"Greetings! I am the deity, the Crawling Chaos, the Burning Tongue, the one and only Nyarlathothep!" Nyaruko timed her poses perfectly as she recorded herself with the camera.

"I am recording this because a momentous occasion has taken place." She took a deep breath. "My efforts have succeeded, and I have achieved my goal."

She pulled out a picture of her beloved Mahiro and smiled widely at the camera. "Mahiro-san has proposed to me! My affections have broken through his tsun barriers and reached his heart!"

"Whoohoo!" Nyaruko jumped in the air in celebration.

"Now it's only a matter of time before we leave his mother's house and get one of our own. Oh, and children! We'll have so many children that even I would struggle to carry them in all my forms."

Ah, she could see it now. Mahiro carrying her away in her white dress, and conceiving their first child on the wedding night. Then, they'd go on their space honeymoon. Of course, Mahiro-san would stay at home to take care of the children while she caught space criminals. And every night, after a long day at work, the two of them would practice more baby-making!

"Nyahiro and Maruko are the obvious choices for the names of our first two, but what would come after? Ah, I suppose one could be named after Hastur. Oh, and Kurei-san definitely deserves one named after her, considering all the help she's given me. I can't wait!"

"Nyaruko . . ."

Oh, it was her beloved Mahiro. She must have gotten so distracted with her video that she hadn't noticed him enter the room.

"Hello, Mahiro-san." Good, good, acting normal would give him nothing to suspect. "How much of that did you see?"

"Enough." He walked over to the camera. "I'm deleting this."

She latched onto his foot. "Nooo! Don't be so cruel Mahiro-san."

He ignored her and pressed some buttons on the camera. "And . . . done."

"Boohoo, you're so mean Mahiro-san." She pouted and wiped away tears. The recording of her reaction to his proposal. Gone.

Oh well, that just meant she'd have to make a better one.

"Don't be so dramatic," he said. "Besides, I don't want you recording lies, it's been bad enough with Kuuko and Hastur."

"They're not lies though." She pouted.

He sighed. "They are lies, I agreed to be your boyfriend. Not your husband."

"Those are just details." She waved it away. "They're pretty much the same."

After all, she'd already broken down his defenses to this point. Marriage was only a few steps away, and children would obviously follow soon after.

"Besides," she added. "Can you blame me for wanting to celebrate?" She grabbed his arm and nuzzled her head on his chest.

"N-no . . . just don't take it too far."

Oh, he was so cute, with his blushing and looking away. So bashful her beloved Mahiro was. Not to mention that he'd never have allowed her to hug him like this before. She was going to enjoy it as much as possible.

"By the way Mahiro-san, why did you enter my room?" asked Nyaruko.

She interrupted him before he could answer. "Oh, I understand! A boy going into his girlfriend's bedroom can only mean one thing! We're going to consummate our love. Oh Mahiro-san, I never thought you'd be the type to be so bold. Well, it's not like I mind. Come!"

She jumped onto her bed and welcomed him with open arms.

"No, that's not why I'm here," he said, not even cracking a smile at her antics. "I need to talk to you. Can you be serious for a little bit?"

"Of course." She brought her arms down to her side.

He sat down next to her. Hesitating, as if trying to find the right words.

"Can you . . . stop flaunting our relationship in front of the others so much?" he asked.

She tilted her head in confusion. "Flaunting? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, you know how much you try to make me spoil you in front of Hastur and Kuuko."

Spoiling her? She thought back to it . . . she had been more touchy with Mahiro ever since they'd started dating. It was her right as his girlfriend, which he'd properly acknowledged. He hardly ever pushed her away or threatened the deadly forks anymore.

"We've gotten closer," said Nyaruko. "That's to be expected of a boyfriend and girlfriend, I don't understand what the problem is."

"There's more to it than that, you're constantly saying how we're 'boyfriend and girlfriend' and giggling about it in front of them. Are you honestly saying you're not trying to show off to them?"

"No! That's not why I do it!" she replied immediately. "I'm just happy that we're finally together! And . . . okay, at first I might have wanted to rub it in their faces for a bit, but there's more to it than that! I-I want to tell the whole world about our love!"

Was it wrong to want that? No, it couldn't be. But did she seem like she was trying to flaunt it in front of her friends? They had their own feelings about Mahiro after all.

"That's fine, but think about how Hastur and Kuuko feel when they see the two of us together. It's already hard on them, can you just dial it down? It doesn't have to be forever."

Nyaruko looked down at the bedsheets, deep in thought.

"No," she said. "It's not right for me to have to hide it."

"Come on, they're your friends. Th-

"I know that!" she interrupted him. "They're our friends, and it must not be easy for them, but I can't hide my feelings for you. Not even for a little bit."

He looked like he wanted to argue against it, but she refused to budge. Maybe he could sense that, and even now the thought of them being so connected made her happy.

Mahiro tried another tactic. "Please? At least for a few days, you can act how you want when we're alone, but when the two of them are nearby, can't you just restrain yourself? I'll make it up to you."

"You will?" she asked. "Then . . . will you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

'I should have known she'd agreed too easily,' Mahiro thought.

Nyaruko had wanted him to sleep with her. Nothave sex, which he would have answered with an immediate no. She just wanted to sleep in the same bed tonight. Which wasn't too bad.

There were rules however, their bodies couldn't touch. He might have even set up a barrier of pillows, at least that might stop her from trying anything in the middle of the night. But she hadn't agreed to it, and he'd even been forced to agree to hold hands.

She was already in the bed, and thankfully wearing normal nightclothes. So he turned off the light and went under the covers with her.

Immediately, she grabbed his right hand. She gripped him lightly though, and her hand was soft and smooth.

Mahiro tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. There was a girl in his bed, and her warm hand was a constant reminder that she was there.

"This is nice," she said after a few minutes.

"Is it?" It must be pretty tame compared to the wild imagination she had.

"Mhm," she said.

He tried shifting a little, but that didn't help. Why was his heart beating so quickly? She wasn't even doing anything, just laying there next to him. There was no reason to be so uneasy.

"Hey, Mahiro-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask, what made you fall in love with me?"

He froze. "Why are you asking?"

"So I can improve my strategy. This is valuable information that I'll need to reach deeper into your heart!"

"Oh, I see." The silly girl, didn't she realize that she sounded way less confident than usual? She was trying to seem casual, but he could tell how she'd prepared herself for the question. Not to mention how sweaty her hand had gotten.

Why did he fall in love with her? If he were being honest, he wouldn't say that he was in love with her. There was an attraction, he wouldn't be dating her if there wasn't. Yet it had only been a few days since they'd started going out, his feelings for her weren't as strong as hers for him. But over time that would change. Still, he couldn't tell her that.

He wasn't even completely sure why he felt the way he did about her. But he had a feeling that wasn't what she wanted to hear either. He had thought about it for a while before he'd confessed to her, so he at least had some idea of what made him feel this way.

"Mahiro-san?" she said.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. I'd say . . . your courage is something that I really admire about you. You confessed how you felt for me when we first met, I certainly wouldn't have been able to do that. A lot of people find it hard to say their feelings, but you were honest about it from the start. I didn't appreciate it at first, but it's actually amazing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's your perseverance as well. I wasn't very nice to you for a while, I was insensitive and hurt you. I didn't feel the same way you did for a long time, but you kept trying, and it ended up working somehow."

There were a lot of other things. Her cute smile, how excited she got about new games and shows from Earth, the passion she put into her ridiculous fighting. It was true that her blunt attempts at getting his attention had been annoying, but after getting to know her when she was more serious, he appreciated the nonsensical way she acted.

Those reasons were pretty embarrassing, but if she needed more he could say a few of them.

"Thanks." She giggled and squeezed his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Maybe it wasn't to the extent she wanted or deserved, but he did love her. As a friend, as a girlfriend, and . . . well it was a bit too hard to think of her as a wife, but it wasn't as hard to imagine as he thought.

Mahiro woke up, and tried to get up, but felt a weight on his arm.

Looking down, he saw that Nyaruko had cuddled up against him in the middle of the night. Damn it, hadn't they agreed to set boundaries?

Strangely though, he couldn't find it in himself to get upset. Maybe she'd done it in her sleep. Although if it had been on purpose, it would be a while before she got this privilege again.

"Mahiro-san?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Good morning."

On a strange impulse, he reached forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Good morning."

Nyaruko blinked, and brought her hand to the spot he'd kissed. Then, she smiled and brought her face closer to his.

"Oh~ Mahiro-san, is it going to be that type of morning? I won't complain, quick let us show our love for each other." She puckered her lips in preparation for another kiss.

"Nope." He held her back, not letting their lips meet. He knew that he should regret provoking her, but still couldn't stop smiling.

"How can you play so frivolously with a woman's heart?" She brought a hand to her mouth in mock horror, but which didn't hide the upward curling of her lips. "You can't expect your girlfriend to not react to such sweetness."

"Well, you'll have to restrain yourself," he replied. "We'll be eating breakfast soon, remember your promise."

She sighed, but the grin still hadn't faded. "Okay, I expect a lot of love when we're alone though."

Welp, that was my Mahiro x Nyaruko fic. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you did, please leave a review. And if you didn't enjoy it, please leave a review as well saying what was wrong with it.