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A peel of laughter, audacious even for Kagetsu, took Zelkov out of his focused training.
“Stop it, I cannot-” He roared with laughter again, and Zelkov looked at what made him laugh.
Merrin had brushed him on the side with a training knife, but the effect the light tap had was far more deadly than a true hit. Kagetsu fell to the ground. Zelkov and Merrin were both stupefied as they watched.
“I-I am ticklish!” Kagetsu said, clutching his stomach and rolling on the ground childishly.
It was like dealing with a little baby. But it was quite the well-hidden weakness, if Zelkov only knew about it now. Not bad, Kagetsu. But of course, now that Zelkov did know, he’d be using it to the fullest.
*
“Kagetsu, assist me with this paperwork.” Zelkov said, dumping a stack in front of Kagetsu, who was enjoying his afternoon tea and seventh onigiri. His eating companions, knowing this was going to lead to at best a disagreement and at worst a challenge of strength, subtly shuffled their chairs further away.
Kagetsu frowned. “I may do it later.”
“It is needed post-haste.” Zelkov loomed closer. By now Kagetsu was never intimidated by him - oh how that would change soon. He poked Kagetsu’s side with two fingers, and Kagetsu keeled and laughed. He wiggled his fingers, like he was jamming a knife further into Kagetsu, and Kagetsu laughed so hard he fell out of his seat.
“S-st-op!” Kagetsu cried. Zelkov got on top of him and tickled him more, assaulting both his sides with his newfound weapon. They were causing quite the scene, with all conversation halting to observe them play-fight on the floor of the cafe.
“Will you do your chores ?” Zelkov asked menacingly.
“I will! I will!”
Zelkov got off of Kagetsu, though Kagetsu stayed on the floor a moment longer to catch his breath. He then dutifully filled out his paperwork, and did it with an admirable focus and efficiency.
*
The next time Zelkov tried to use his new weapon, Kagetsu was on the defensive.
“You ate too much at dinner again.” Zelkov scolded. “It is unbecoming of a retainer to eat more than their fair share.” He got into an attack stance, fingers stretching as he prepared to assault Kagetsu’s sides. But Kagetsu dodged with agility honed on the battlefield, and Zelkov’s fingers missed their target. He tried again, this time hitting Kagetsu’s neck. A fatal blow!
Kagetsu scrunched his shoulders to try and get Zelkov to stop tickling him in his other sensitive spot, but Zelkov would not relent.
“Take your punishment.” He said, growing a little sick from his power over Kagetsu. He tickled him longer than was exactly fair, leaving Kagetsu red-faced and panting, almost crying from laughing so hard.
He wheezed, trying to speak to Zelkov but just laughing more from the aftershocks.
“You… You are cruel!” Kagetsu finally said. “All that because I took an extra bowl of rice?”
“Did you learn your lesson ?”
“Yes! I’ll take less tomorrow to compensate.”
“Then it was worth it.”
*
This time, there truly was no justification.
Kagetsu was sitting by the pond, enjoying a relaxing afternoon. This was their day off, so he couldn’t be faulted for idling. If there was anything he did wrong, it was that he took his sandals off to dip his feet into the water, and he had foolishly kept them off as he now laid down on the grass.
Zelkov, feigning disinterest in being near Kagetsu, posing as just finding this a nice reading spot, eyed the bare skin. He reached over and tickled the soles of Kagetsu’s feet. These were even more sensitive than his sides, and he kicked Zelkov in his panic as he started hyperventilating.
“W-w-whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?” Kagetsu begged through his tears.
Zelkov didn’t respond, as “I thought it’d be funny” sounded like an abuse of power even he couldn’t justify. But that was what it was - he thought tickling Kagetsu was so much fun. He could even dare to say it was his newest pursuit.