Trying to Kill Each Other Doesn't Count as Flirting (or Does it?)

Chapter 20

(F/N) froze. She'd tried to kill him—tried to stab him and cut his head off—but he was apologizing because he'd scared her?

That was it. (F/N) got a running start, and threw her arms around his neck, knocking him back into the bed.

"Oof!" he exclaimed. "You've gotten heavy!"

"I haven't gotten that heavy!" She drew back, hands on her hips, and shot him a glare. "Anyway, what were you thinking, pretending to kill Shigeshige-sama like that? Who's the reckless one now?"

"Hehe...well..."

(F/N) heaved a sigh, and pulled up a chair so she could sit by his side. Seeing him again, talking to him...it was like some sort of weird dream.

But she could escape from reality forever.

"Look...I'm really sorry about before. I should have...I should have known you wouldn't do something—"

"Oh, yeah, that." He scratched the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it. I wanted people to react that way, and besides, it's not like a little squirt like you could hurt me, anyway. Your movements are still so predictable."

"Hey! I'll have you know I've been practicing!"

"Oh, really? Then why couldn't you land a single hit on me?"

"That's just because you're so stupidly strong!" (F/N) crossed her arms over her chest. She remembered the first time she'd seen Zenzou fight, and how beautiful she'd thought it was. He'd always promised he'd make her as strong as him, someday. It was a pity that never happened.

"Hey, Zenzou," She let her hands drop into her lap, and turned her gaze to the ground. "I...there's been something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time...

"Why did you leave?"

There was a long silence. She wondered if he would even respond—maybe it wasn't something he could talk about. Then he spoke, and her blood turned to ice.

"I didn't leave."

Her head shot up, and she stared at him, open-mouthed, until he continued.

"I didn't leave—not willingly. Your parents fired me."

"What?" She exclaimed. "They—but—"

"One of the guards saw us training out in the yard at night. They told your parents, and they were not happy. They accused me of putting you in danger, and encouraging 'immoral behavior.' They told me to leave right away." He chuckled. "I guess that's not the story they told you, huh?"

(F/N) shook her head. That wasn't the story she'd heard, but she found she wasn't very surprised. Maybe a part of her had always known Zenzou wouldn't leave so suddenly. And she definitely knew it wasn't beyond her parents to fire him and lie about it later.

"I thought about sneaking in to visit you," he continued, "but I was afraid of what your parents would do to you if they caught me. I'm...really sorry about that. I thought you knew."

(F/N) shook her head. "It's okay."

"Hmm...come to think of it, I have a question for you, too."

"Yes?"

"How the hell did you end up on that ship, anyway?"

(F/N) chuckled.

"That's...a really long story."

~o0o~