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It was Monday now, another chaotic couple of weeks in their lively mansion having passed in the blink of an eye. Kyrie often loathed Mondays, for they signaled his return to the towering stacks of paperwork and other such lowly burdens that accompanied his role in the family. But there was one good thing about today - it was lesson day with Fuka, so he would get to spend a couple hours practicing with her.
Having finished breakfast and completed a few minor morning tasks, Kyrie left the mansion to meet Fuka outside at their usual training area. The weather was quite fitting for today’s lesson, the clouds above appearing as nothing more than wisps of cotton candy, the sky about as threatening as a lightly drifting butterfly from his garden.
Passing the garden, he saw Fuka waiting for him up ahead, her back turned. “Well, you’re quite prompt today, aren’t you?” he said as he approached her.
She turned, smiling widely at the sound of his voice. “I decided I’d get here early so we could maybe start early,” she admitted.
“You flatter me, Fuka, acting as though you enjoy these sessions so much.” Slowing his pace, he closed the gap between them, staring down at her with a smile.
“I don’t have to act, because I do enjoy them. You’re a fun teacher,” she said, her eyes shining brightly as she gazed up at him.
“Well, let’s get through today and see if you still think that,” he teased, crossing his arms before him.
“Hmm, okay. But I don’t think I’ll change my mind so fast,” she maintained.
Her enthusiasm was admirable, but he wanted to see if it would hold up. “Alright, as a warmup, let’s practice a few scenarios that you’ve already learned.”
She nodded as he spoke. “Okay, that sounds good. Which one first?”
“Telling you would take all the fun out of it, now wouldn’t it?” Her eyes widened as he said this, as she’d likely grown used to practicing whichever scenario he named beforehand. He placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance, enjoying the apprehension that had swept over her. “It’s alright, you can trust me. Just turn around, and I’ll mimic a standard attack that you have to immediately respond to. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, but I feel strange not knowing what you’re going to do,” she told him, absentmindedly twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
“Your attackers won’t list each and every move for you either, so you’d best start somewhere if you want to have any combative skills,” he pointed out.
“Alright…” she said hesitantly, turning her back to him and taking a few steps forward.
“That’s better. Now…” He approached slowly, wanting her to be brimming with anticipation, the crunch of the grass beneath his feet being the only sound between them. He could already see the tension in her rigid posture, her shoulders taut, her arms held stiffly at her sides. When he drew near, he swiftly grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, holding them there with a tight grip on her wrists. He heard her gasp in surprise, despite his warning of what was to come. There was no sign of a response from her as they stood like this for several seconds.
“Are you going counter my attack, Fuka?” Kyrie asked, pressing closer to her, his fingers momentarily brushing against her back as he shifted. But still no response. This wasn’t like her, as she’d grown to have fairly decent reflex-like reactions. Furrowing his brow, he peered over her shoulder to see her face, only to be greeted with the sheepish expression she held. In fact, he could feel her pulse in one of her wrists, and it seemed to be racing.
He held back his laughter. “Are you that nervous? You’re normally quite good at your escape with this one, and yet you haven’t made any attempt whatsoever.”
“No, I just…” she began, her voice slightly strained. But she couldn’t seem to complete her sentence.
Kyrie held a devilish grin. He knew he shouldn’t torture her when she was in this state, but he couldn’t help it. Keeping his grip on her arms, he quietly spoke into her ear. “You truly do seem nervous. Is it because you feel flustered being around me like this?” Leaning in, he rested his chin on her shoulder, hearing her sigh as he did so. “If you’re trying to hide it, you’re not doing a very good job. I can quite easily tell when you’re enjoying yourself. Not that I mind in the slightest.”
Fuka closed her eyes for a moment, half-heartedly shaking her head. “I think I just need more practice since I didn’t do as well last week. I’m out of step now.”
Releasing her arms, Kyrie let her turn to face him, placing his hands on his hips. “Is that your excuse? I’m not so sure that your lackluster performance over the past couple weeks should affect you to this extent.”
“I don’t know… But at least give me a chance to try again.” She gazed up at him, pleading with her eyes.
“Well, alright. It’s not like giving up now will achieve anything good, anyway.” He took a few steps backward and gestured with his finger. “If you’ll be so kind as to turn again.” She quickly obeyed, leaving him to choose which attack he wanted to imitate this time.
After a moment of consideration, he decided on something from one of their older lessons, as it would be a good little reminder for her. He swiftly approached this time, wrapping one arm around her waist to trap her arms there, while the other went around her neck, albeit loosely. He could feel her tense up immediately, her body trembling against his as if she were a helpless child, completely unaware of a proper response for this attack. Kyrie held it, wanting to give her a chance to react, feeling her briefly wiggle her arms under his grip. But that was a pointless maneuver, and it became obvious that she wasn’t going to escape his hold. He lowered his hand to her shoulder.
“Can’t respond to this one, either? It seems that you’re completely frozen today.” He removed his hand from her waist and placed it on her other shoulder, giving both of them a pat as he stood behind her. “You know, I could’ve completely slit your throat in that position. One simple flick of the knife is all it would take.” He slowly ran his forefinger over her throat to demonstrate.
“I know…” she said faintly, and he could feel her swallow as his finger brushed over the area.
“And yet you accepted it. Would you let that happen with a stranger in town?”
“No, I know I could do better, then.”
“But not with me? Is it because you trust me too much?” he questioned, watching her shake her head. “Or is it because you’re feeling unusually tense around me presently?” he slyly suggested, his voice lowered. He trailed his finger along one of her arms, pausing as he reached her shoulder.
“I… I don’t know if that’ll help,” she managed to speak.
“Oh? I’d like to say I believe you, but you’re not very convincing with that expression,” he remarked, watching her face contort at his touch. He ran his fingers through her golden hair from top to bottom, hearing her sigh at the sensation, this time sounding a tad less reserved. She was so easy to please. Wanting to bother her even more, he leaned closer and squeezed her shoulders again, very gently massaging them.
“Kyrie…” she whispered, sounding somewhat apprehensive.
“Hmm? Trying to say you don’t like it?” he teasingly asked, continuing with his hands.
“I don’t know… Wouldn’t it be bad if the others saw this?” She nervously fidgeted with one of her sleeves.
“Who? The guards? I highly doubt they’d be so audacious as to openly confront and criticize me on the matter. Caramia? What’ll he do, go cry in a ball of jealousy in his bedroom? Though thinking on it, that sounds quite appealing.”
“I don’t know if I--”
Before she could finish her sentence, however, there was a heavy slam that rang out across the lawn to their left. Fuka practically jumped at the sound, forcing Kyrie to remove his hands. If this was another rude interruption by Caramia, then he was going to shoot him in the leg, he swore.
Turning towards the source of the noise, Kyrie could only laugh at the sight before them - Axel rapidly approaching from afar, holding his shotgun at his side as if it were a bludgeoning weapon, the expression on his face resembling that of an angry little boy. What a kludge. Kyrie was half-tempted to continue with Fuka until he reached them, but she likely would not share his sentiment. Instead, he stepped forward to stand beside her somewhat protectively, crossing his arms.
“You must have some very important business to conduct, given your urgent approach,” he calmly spoke as Axel finally stood before them.
“Get away from her, Kyrie!” he demanded, waving his gun. Even with his sharp tone, he still sounded rather unnerved.
“Now, why would I do such a thing? We’re here to practice for today’s lesson, after all, and I see no reason to end it prematurely.”
Axel took a step closer, leaning towards Kyrie. He wasn’t menacing in the slightest, especially with his hilarious look of untamed indignation, like that of an angry toad. “I saw what you were doing. You’re not fooling me.”
“You saw what, exactly? Me laying hands on Ms. Fuka, here?” He placed his hand on her shoulder to demonstrate. She glanced at him questioningly, but he continued. “I don’t know what your problem is, Axel, seeing as that’s something quite common between two people in a relationship together.”
His eyes widened as if he’d just seen his own ghost. “Two people in a…?”
“Although you probably know little about relationships, given that you’ve never been with a girl like this. I suppose I can admire your efforts to keep your ‘factory seal’ intact for so long. I know it can be difficult.”
“Are you saying that you… and Fuka…?” he asked incredulously.
“I am indeed. Are you saying that you knew nothing about it?” Kyrie questioned, and when Axel shook his head, he burst into laughter, unable to contain himself. “That’s too perfect, Axel. I don’t know that I’ve ever enjoyed a facial expression from you so much, prior to this moment.” He removed his hand from Fuka’s shoulder to wipe his eyes.
Axel certainly did not appear amused. “Why is this funny to you? I was worried you’d taken advantage of her, and all you can do is laugh?”
Kyrie ceased his laughter, mostly because of Fuka’s apparent look of unease at Axel’s words. “Ah, but why would you assume I was taking advantage of her? Surely you don’t view me as that unsavory. Or view her as not being able to make her own choices.”
Axel hesitated. “Maybe not the latter, but yes, you are that unsavory, Kyrie.” He gestured with the butt of his gun, practically holding it as a walking stick now.
“You wound me with those words,” he sneered. “But it’s your own fault that you didn’t know about our relationship, and thus your fault for jumping to such conclusions.”
“My fault? Maybe you should’ve told me about it. Then we wouldn’t be having this meaningless conversation.”
“I’ve no obligation to tell you such things, with you being a subordinate. You could’ve easily found out from Caramia, or just by applying the tiniest amount of logic. We haven’t exactly tried to hide things.” Kyrie noticed Fuka shift in her stance, as if she was growing restless watching the two of them bicker.
“Whatever, Kyrie,” he said, shaking his head. “Fuka, does he speak the truth about your relationship?”
She nodded, appearing slightly embarrassed by his direct question. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to cause a fight,” she spoke, looking between the two men.
“See, look what you’ve done, Axel,” Kyrie alleged. “Maybe next time don’t be such an antagonizer, hmm?”
Axel briefly held a look of remorse. “I apologize, Fuka. That was not my intention.” He quickly bowed to her before turning back to Kyrie. “I don’t know how this happened, but you’d better not hurt her. Caramia will probably have your neck otherwise.”
“I had no such plans, but regardless, Caramia can kindly keep his nose out of other people’s business. As can you.” He straightened himself, running a hand through his hair. “Now, are we done here? I’d like to continue with our lesson, if you don’t mind.”
Still holding a look of irritation, Axel sighed. “Stick to actual lessons, Kyrie, instead of embarrassing her and everyone else with your advances.”
“Stick to your role as Caporegime, Axel, instead of trying to issue orders to your superior,” he asserted, growing annoyed.
Axel shook his head at those words and abruptly turned to leave, widely swinging his shotgun as he strode off. Just like a child, Kyrie thought. But he didn’t want to let him ruin today anymore than he already had, so he turned back to Fuka.
“Apologies for that rude interruption,” he told her. Gazing down at her face, she once again held her former look of unease. “Were you bothered by his questioning?”
“I guess it’s just strange being asked about it. I never know how to act,” she admitted.
“There’s no need to ‘act.’ As I recall, you were quite happy to enter into this relationship with me. So if someone asks you about it, you can simply be yourself.”
She smiled as his words registered. “You’re right. I’m just new to this, so it’s kinda hard to deal with people asking.”
“Then perhaps you need a lesson on relationships. That may be even more amusing than today’s attempts at self-defense,” he remarked.
“Are you really offering?” she eagerly asked, at which Kyrie laughed. So naive.
“Of course not, because you’ll get that naturally by being with me. There’s no need to sacrifice these lessons that you so desperately need.”
Fuka looked mildly disappointed. “You’re not very nice, getting my hopes up. And I don’t need them that desperately.”
“Are you sure? Because twice today you’ve completely failed to respond to my advances as a potential attacker. That doesn’t exactly tip things in your favor.” He crossed his arms as he smiled down at her.
Hesitating, she shook her head. “I can do better. I don’t feel as nervous now that I have a better idea of what we’re doing.”
Kyrie took a step closer, twisting his lips to one side. “I do hope you’re right. I’d prefer not to keep practicing the same mistakes. It’ll only encourage you to adopt bad habits.”
But she only appeared more confident, despite his doubtful tone. “Please, let me try again,” she repeated, her eyes wide as they stared into his.
“Hmm… alright. But only because I’m rather partial to your pitiful pleading.” He smiled at her look of modesty, placing a hand at her back to have her turn around so they could begin once more.
As the lesson went on, Fuka did indeed improve her performance, responding appropriately to most of his ‘attacks.’ Her form could use some work, but her reaction times were spot-on, and it was encouraging to see her actually demonstrate the progress she’d made. It was becoming more and more apparent that she may soon be able to handle herself if she encountered trouble in town. Not that he wanted such a scenario to occur in the first place, but it was reassuring to know that she wasn’t completely helpless, as she once was.
Kyrie wrapped up their lesson after another hour, wanting to have enough time to complete the mass of work that likely awaited him this afternoon. Leaving their training area behind, he walked Fuka to her cabin so she could rest and tidy herself as needed. The sweet scent of the garden along the way left him thankful for such pleasant weather recently - perfectly warm throughout the day, and cool enough at night for two people to enjoy themselves side-by-side in bed.
That thought lingered at the back of his mind as they reached her cabin door. “I shall see you tonight at dinner, yes?” he spoke before leaving.
“Yeah…” She sounded far too dispirited at the mere mention of dinner.
“You look positively glum with that expression,” he pointed out, intrigued as she fidgeted with her hair for a moment.
“I just feel like I could’ve done better today. I need to keep improving, not going backwards.” She shook her head in disappointment.
“Well, you did stumble initially, but you were able to recover from it quite well. If you hadn’t done so, I would’ve ended today’s session far earlier.” He quite liked the pouty face she held as he said this.
“I guess so, but I shouldn’t have stumbled in the first place,” she maintained, avoiding his gaze.
“Then you should practice more. Sulking about it isn’t going to do you any good, Fuka.” She looked even more disgruntled at those words. He couldn’t simply leave her like this. Taking one of her hands into his own, he leaned closer until their lips were nearly touching, feeling her clench her fist as if she craved his touch, prompting him to instead turn and kiss her cheek. “Of course, I still enjoy that sullen look of yours, either way,” he murmured as he held there for a moment, before pulling back and giving her a fiendish smile.
She appeared to be incapable of mustering a response, her eyes quivering in anticipation as they locked with his. But he had no intention of continuing the torment, as much as he wanted to. Perhaps this would give her something to dwell on while he was elsewhere today.
“Now, I must be off for work,” he stated, releasing her hand. “But do keep that in mind. More practice is the only way you’ll achieve the results you desire.”
Fuka gave a weak nod, seemingly contemplating both his words and his innocent gestures. Kyrie was content to leave her with those thoughts, so he gave her a courteous goodbye and left to return to the mansion once more.