Shizu, concluding her discussion with her father, began packing her bags. While a premature action as it had only been a couple hours since her father’s agreement to her idea, she wanted to be ready and mull over the details of how she would go about dealing with Azi.
First, she was going to move into Kajima’s house to begin monitoring him. Learn about his real talents, what kind of person he was, and try to gain an amount of trust. Azi’s already brash and laxed respect for nobility should make it easier on her.
The disregard for her noble front would be refreshing. No more uppity talk and stressful days of putting up a front. There was an issue though. Right now, she’d have to think about getting through Kajima. It was easier said than done. Kajima was a family friend and there were many times that she had slept over or boarded with him on occasion in her youth.
Asking for the same at her current mature age would be uncommon. But, if she gave the surface reasons of her scheme then perhaps he would be willing to oblige, though he wouldn't like that politics and court matters were entering his home.
If not, and she couldn’t move in, a simple stay at an inn or even taking up a prolonged temporary residence in the village was possible.
Secondly, after establishing herself in the village, she had to pitch the idea of having Azi become her apprentice. This was a prominent event for a commoner. Apprenticeships meant the possibility of attaining noble status. Would any person refuse?
Shizu stowed the last of her folded clothes. As she did, her thought of offering the honor of the apprenticeship would be enticing enough to draw Azi in. Suddenly, she had to stop and reconsider.
How am I going to convince him? Does Azi even know how good of an offer this is?
Shizu proudly thought that he would take her up on the offer, as would anyone, except Azi wasn’t like everyone else. The possibility of him accepting was not likely even in her most optimistic spin of the situation.
He probably doesn’t understand the honor behind apprenticeships and he sees me as more of an equal. She thought while grimacing. I can’t have that, as an apprentice and master, the master must have overriding respect and control over the apprentice.
She frowned and knew that there were some bumps to iron out in her plan. This endeavor was presenting itself as more of a challenge the more she thought. Realizing that she might have not thought this through, she almost wanted to take back her proposal.
Shizu shook herself to dispel the welling hesitation. The option to quit was there, but she didn’t take it.
No. Shizu reprimanded herself. Even if he doesn't accept. I can test him with my trials and see what falls out. He’ll fail them, but it works as a good way to measure him. I’ll take a few days to plan and figure this out.
Shizu paused again as she went through her luggage. A certain pattern in her wardrobe caught her attention. Wait a minute.
Tightening the string on her bag, she made another realization. Ozen had said that if it were possible, he’d want a girl to marry Azi. She had heard this part of the conversation but had disregarded it.
After much review, tempting him with her body seemed effective. Men were men, and even if Azi tried to take advantage of the situation she’d just break his arm. But.. When was the last time she had courted a man?
Only a blank response came up. She somewhat flustered. She had no experience when it came to charming men or even getting intimate with a person of the opposite sex, besides her family members of course. Shizu was always the one being sought after and it was never the other way around.
Should I seduce him with my body? Or should I try to be friends with him first? No, no. Maybe I should just be a bit playful? Hmmm.
How she would go about approaching Azi was key, though a part of herself believed she was overthinking. This plan to make him fall in love with her was optional and she didn’t see much worth in it. More pressingly, Azi's respect and outlook towards her needed to change. Shizu needed to show that she was in control and had a level of status above him.
Her interactions with him might be laxed but the pecking order was what was important.
Punishing him for his disobedience during the investigation would be the perfect chance. The topic would act as a way for her to approach him naturally but to also settle herself as the higher one in position between them.
Settling on her internal thoughts, Shizu left her room to attend to her regular duties. Village watch and troop organization were her specialities, so it was best she got it done now before she made any moves. A clear schedule ahead would be prudent.
Yashimu returned a day and a half later. Hearing the ludicrous plan his sister had concocted from his father, he prayed to the emperor that their almighty ruler would help to give penance to Azi’s soul when it passed on. He kept that to himself, might his sister hear him pray.
A couple days later, Shizu brought her things out and departed. As she was passing through the village barracks to do her rounds before heading to Kajima’s, she noticed that few bags were stored in the corner of the barracks. Upon a closer look, they were filled with what looked like blue crystals and monster parts.
She gave them a fleeting glance, thinking nothing much of them. To her, those were only simple rocks and materials with a unique coloration to them. It would make a good present to Rulu, so she sneaked a small one into her bag.
Having no clue of his sister’s thievery, Yashimu departed from the barracks and waved to his sister, who waved back.
At least she’s courteous at the right time. He thought as he glanced waywardly at a few of the adoring commoners and servants nearby. Letting his shoulders finally slacken as the public eye fell away, he went to report to Ozen.
Yashimu had found a peculiar item during his prolonged investigation. Further discussion was needed. It was unknown if his new findings were cause for concern, but informing his father, the King, was proper procedure, and being thorough was preventional.
During the time he was away, his detachment of the party had extended their investigation of the forest to the lower paths of the nearby mountains.
There they discovered two additional kengiri nests and were able to successfully eliminate both with only a few minor wounds that the apothecary could handle without the thaumaturge's aid.
Initially, Yashimu wanted to only gather the previously eliminated animals and monsters, but as they were organizing the spoils they found a strange blue crystal in a gengiri's sliced open stomach.
Yashimu palmed the crystal in his hand and put it on Ozen’s desk. Picking it up the fist sized rock, his father recognized the blue glow it had.
“Is this what I think it is?”
“No, I don’t believe so.” Yashimu told him flatly. “If you’re referring to the sealing crystals in the Capital of Yamato, then it is regretful to say that you’re mistaken father. These crystals have different properties.”
The sealing crystals Yashimu was referring to were ancient artifacts from the age of divine strife. If these were the same, Ozen would immediately gift these to the emperor. The Great God and overriding King of the Empire had a proclivity in collecting them.
So this blue crystal that looked similar to the highly sought after item, was a let down, or so Ozen thought.
“Father, before we go on, you should read this.” Yashimu grabbed a stack of papers from his bag and handed them over.
The sheaf of documents were signed by the court thaumaturge who came with Ozen. These were her reports and findings, with Yashimu’s own retelling of events. In it, the thaumaturge had described how the blue crystals emitted a magic energy of a kind never seen before.
This was a new find that Yashimu had eagerly decided to jump upon. He changed the investigation area to include plausible swaths of the mountain’s surroundings in an attempt to locate the source of these blue crystals. The cause for such a major change in plans was due to Yashimu’s acknowledgement of Kujyuri's lack of thaumaturgic development.
These unknown crystals seemed like potential assets to furthering the said field of study.
Progress was slow in their search for these crystals, and the pattern of where these crystals was odd. So odd that it got to the point where they began to find these fist sized stones scattered across the mountain in a haphazard manner.
What was confusing was how the crystals did not form on rocks as initially speculated. Investigating, they looked to have been manually scattered. Some were found hidden in the trunks of trees, bushes, or even buried in the dirt at random. By whom? No one in Yashimu’s group knew or could suspect.
“This is a shame that it isn’t naturally occuring.” Said Ozen. “But what a find, and so scarce as well.”
Yashimu nodded. “Hmm, but we at least found enough for initial studies.”
“Good, then have them sent.” Ordered Ozen. “That will be all for today Yashimu, make preparations for our departure.”
Yashimu bowed and graciously accepted the command. “Yes father. I will do so at once.”
In the end, both Yashimu and Ozen were disappointed that there wasn’t a source for these blue crystals. It wasn’t all bad though. Yashimu had endeavored to gather as many as he could with what time he had left. Perhaps the scholars and researchers could use them.
Ozen’s eyes rose as he read a specific line of text.
“Yashimu.” He called out, stopping his son from leaving. The boy turned to face him at attention. “You said before that you found this in the mountains to the west, near a plateau?”
“Correct father.” Yashimu said. “The same plateau we have been surveyed in the past week. I don’t know how we missed these crystals, but their size is negligible enough to not notice by sight and the thaumaturges had only sensed the new energies from these crystals upon contact.”
“I see.”
Ozen said as he read over the report’s lines of text again. It stated that while Yashimu’s group was gathering the blue crystals, the team noticed that many trees and boulders were broken in a line that seemed to span quite a distance down the mountain.
It was as if something had crashed through the foliage which caused Yashimu to have his team be on high alert. Whatever could have done this kind of damage to the forest would be too much for them to handle.
Yashimu recalled what he had said during their time on the plateau.
"Be on high alert, move in groups of three, and keep within eyesight of each other. Keep clear of the broken trees and boulders, we need to be on guard here everyone."
He thought he sounded pathetic, and while he did continue the investigation without issue, he wished that some part of him was more like his sister. Her gungho and tomboyish personality usually lad to chaotic events, but her strength to take control of the situation by force awed him.
If only we have the better parts of each other. Yashimu thought as he tried to keep a chuckle in. He didn’t want to interrupt Ozen’s focus on the report.
***
Days went on after Azi’s return to Kajima’s house. He spent most of his time sleeping soundly in bed. The apothecary and Thaumaturge were right, he was exhausted. Every bone and muscle in his body ached. For the first time ever in his life, he had never slept this much before.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He got fidgety. And it didn’t help that he had plenty of things to think about every time he woke up from one of his dreams.
Like always, he dreamed but the images were strange. All around him, blurred figures walked to and fro. He distinguished many voices. These being from separate figures, but his mind, his mind was unfamiliar with these voices.
There was no correlation that could be made with the tones. No names popped up, only blank thoughts. His mind must have been truly messed up from whatever happened to him before he lost his memories. Azi felt oddly happy he didn’t remember his past in full, yet it was uneasy to know that you don’t know yourself in its entirety.
Coming back to his room after another dinner with Kajima, which was of course filled with banter and chatter, Azi got the small hearth in the center of his room warming.
It was a small fireplace put atop a pile of sand so that the embers didn’t burn the house. After setting the slow burning charcoal, which produced plenty of heat yet little smoke, he got in bed. The room warmed and it helped to lull him to sleep against the cutting cold of the night. When he pulled the cover over himself, he sighed.
Truly, the winters out here in the frontiers of Kujyuri were brutal and the blanket was his best defense. The walls cooled if you didn’t light the hearth throughout the day, but for the sake of cost and labor, Azi had taken to only lighting the hearth when he needed it.
But the room got cold, so the blanket helped. A coat would’ve helped to warm him along but it was dirty and he didn’t want to be scrubbing his futon bed everyday. Speaking of the coat, his clothes came to mind.
Those are all still all beat up from the hunt, better buy some new ones. I hope I have enough cash.
He had plenty of spare clothes from Kajima’s hand-me-downs, but nothing was as warm as the clothes Shizu had picked out for him. He had to admit, the brash girl knew how to pick out clothing. When he got the chance, he’d thank her again and maybe learn how she was able to discern the right clothing for the occasion, it was a skill he knew he was lacking.
Suddenly, the sensation of falling overcame him. Colors went by. Black, white, and blue lines, then he felt a thump in his core. He turned his head and found himself in an unfamiliar white and glass walled room.
He was supposed to be on his side, in a wooden room. It hit him, he fell asleep. Now he was sitting, in a dream?
The feel of handles under his arms made him flinch and he almost fell out of the seat he was in. In front of him was what he could identify as a laptop, but he didn’t understand what it did. It played out a moving image.
Is that? Wait, I can't remember. It has a name, this game.. But I.. He sighed mentally. Whatever, better play then, maybe I’ll remember.
Putting his hand on the mouse with his right and using his left to type on the button like shapes on the black board, the image on the laptop moved. Minutes went by and Azi got a hang of the current situation he faced in this apparent dream of a game.
The plot of the game was thickening as he progressed, clicking and tapping away. There was an ongoing war from a slaver nation that came to collect a neighboring nation’s citizens as products in their auctions and as a labor force. Disgust colored Azi’s face at the thought of the slavers and incongruous acts of brutality.
He was more inclined to wipe them out. He couldn’t. Due to the nature of the game the situation would only follow a predestined path. He wanted to reach into the picture and strangle each of the slavers.
He calmed, it was just a game.
Whatever laws this game had, it gave him the illusion of control. He could only move his characters in turn-based combat along tiles and give them commands to attack or defend. As he was finishing a fight, the image on the screen flickered to another moving image that showed the slavers cursing at a masked man and vowing that this would not be the end.
Wow, talk about unoriginal. But I do like that other guy’s mask. Kinda cool.
The man with the mask wore a blue and white cloaked attire. He struck a serious atmosphere and a keen warrior like demeanor. The slavers cowered and Azi couldn’t help to fist pump in satisfaction.
The pathetic slaver cursed in muffled words Azi couldn’t hear. He caught the gist of what the vile slavers were saying. They would return next year like the year before that and the year before and so on and so forth. The slavers continued preaching on and on as their minions dragged them away.
Apparently, the slaver had lost his mind to his own vengeful wrath.
Talk about a sorry sight.
The outcome of this recent encounter played out very well, though he was disappointed that there was nothing he could do to change the course of the game's story. He could do nothing to prevent the next invasion and judged that the end of this game’s chapter was bittersweet.
Azi blinked a few times and touched his fingers together. There was no resistance as he pressed his 2 pairs of 5 tips against each other. This was still a dream, so when was it going to get bad like all the other times he recalled. Where was the void he always dreamed of? Where he was alone.
He slumped into his chair
Well, better to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Moving on, he began to think he was overthinking things, he unconsciously operated the game. He had no idea what he was doing. The scenes kept changing and he had only an inkling of the large plot of the game’s story.
Selecting an icon on the lower part of the laptop’s screen, a new image opened. As if already knowing what to do, he was going through his leveled-up characters. A concept of actions that seemed both familiar and distant. His other hand moved to pick up a black bar of something. He chewed on it and a refreshing bitterness filled his sense of taste.
Slowly scrolling through the image as he relished the flavor of the black bar, his attention was caught by one character that looked familiar. The girl wore red and white clothes, had fluffy ears, and a familiar face that was younger than what he remembered. Focusing his eyes to try and unblur the image, he was attempting to recognize who it was.
“Ouch!” Azi flinched as a high pitch ring made his ear drums compress. He closed his eyes to drown out the pain but..
“Huh?”
Suddenly when he opened his eyes, he stared at a familiar ceiling above him. In bed, like how he remembered, the memory of his dream was blown away like snow in a storm.
He lifted himself from the futon bed. He was in his room. The hearth had burned out and the walls were now lit by early morning light rather than the small fire of the hearth.
“Hmmm, I should really get more furniture.” Azi said as he glanced at a vacant wall. It had no shelf or really any decorum. He gave a fleeting glance to what little was in the room. A table, chair, closet, and a small hearth at its center. There were no drawers or personal effects to give this place any character.
The books and scrolls added some color though, but this was barren.
Granted, Azi had only just moved in a week ago. Even still, he wanted to fill the room with stuff and not feel so empty like that white glassed room.
Hmmmm? Glassed.. Room? Why did he think of a glass room? He wasn’t sure.
Turning himself around while sitting on his futon, he spotted the nearby glass window along one of the walls. The sun had not yet fully come up yet, he could tell by the color of the sunlight coming into the room. That round yellow orange sun was still cresting over the horizon.
“Ugh.” He rubbed his side, the small bruises and aches persisting on his skin.
I still feel a bit tired so I’ll get some more sleep. Maybe I can do some studying, but Kajima's gonna get mad if I do too much. Jeez, this is so boring.
Some would be envious of his laziness, Azi wasn’t. He wanted to do, not sit around, but his body, and Kajima most of all, told him to do otherwise, like all the times before when he woke to more sore aches. Azi regretfully got back in bed, covered himself in the blanket, and began trying to journey back into dreamland. Maybe he’d figure out what that glass room was?
His attempted strode back into dream land was short-lived. A loud thunk rattled the room. From the dull wooden tone, the door to his room was suddenly opened. Standing in the frame was the one person he knew got a kick out of messing with him.
“Wake up Azi!” Shizu shouted. “I have to discuss a matter with you. It’s important! So get your butt out of bed already.”
Azi pulled his blanket away and his eyes met with Shizu’s for a moment. The smug shining smile she had made it seemed like she was trying to offer a deal with him. He could tell she was trying to be tactfully shrewd.
It wasn’t working. He wouldn’t have any of whatever she was cooking up in that head of her’s. The blanket flitted over with the simple wave of his hand and he buried himself in bed.
“Wha! Azi! Hey! Wake up!” Again Shizu shouted. “I heard from Kajima, you’ve probably slept enough, so come on!”
Ignoring her, Azi snoozed, or tried to. Yet again his attempt was cut short. The blanket was violently pulled away, so he pulled back.
“Come on! Wake! Up! Already!” Shizu strained as she began to pull on the blanket.
Still refusing, Azi hunkered down and threw a pillow at her. Getting her square in the face, Shizu paused and the pillow fell away. He glimpsed a ferocious smile from the corner of his sight and ducked his head down into his futon’s mattress.
He knew he wasn’t safe here but what else could he do. Maybe he could run, no, that wasn’t in the realm of possibility, Shizu was faster.
Ok.. what do I do? I can.. Huh?
Without even a chance to think, Azi unexpectedly felt a large weight fall on top of him. By his guess it was Shizu. She had started trying to wrestle the blanket from him again. What a pain!
“Get out Shizu, I’m trying to sleep!” Azi struggled against her. “And what’s with you being all touchy.”
“Shut it.” Shizu hissed. “Hurry up and come out, or I’ll have to drag you out by your foot! And you can’t stop me, you’re still injured.”
“Heh.” Azi laughed. “Don’t think I’ll sit there and let you do what you want. Injured or not, I know how to wrestle, Now get off!” He yelled.
He stubbornly moved his hands to push the blanket away to get the drop on Shizu, to flip her onto her back. He wasn’t going to be bullied and messed with in his own room. This was his personal space and he’d keep it secure.
He gripped the blanket hard, trying to get the squeeze on what he thought was Shizu’s shoulder. Though he startled the next moment. Perplexed by the overly soft sensation through the blanket, Azi likened it to skin yet it pushed back with an amount of suppleness. It could’ve been her shoulder.
“Ah~ Ah~.” As he adjusted his hands, he heard a small sensual moan come from behind the blanket. His face paled.
Turning his head up he saw Shizu's eyes peeking above the blanket. They were glaring down daggers at him. His face then turned red at the realization of what he had touched. With-it, a drop of blood began to trickle from one of his nose's nostrils.
Shizu noticed and grinned a foxy smile at him. Choosing to push his hands against the blanket, she had Azi continue his fondling of her chest through the relatively thin blanket.
She was entertained by the face Azi was making. This didn’t count as him touching her, he was touching the blanket, not her, yet Azi was so red and exasperated that she could only describe him as a little innocent boy. While somewhat indecent on her part, she was inclined to show she was not to be trifled with, that she’d use whatever means to pressure him and get him in line.
Not because she had the status, but because she could.
“Oh ho! Talk about a pervert. What do you have to say for yourself?” Shizu said accusingly.
“I.. uh? Umm. I didn’t.. Uh.”
Pushing his panic further, Shizu pounced on Azi. She pinned him and pressed the full weight of her chest on him. Azi panicked.
“Ah! What are you doing!” He said.
"No man has ever touched my chest." Said Shizu, her face smugly smiling as she whispered coldly into Azi’s ear. He noticeably trembled, it was a chill like shudder that wasn’t from the cold air in the room. Shizu giggled.
"There was always a cost for those who tried.” She teased. “Since you were successful, I will be merciful as I dispense the proper recompense I deserve. This will also be your punishment for your disobedience during the investigation. So.. prepare yourself. Heh heh heh."
Her smug smile soon became an evil grin. Hidden fangs began to bare themselves. Shizu now looked like a predator that had just found its first meal in days. Azi shivered intensity for a moment and began to yell.
Instantly he was cut off. He began laughing uncontrollably as Shizu pressed his sides repeatedly with her hands.
“Ah! Ouch! Hah! Ha ha ha, Stop.. ha it.. Ah Ah hah hah hah. Sotp! STop!”
“Never!” Shizu declared. “Not until you admit to following what I say.”
“Never!” Azi gasped.
“Then I have no choice.” Intensifying in pressure, Azi’s fit of laughter increased twofold. He was suffocating from both his uncontrollable laughs and with a weight pushing down on his lungs.
A few minutes passed and Azi felt like he was going to pass out. He felt a slight sensation of relief when he was allowed to take a deep breath. Shizu let up on the pressure for a second. It was still hard for him to breathe though since he was still laughing uncontrollably from Shizu's repeated prodding into his sides. But their noise caused a fuss.
“Dang it you two!” Kajima yelled as he rounded the open door to Azi’s room. “Keep it down, I can hear you all the way in the.. kitchen?”
Seeing the spectacle in front of him, Kajima wryly sighed as if he knew this was coming. He was surprised to a degree, but that quickly waned. Seeing that smile on his niece's face, he knew she wasn’t going to hurt Azi.. Not Much that is. But that was besides the point.
I’m not getting into this. Kajima exhaled a second time and gave the two a look. They looked back, one smiling and one gasping.
“Kajima!” Azi called out to him. “Help! Get her off of me.”
But Kajima only shook his head and pursed his lips at Shizu.
"I'll wait in the kitchen, breakfast will be ready in an hour so finish up by then."
"Sure thing Uncle." Said Shizu. "I'll be sure to be gentle and to not make too much noise."
She sounded sure of herself. Though, Kajima wanted to make sure of something important.
"Alive?" He asked in a blunt tone, as if there was no agreement otherwise.
"Yes, Alive." Shizu replied, her tone also plain as if they had had this conversation before.
Not believing what he was hearing, Azi began to flail around under Shizu. He cursed Kajima in his mind for his betrayal of leaving him out to dry. Only given a smile by the bigger man, Azi’s gracious benefactor and last hope had left to prepare breakfast.
The shutting door made the corners of Azi’s lips drop and his eyes tense.
“Heh heh heh, now we’re all alone.” Shizu prodded his back and reapplied her weight on him. Sitting on his chest he had no way to get out from under her. Azi blushed at the compromising position they were in.
He was at her mercy.