. My ass was out in the open air, people had seen it, people had ughed, and my dignity had been reduced to atmospheric vapor.

  Still, I followed Rui, and in what felt like seconds we arrived at our destination.

  We stopped before an extremely posh-looking store. It wasn’t a famous brand, not one I recognized anyway, but the entire building belonged to it… six floors of elegance towering over the street like some fashionable monolith.

  This pce wasn't just “doing well.” It was thriving. Alive. Tremendously successful.

  I braced myself and stepped inside with Rui. She didn’t seem to have noticed my bare assedness state… or she had and simply found it funny.

  The moment we entered, I felt dozens of eyes tch onto me.

  A sentai hero with a missing rear panelin a high-end women’s fashion storesurrounded by mirrors.

  This was hell.

  “Y-you’re a lifesaver, Rui-chan!” I whispered in panic.

  “What did I do?” She gnced over her shoulder, eyebrow raised.

  Before I could answer, a melodic ugh rang from behind us.

  “AHAHA! That’s quite the wardrobe malfunction!”

  Rui’s face pinked.

  “Natalia!!!”

  She shot past me in a blur of excited oni energy. I turned and saw a tall, breathtaking blonde woman crouch down and sweep Rui into a glowing, radiant hug.

  “RuiRui! It’s wonderful to see you again!” she excimed.

  Her voice was sunlight.Her smile was sunlight.Her hair was sunlight.

  She was powered entirely by sor divinity.

  Rui squeezed her tightly, practically vibrating, and my turning motion revealed my butt to several customers who hadn’t seen it yet.

  Laughter erupted in a wave.

  I covered myself too te.

  I wondered if Rickey had dissolved my ass on purpose as some kind of eldritch joke.

  Natalia… that had to be her name. She absolutely radiated Natalia energy. She was definitely of foreign birth. Her height, her facial structure, her presence… definitely Russian or Baltic. But she spoke Japanese fwlessly, clearly having lived here long enough to adapt.

  Her beauty was overwhelming. Rui looked like an excited kitten nuzzling into a goddess.

  And I realized something terrible…

  This store only sold women’s clothes.

  There was nothing here to fix my ass problem.

  I went even redder under the helmet. The ughter began to subside, but the lingering giggles still echoed behind mirrors.

  This was hell…This was hell.

  “Come along to my office,” Natalia said sweetly, motioning with elegant fingers. “Six floors up. We’ll take care of that unfortunate hole in your beautiful costume. It would be a tragedy to throw it away. Clearly you cherish it… except for that one spot.”

  Her smile was so bright it physically struck me.

  She was the sun Rickey hinted at. No wonder he couldn’t look at her directly. I barely could.

  “Oh! My ANGEL!” I decred with my entire soul.

  Before Reiko-chan, very few women had ever stirred anything in me. Now, looking at Natalia, something… definitely stirred.

  She winked knowingly.

  I spped a hand over my sudden AH-CRAP-BIG problem. Now I had to cover the front and the back.

  My helmet felt like a sauna.

  We followed her to an escator. As we ascended floor after floor, I got to see the full splendor of her store… everything elegant, everything curated, everything shining. Meanwhile, I had to keep one hand over my bare rear and one over a threatening bulge.

  Eventually, the erection faded, letting me use both hands to guard my backside with maximum shame containment.

  By the time we reached the sixth floor, the clothing had transitioned into the serious high-end tier. Even I could tell the fabrics were expensive here.

  Natalia unlocked a door decorated with a grinning kitsune keychain.

  Rattle

  CLICK

  Inside was darkness.

  …

  ……

  Whirrrrrr

  Lights slowly rose as the skylight’s automatic shutters opened.

  Sunlight flooded the office like a heavenly spotlight.

  There was a magnificent gss roof.Racks upon racks of expensive fabric.Stunning machines in perfect working condition.Mannequins lined up in a neat row.Shelves of patterns and high-end materials.

  This was not a mere workspace.

  This was a true atelier.

  Natalia shut the door behind us, smiling warmly.

  “... I assume you didn’t come here just for your friend’s wardrobe crisis,” she said.

  “What are you talking about? He’s fine!” Rui pointed at me. “He didn’t lose his clothes to Rickey — I did! Ignore the drama queen! Nataliaaaaa, spoil me! Kiss me!”

  She leapt into Natalia’s arms again. Natalia ughed joyfully and kissed her.

  Heat exploded in my helmet.

  “M-me… please… too…” Oh no. Oh no no no.

  I fell to my knees in a corner, clutching my crotch again in utter despair.

  Betrayal!!

  I loved Reiko-chan!

  I shouldn’t react this strongly!

  Yet the very sight of Natalia kissing Rui lit something primal in my blood. I buried my head against the floor, quietly menting my unfaithfulness.

  Reiko-chaaaaaaan…!

  The cold floor seeped through the remnants of fabric around my crotch, slightly rexing and cooling me off.

  …

  …A gentle hand nded on my shoulder.

  “You know,” Natalia said softly, “if you don’t remove that impressive Magiranger helmet of yours, I cannot give you the kiss you asked for.”

  I froze.

  She winked.

  My soul left my sentai-suit-cd body.

  She reached down, fingers brushing the edges of my helmet, and lifted it away. Cool air hit my sweating noh-face. I was overheating from embarrassment, lust, awe, guilt… every emotion was racing.

  Her eyes were sky-blue incarnate.Her beauty was sculptural.She was a celestial being carved from Baltic marble.

  She studied me closely.

  “Well,” she murmured, tapping her chin, “I didn’t expect to find you were a kindred soul. A noh-face… yet still yourself. Not fully transformed.” She smiled. “Remarkable. That means… no mouth. So I can’t kiss you properly. But I hope you won’t mind an approximation.”

  She leaned down.

  And kissed the pce my mouth would have been.

  For a long, breathtaking moment.

  My first kiss.

  The world dissolved.My spirit bsted upward through the sunlit skylight like a comet returning to heaven.Music filled my ears… soft, celestial, private.

  I was dead.I died.

  ……Ascension complete.

  Relwing

  Natalia