Work Text:
“Do you think…” The girl began in the shrine maiden outfit began, staring up at their new guild hall. Naotsugu thought she was kind of cute for a young girl, but from what he could see, she was too young for anyone around here. Not that it would be bad to have a little sister type around that wasn’t a violent assassin, but he could already see a potential problem here. “Do you think Shiroe is in there?”
Sounded like someone had a crush. Cute, maybe, but it could get ugly, too.
“You know,” Naotsugu said, “if you’re here because you think you’re in love with Shiroe, you should know he’s already taken.”
“What?” The girl jumped, bumping into the boy next to her. That must be the brother, right?
“You’re Minori and Touya, right? The new players that Shiroe met just before the expansion dropped, the one he used to get everyone out of that nasty guild. We met already, but we didn’t have much of a time to chat then. I’m Naotsugu.”
“Oh. Right. Shiroe’s friend. He told me about you.”
“Shiroe could tell you stories all day and not touch my awesomeness,” Naotsugu told her. “Still, if you’ve got a thing for Shiroe, I gotta give you fair warning. He’s off the market.”
“Huh?” Touya was frowning, but the redness of the girl’s cheeks had Naotsugu thinking she knew what he meant.
“That’s not why we’re here,” Minori said. “It’s not like that, and even if it was—Shiroe didn’t say anything about a girlfriend in any of our conversations. Or anyone else.”
Naotsugu laughed. “Well, that’s the thing about it—Shiroe wouldn’t say it because he doesn’t actually realize it, but trust me on this—my boy’s got it bad. He’s totally taken. Not that I can blame him—she is a hottie. Short, crazy, scary good at being an assassin, and beautiful. They knew each other before, outside the game. Really, the only person that doesn’t know Shiroe’s in love with her is Shiroe.”
“I—I told you—that’s not why we’re here to ask about joining his guild.”
“I hope not,” Naotsugu said, and he genuinely meant it. If this girl was harboring a crush on Shiroe, it would be nothing but pain for her in the end. “Because it will only end up hurting you. Trust me. It’s not a pretty picture.”
“We owe Brother Shiroe for our safety. We want to repay him,” Touya said. “That’s not a bad thing. Even if Minori can’t admit she’s got a crush on him, that’s not why we’re here. I mean it.”
“Okay, all right,” Naotsugu stopped her before she could start an embarrassed denial of what the rest of them already knew. That wasn’t going to help any. “Well, Nyata went off to get the ingredients for curry for dinner, but I think he can handle two more. You can join us and ask Shiroe if you want. Just… don’t forget what I told you, okay?”
Touya nodded. “We won’t.”
Minori sighed. “I said it’s not like that.”
“Yeah, sure, but you’re already wondering who his girlfriend is, aren’t you?”
“No!”
“It’ll be obvious in a second.” Naotsugu walked away from them, heading inside. He had done what he could to warn the girl, so she wouldn't be blindsided by it, but she'd see for herself soon enough. If he knew anything about Shiroe and Akatsuki—and he did—even with all the moving and cleaning going on, they’d found their way to each other again and were acting just like the couple they didn’t know they were.