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Riku stood upon the mountain of demons he had slayed feeling confident of himself. It set him at ease that Towa would not have to waste her time fighting these pathetic demons. She had a lot on her hands.
"Riku?"
Riku heard a voice call to him, a familiar sweet voice filled with happiness. The voice that had always brought him joy hearing it every time.
"Why Lady Towa! How have you been?" It was hard to contain his enthusiasm down when her scarlet eyes were staring at him, full of life.
His emerald eyes glanced down at the group, but seeing a familiar pink-haired girl with brown ears made him surprised. It was Rion! She had finally escaped Mount Musubi. They both ran forward. Riku stopped himself as Rion greeted him and turned around.
"No, don't look at me, Miss!"
"If you show yourself to me, Kirinmaru... Your father will see you as well! That's all over!"
He did not want Kirinmaru to go and find Rion, trapping her back at that wretched prison of hers.
"Is that true?" Towa questioned, finally speaking up.
"Yes. Everything I see and hear gets back to Kirinmaru."
He did not want to lie to Towa. It would cause him so much guilt. He was not scared that Towa would run away from him in order for her safety. In fact, he expected that and wanted that so Kirinmaru would not get involved with Towa as much. He'd rather never seeing Towa again to Kirinmaru spying on Towa and getting intel through his own eyes and ears.
"Oh?"
Towa put her hand on Riku's shoulder and he turned around to face her, seeing a questionable face. She was smirking.
"It gets passed on to Kirinmaru?"
"Yes."
Towa put her hands on both sides of Riku's cheek and closed her eyes. What was she doing? He had a very close view of Towa's fair skin and plump lips, as if they were urging him to do something.
"Um... Lady Towa?"
At first, Riku let himself relish the feeling of Towa's callused hands, but his curiosity overpowered the moment. When he had first met Towa and held her hand, it was soft and delicate, like a fair maiden's. A fair maiden that did not know much of this world and the dangers she would face. Very little time had progressed, yet she had grown so much. She was not the naive person he knew before, but at times this side of her shown. She still radiated a calm and innocent aura, something that couldn't even fade away.
He was scared for that innocence was to fade into ash for his own had too. So many years of enduring the struggles of a vassal. Now that he had learned about his past, it only troubled him more. He didn't have to lie to himself anymore. He was truly a discarded puppet to be played with. Towa had always made him feel as if those things didn't matter and that he was something important to her. At times, when thinking about her, he'd forget about everything that was going on and had happened in his life.
Now, her hands had a different texture, a different feeling the bubbled down deep in his stomach. He wanted to grab those hands again and squeeze them. He wanted to be even closer to her. Was it her unresistible presence that made him feel this way?
Even so, the obvious intention was clear.
Towa was going to kiss him. He had never expected her to be this blunt. He felt his body turn into mush, the desire growing stronger. Throughout the years of wandering, he had seen human couples do this. He was not naive to mortal romantic gestures for he had seen them being countlessly repeated. A peck on the lips, hands intertwining, sweet caresses of words into each other's ears. Sometimes, these gestures were done in private and he happened so to catch people doing them, but to utter a feigned "sorry" to them.
He closed his eyes and leaned closer toward her face. The whole entire surrounding faded away.
"HEY, KIRINMARU! CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE FREED RION, WHO YOU LOCKED AWAY INSIDE MOUNT MUSUBI! IF YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT, THEN COME AND GET US!"
"WE WON'T RUN OR HIDE! WE'LL FIGHT YOU ANYTIME! GOT THAT?"
Riku blinked and winced, his eardrums pounding by Towa's yells and screeches. So she wasn't going to kiss him.
"That was magnificent, Lady Towa." Riku smiled and glanced fondly at her.
However, he could feel Rion's eyes boring through his head as her lips curved upward at the sight. He ignored Rion as she slightly smirked.
It was indeed magnificent. Towa had the bravery and courage of many samurai combined. She wasn't scared. She was ready to fight Kirinmaru. He admired that part of her. That meant, he still had to watch over her just in case Kirinmaru made a move and cherish some more moments they were going to have together. Even if it wasn't going to last forever.
He paused before speaking, "However Lady Towa, I will take care of Miss Rion for a short while."
How dare she play with his feelings? Wait, feelings? What the hell was he even thinking about?
Had he wanted Towa to actually kiss him? It truly seemed like she was going to do exactly that, but she ended up yelling her head off at Kirinmaru. Riku chuckled. Ha, Towa always had surprised him in so many ways.
He ran his hand over his face, feeling his cheeks warm up as he once again, replayed what had just happened.
"Lady Towa is so brave and cute..."
"Huh? Riku? What are you talking about?"
Riku felt his cheeks heat up again, embarrassed of being caught, "Ah, Miss Rion, it is nothing..."
Rion pouted and crossed her arms together, causing the small boat to rock to its side, "Okay, I admit it. I heard, Riku!"
She then clasped her hands together, "Riku, do you like Lady Towa?"
Riku stuttered, "Of course not- I mean, I don't hate her, but-"
"You do!" Rion gushed.
Rion stared at her lap. "I mean, I don't blame you for taking an interest in her. She is very kind and cares for others. It actually felt... nice when she cried over my own troubles. I would do anything in order to help her."
"I'm glad..." Riku spoke softly as he tried to regain his normal composure.
Truly, he was. All these years, he had yearned to get Rion out of that damn mountain and free her. It never felt right that she had to be trapped in a place with no one by her side. Only if he could break the barrier of course. He glanced at Rion and seeing her delightful face was enough. The past was the past and now all he had to do was to keep her safe.
"Anyway, when are you going to confess to Lady Towa how you feel?" she exclaimed, breaking the silence.
"What do you mean?!! Surely that would be quite a disturbance for Lady Towa. She should return back and rest!"
"Oh ho? So you are admitting you want to confess? Also, wished Lady Towa was actually going to kiss you. Moroha was telling me how disappointed she was that it didn't happen as well."
"Miss Rion!!!"
The thought of saying anything about how he felt would definitely not work out. He wasn't even sure if he had whatever these "feelings" were. Rion seemed confident in her claim, yet he didn't.
"Hm, let's check on Lady Towa later, but first can we go to that field we went to that had a lot of grapes? It's been so long since I've been there and..."
Riku listened and nodded, but his mind still wandered off as Rion blabbered on and on.
Delighted for our next fated encounter... Lady Towa.