Going to Alice's house now might not be too bad of an idea actually, get it out of the way at least. You begin your descent as you fly in the direction of the forest. It occurs to you along the way that you might run into Marisa, and that you're currently carrying the sword you stole from her house. You really hope you don't run into her.

As luck would have it, you don't, and you arrive at Alice's house without much problem. The only concern of yours is the light hail that currently falls over the area and how soon it had started. You knock on the door, and wait a few seconds for a response. When none comes, you reach to knock again when you hear Alice's voice from inside.

“One second!”

A few seconds later, the door opens slightly, and Alice peeks through the opening, smiling when she sees you.

“Oh! Hello!” she says happily, opening the door a little more until she can see the weather, then she gives a start and blinks a few times. “Come in, come in, don't stand there out in the hail!” she says, stepping back as you enter the house. Alice looks like she just woke up, and is currently wrapped up in a blanket. She peeks outside, and you can hear her gasp, then she turns around to you. “The sky is red!”
“Yeah, it's been like this all day so far,” you say, looking outside for a second before Alice closes the door.

“I've been asleep since this morning,” Alice says with a slightly embarrassed smile. “I was up all night studying more,” she says, making a shrugging motion towards the all too familiar table, before tightening the blanket she has wrapped around her, looking a little red in the face.

“Something wrong?” you ask, looking her over. She shakes her head, but remains red.

“No, not really, it's just...” she starts, taking a few steps across the room towards her bedroom. “I'm not really 'decent' for male company...”

“Oh... uh...” you respond, turning your head away in an automatic response. “I didn't know, so...” An awkward silence follows. You don't really know what to say, and Alice has gone quiet as well, leaving only the muffled sound of the hail thumping against the side of the house.

“I never did really thank you for how much you've helped me,” Alice says, breaking the silence. You look in her direction, but she's looking out the window at the hail. “It really means a lot to me,” she continues, walking over to the table and sitting against it somewhat as she idly flips through some papers. “I've come so far in my studies, my goal is right at my fingertips almost, and I was heading in the entirely wrong direction before you came along. It wouldn't be right to give you something,” Alice says, with a curious pause towards the end of her sentence.

You really don't feel like you should take some kind of reward, since it was partially in your own interests as well that you followed her studies, and an amazing fluke that you made the progress that you did. For the sake of the moment though, you decide to just submit.

“Well, if you really insist,” you say, with a slight grin. Alice returns the grin, with a mixture of shyness and something else. That's when she pulls back her blanket and reveals her partially nude form, dressed only in a pair of laced panties. You feel your chest seize up for a moment. “W-wait-” you stammer, but Alice simply giggles a bit.

“Don't overreact too much, you'll embarrass me,” she says. “You've already said you'd accept.”

“Yeah! But, well, I was thinking it would just be some kind of gift or something,” you say, a little excitable at the moment, both from the sudden circumstances and, admittedly, from the sight of Alice's body. Her skin wasn't as pale as Hina's, and her breasts were smaller, but she had wider hips and a fuller figure than Hina, who had been rather slim.

“It is a gift,” Alice says, kicking the blanket away as she leans back against the table. “The gift of my body,” she says, though you note a slight waver in her voice, likely from her own nervousness. She's definitely making an effort to keep herself calm as well, judging from how red she's become.

“This is something else entirely,” you say, finding it still quite difficult to keep your eyes off her. You manage to avert your eyes, and hear a slight creak as Alice pushes off the table and walks over to you. She's close, closer now, leaning up against you.

“It's what I want,” she says, bringing a hand to your face and running her fingers along your cheek. “You've done so much for me already and you could have asked for payment, or you could have done whatever you wanted to me while you had control,” Alice says, pressing up against you as her other hand slides along your waistband of the hakama you're wearing. “This is as much for me as it is for you.”

“Is that so,” you choke out, slowly losing your control and looking back down at Alice, her orange eyes locked on your face. She almost looks like she's pleading now. She's really serious...

“This is the first time I've ever felt this strongly for a man,” she says, looking down. “I know that I have a thing with Patchouli now, but that's... something else. It's an infatuation between two kin, an attraction beyond physical means. We're like sisters, only... more personal. You,” she says, looking back up at you, meeting eyes. “You are a physical attraction, someone I've come to admire for their actions and themselves, rather than magical chemistry. In this, we're man and woman,” Alice punctuates this by rubbing a leg against yours.

“I- This is still really sudden,” you say, placing your hands on Alice's shoulders and pushing her back slightly. Your eyes wander downward for a moment before you catch yourself. “I have to say this is pretty nerve wracking for me.”

“I'm not doing much better,” Alice says with a nervous laugh, taking one of your hands and placing it on her chest. The initial shock of the action fades though as you feel her heartbeat, racing as it were. Well, at least she seems as worked up as you. “I still want you to have me, however you wish to take me.” Once again you look at her face, she's still red, and still serious looking. You can't shake the guilt you feel, that she is in a relationship you helped create, but you also can't shake another feeling. A feeling that wants to co-operate with her request. After all, she's offering herself to you, and while you don't really agree with her reasoning, she is rather taken by the idea and despite being visibly nervous herself, has committed herself to this. If you accept, you'll feel like an ass, but if you decline and leave you'll feel like an ass. Accept... well, at least you'll be a contented ass.

Alice steps in towards you, pressing against you once again. She doesn't say anything, simply resting her head against your chest as she loosely holds her arms against your chest. You give in, and cross your arms around her waist, laying your head against hers for a moment. Like this, you can feel her heartbeat again.

“Alice,” you say as you draw your head back, causing her to look up. Once she does, you lean in and kiss her, and she seems to succumb to her desires. She wraps her arms around your shoulders as she pulls you closer, pushing her tongue into your mouth. You return the action, running your hands along her back until she breaks the kiss. She looks almost relieved now.