Boosted Restart – A new chance in a different world

The time went back to normal again, not frozen anymore, and the couple slowly had enough of idly relaxing. Or not, as Maya was enjoying her place on Sophia's lap and the owner of said had a great time petting the cat-girl, but everything had to end eventually.

"You know, I'm getting hungry... I ate very little during the last dinner and even skipped breakfast because of you... It feels like it's been two days since I've eaten anything meaningful." Sophia's stomach was loudly complaining while she said so. "N-Not to mention all the, uhh, exercise we had..."

"Y-Yeah, I could eat something as well." Maya agreed with a slightly red face. "Wait, why haven't you eaten anything because of me?"

"Who ran away after I told you about myself and my past again? Not to mention how you never returned, not even during the night. How could I be hungry in such a situation?"

"Urgh, sorry." She felt guilty. "I-I had a lot to process and think about, okay?"

"It's alright. I can't blame you, and moreover... it ended exceptionally well."

"Ehehe."

"Still, now I want some food. I, uhh, stopped time not long after Fen went for breakfast. Then, I spent like half a day thinking on my own. After I invited Maya, another half-day passed...? Oh, did I go full circle? Does that mean I still skipped breakfast if I eat some now? It's a day later for me, after all? Ehh...? For Maya, it's only half a day, so she's having an early dinner now when I eat breakfast? But it's still morning... For both of us... Huh? How does that work?" Sophia got herself confused.

"Stopping time sure is complicated. How about we simply have some food? No need for an actual meal-time." The cat-girl offered an easy solution.

"R-Right... we'll do it that way. Okay, let's go look for Fen!"

"Ahh, I kinda don't want to see him right now..." Maya looked somewhat troubled.

"Why?"

"I talked with him about you and my feelings not too long ago."

"Eh? Something like that happened?! Wait, where was I during that time?!"

"Fast asleep."

"Aaah... no wonder I had no idea. When I sleep, I sleep."

"You sure do." Maya rolled her eyes.

"So, what's the problem?"

"Weeell, I told him I want to wait and not rush things with you."

"That definitely didn't work out."

"Not at all. Whatever, the pros, you, are bigger than the cons, Fen's comments."

"That wolf sure is a meddlesome one, huh?"

"Absolutely! That's not even the first time he started questioning me!"

"S-Seriously?!" Sophia was shocked. "I really have to stay up longer! It seems I'm missing out on some really interesting discussions."

"How about no?"

"Hehe. Anyway, hungry!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go. I can deal with Fen... somehow." The cat-girl grabbed Sophia's hand, and the two made their way towards the wolf and see what he's up to and get some food together.

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"Err... what?" The couple arrived at his location, and Sophia was somewhat confused by the sight. Fen was currently busy dissecting a kow. That alone wasn't anything noteworthy or new even. Still, the kow in question was even taller than the already oversized wolf. "Don't you think that's a bit much, big guy? No matter how hungry you are."

"Haha, you might be right about that. I just saw this marvelous thing, and I had to get it. I simply had no other choice." His hunting instinct had gotten the better of him, "Hmm? Oh, Maya, welcome back. You two are together again? Good. Did you already made up in the short while when I was gone?'

"Uhh..." The girls were at a loss.

"Am I wrong? Still fighting?"

"No... we definitely made up, and then we started d-dating." The cat-girl decided to make it short and painless.

"What? When? How? What…?" Fen didn't follow.

"Sophia, could you explain? I don't get half of your side, either."

"What made you think I do?" The girl in question only tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, try."

"Sure. Let's see-, Maya wanted to hear more about my old world and my life there. I told her. Maya suddenly confessed. I panicked and thought about it for half a day. I realized my own feelings. Took me another couple of hours to gather my courage. I returned her confession. We did some, uhh, post-confession rituals? Talked some more and relaxed for a few hours before coming back here..." Sophia gave a rough rundown on what happened.

"Err... how long was I hunting that kow? I don't think it took me longer than half an hour?" He was confused as the timing didn't match.

"Ah, right... I forgot. Maya's confession shocked me so much that I instinctively stopped time as an emergency response. In my own little world, I thought about it for half a day. Once I found my answer and was ready, I invited Maya to the frozen place, and we spent another half day there. So, yeah... since you left for breakfast, Fen, it's been around a day for me."

"S-Seriously?!" Fen didn't even know what to react to first. "Y-You stopped time again?! For a whole day even?!"

"Whatever a day is worth when there is no time... It felt that long, at least. It could've been more, or maybe less? It's a rough estimate."

"Wait, you can actually do it that long?"

"I don't think there's a limit? I activate my magic once to stop time and again to, well, unstop it."

"T-That's ridiculous!" Fen couldn't accept her outrageous claim. "Wait! Maya was with you?! You can unstop time for selective people?!"

"I tried. It worked."

"Y-You... You need to show it to me! If I see it with my own eyes, I-I might be able to find a way to recreate it for myself!" He sounded excited and slightly desperate.

"Yeah, once I figure out how I properly stop time when I want it, and not something causes me to do it, I'll show you."

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

"You sound me a tad too excited, Fenny. Stopping time shall only be used for good things! No shady stuff."

"O-Of course! It's purely for researching powerful magic."

"Is that so...?" Sophia doubted his intentions.

"Hey, weren't you the one who stopped time for a prolonged amount just so you could be alone with Maya?"

"Like I said, only to be used for good things~."

"There is no winning with you, is there?"

"Not right now. My mood's way too good for it."

"So self-centered..."

"I don't think she's self-centered." Maya chimed in. "I fully support the use-case of being alone in a place where no one can interrupt us."

"I get a distinct feeling your opinion is slightly biased, cat." The wolf didn't buy it." No, wait just a moment-" He finally focussed his attention on the cat-girl. "What was that about wanting to wait again?"

"Ahaha... Yeah, I did say that. Well, a classic heart vs. brain argument. My heart easily won."

"I didn't expect it to be this fast, but I'm not that surprised it happened."

"Really? That wasn't planned at all, though."

"It was clear that you wouldn't be able to keep it bottled up." The wolf could read her like a book. "You can be in love without realizing it for years or more without an issue, but once you do become aware of it, you won't be able to continue in the same way."

"Romance expert Fenny~." Sophia found it interesting. "Where did you get that wisdom from?"

"I have some experience."

"Oh? Please elaborate." She was very interested.

"I will not." The way his body language worked, he made it clear that this topic was over for him in an instant.

"O-Okay..." Sophia didn't push the issue and pointed at the giant kow. "Anyway, while still way too big, I'm hungry. Please cut something for us as well."

"Didn't you say you were going to skip breakfast?"

"No, that was yesterday. For me, at least."

"Right, stopping time. That sure is confusing." For the wolf, not much time had passed, after all.

"You have no idea... Also, I'm not only hungry, but I also feel incredibly jet-lagged even though I didn't move places at all. So weird!"

"Jet... lagged?" Neither the wolf nor the cat had heard this word before.

"I, uhh, it means I'm tired." Sophia didn't want to bother explaining.

Once the group ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever meal they had, Sophia decided to take a nap. No matter what happened, only getting a wink of sleep in what's essentially two day's worth of time was too much for her. After accepting Maya's offer to use her lap for a change again, having no reason to decline, she got comfortable and fell asleep in no time.

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"What is it?" While the cat-girl was entertaining herself with the sleeping face of Sophia, she was feeling the stare of a certain wolf.

"Nothing much. I guess congratulations are in order?"

"Haha, thanks, Fen. So much happened today..."

"And it's only morning."

"Man, that time thingy... crazy stuff."

"That's true. But, I'm glad for you that it worked out this well."

"So am I. Really happy."

"Be sure to make her as well." He gestured at Sophia in her lap. "Or else I'll make sure you'll never be happy again, either."

"Are you her father?!" Maya just had to make that comment.

"Oh, shut up."

"Or could it be? Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? No, I'm not the least bit interested in either of you in that regard." He clearly denied it. "If anything, I might be feeling a bit... nostalgic?"

"In what way?"

"..." He didn't answer.

"Ah... the experience you were talking about earlier?" She had a rough idea about his implications.

"More or less. Though that story didn't end on a good note, so don't even think about asking. "

"O-Of course. Well, don't worry. Her, no, our happiness is the top priority. Always has been, always will be."

"That's good."

"Though I'm a bit concerned... Sophia was really, uhh, proactive today. Most likely thanks to her boosts running literally amok. What happens once she calms down again? It's the same girl who broke the world... again... once I confessed to her, after all."

"Weeell... good luck." He wasn't overly helpful.

"C-Come on!"

"I did say you should push the girl to get her used to it. You did a thorough job there. I don't think she can go completely back to before. I guess that the more you push her, the higher Sophia's baseline will become."

"Hmm... Now that you mention it. Since the bath, let's say, incident, she wasn't that much of a nervous wreck anymore."

"No, but you were." He just had to make use of this chance.

"Uuh... Well, it all worked out, so I don't care!"

"What a strong girl."

"It would be nice if we really can increase Sophia's level in that way."

"I think that's the right way. Though, I'm sure she'll continue to go out of control from time to time."

"Yeah, no doubt about that." Maya caressed Sophia's head in her lap. "I doubt anyone can ever fully tame her."

"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."

"Definitely, as long as she stays less shy and gets more self-confident, that's all I want from her." Her wish list wasn't long. "That, and maybe those genocide plans of hers. The desire to punch a god is debatable as well, though... I really went all out, falling for this one, huh?" This time, she pinched the sleeping girl's cheek.

"Guuh..." While not waking up, Sophia still had to complain about her treatment.

"B-But, well, she's cute, so it's okay."

"You..."

The cat and the wolf chatted for a while longer about this and that. They killed time and relaxed until Sophia eventually had enough of her nap.