Akiha doesn't feel like a good girl at the moment. To be blunt, she feels like an idiot. Something about expressing her affections out loud makes them seem silly to her, even childish. Her feelings for Nico are a lot more complex than just the word 'love' can get across.

But she's doing that thinking thing again. She takes a deep breath, shoulders visibly relaxing as she returns the kiss, and when she pulls away her smile doesn't need any qualifiers. She just looks happy. It's a look Nico hasn't seen much of before. Even when Akiha does look this happy, it's usually when they're both half-asleep.

"Could you say that again?" She asks, excited but a little nervous, realizing how silly and, again, childish she sounds halfway through, but pressing on anyway. Since she never says she loves Nico, there's not much need for Nico to return the gesture.

She doesn't necessarily like saying it, but she loves hearing it.