51 A Certain Proposal

Tokyo, Japan,

Hayes Residence,

Samuel POV,

Currently the Hayes Residence was in slight uproar..... nevermind that wasn't the case at all. Ren was still at work and the only people home were Samuel himself, his mother and Rin as well as a guest. Kirukiru Amou, the girl, had been instantly recognised by Mei.

"Kiru-chan! How've you been?" Mei threw her arms around the girl, hugging her rather tightly. "...." Amou had no idea how to respond, attacking was still however, the farthest thing from her mind.

Samuel averted his gaze, staring at Rin in silence. Mei was really something sometimes and he had no idea how to deal with the situation at all. "Food." Rin tugged on her mother's dress, hoping to save them from embarrassment.

"Oh, that's right. Kiru-chan, stay for dinner alright?" Mei smiled, leaning down and patting Rin's head, "Just gimme a moment." She had already prepared most of what was necessary and would be done with everything in a matter of minutes. Mei's cooking skill was a source of pride for herself.

"....I see she refuses to change." Amou folded her arms with a teasing grin, her behaviour here was fairly biassed because of her being Samuel's mother and not some rando yet at the same time, there was nothing that could make her change it. "Oh the irony." Samuel slightly smiled, taking off his shoes before stepping into the living room.

"I have changed though."

"You keep telling yourself that." Samuel sighed before taking a seat at the table, twirling around one of the spoons that had already been placed there. Amou sat directly beside him, "Huh, imagine changing for society."

"Imagine not growing up." Samuel replied calmly, a small mocking smile on his face, change was necessary and an integral part of growth as a person. "...Hmm." Amou, instead of answering with words, directed her gaze towards the woman in the kitchen.

Mei didn't bother tuning into their conversation, humming as she went about cooking.

Rin silently observed the exchange between her brother and the strange lady, her hands looked really weird. On top of that, she also noted that much like Samuel, the girl was also unnaturally pale... "Are your hands like that too?" She asked, tilting her head as she looked at Samuel's glove covered hand.

"His are rougher." Amou nodded thoughtfully, for some reason his training had been far harsher than herself after some time.

"Can I...see?" The little girl looked at his hands with curious eyes, it couldn't be that bad right?

Samuel rubbed his chin in thought, "Maybe when you're older." He smiled. ruffling her hair having decided that it was better for the child to not see them yet.

"You act strangely around your family." Amou remarked, resting her head in her hand, he was acting too polite and reserved for some reason.

Samuel only gave a close eyed smile in return.

-x-X-x-

"..." Rin facepalmed, sighing deeply at the dish that lay in front of them.

"....I no longer think..." Samuel seemed to be contemplating life at the moment.

"Pretty good." Amou took a bite before unceremoniously eating one of the dumplings whole.

"What's with you two? It took me a bit to get it all just right you know?" Mei complained with a small pout, her hands at her waist as she stared at her two children. Didn't kids like these things? "You could at least thank me, though I wouldn't mind you professing your love for your mother either!" She gave them a thumbs up.

"I give up." Samuel just sighed before joining them in eating.

"...." Rin looked at the gyoza with a rare tic on her forehead. Gyoza were moon-shaped dumplings filled with things like onions, meat, garlic, cabbage and ginger lightly fried until they became crusty and dark gold in colour... only problem was these things were served in restaurants, yes restaurant, did she really have to exert that much effort for a normal meal?

"They're good but please, make something that's easy on yourself." Samuel somewhat pleaded, needless to say, he didn't want her to get sick or something because of this.

"Absolutely not."

He was instantly shot down.

"So, how was your day at school?" Mei asked, completely brushing off the request her son had made. Sometimes, he was a little too respectful... though, strangely enough, his presence drained out the colour from his surroundings and even gave her a small headache, Mei believed that there was something else to it. Her son couldn't possibly give her a headache right? So she powered through it and maintained her usual self.

"Normal." Rin answered shortly, she had studied, she had played and she had talked to her friends, accompanying them on their adventures. Life was simple, simple was good.

"I seem to have gained some popularity but other than that, nothing special." Samuel answered calmly, it wasn't a lie, the skill of the fencer had surprised him but nothing beyond that. Amou smirked at this, this man was something else.

"It was really surprising when you just randomly got asked to join a well known school like that." Mei nodded with closed eyes, folding her arms, it meant that he was just that amazing! "Ahaha.." Samuel scratched the back of his head laughing awkwardly.

"Indeed, getting invited to such a prestigious school." Amou was certainly sarcastic, that place was shit... though, with Samuel there she doubted the place would last much longer. He had already had one outburst and she knew for a fact that his words carried more weight than he himself thought.

-x-X-x-

Samuel sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. His father hadn't returned yet and Amou had taken her leave after eating, something about a curfew in her dorms. Aichi Academy was fairly strict when it came to such things after all.

'I think, we should talk.'

When Samuel blinked again, a vast expanse of green greeted his eyes. A pale woman dressed in black sat atop a hill, looking down at him with a teasing smile. "How've you been my dear contractor?" She asked rhetorically, in truth, she couldn't rightly allow any harm to befall him.

"You've been watching all along though.." Samuel answered, walking up to her and sitting down beside her. Strangely enough, she seemed to be sitting on the grass and staring at the blue sky rather than the usual sitting under shade.

"So, what's up?"

He got no response, the witch only stared at him intently as if expecting something from him. Samuel had a rough idea as to what she wanted but thought it would be better to stay silent about it. Echidna was strange like that, purposely refusing to read certain thoughts.

"The Jade Emperor... if what I see is true then you at the moment stand no chance should he decide to be hostile." Echidna gave up her earlier objective, choosing to inform him about this instead.

"I know that much." Samuel didn't seem bothered by the impending danger.

"Why are you so calm about it then? You could 'die'." Echidna stared at him directly, her eyes brimming with curiosity. She chose to not read his thoughts even if she could, figuring it out by herself was much much more entertaining.

Samuel inhaled deeply, looking at the sky, "He isn't necessarily a bad person."

"So you choose to trust his nature?"

"Somewhat." Samuel shrugged, the old man was like any regular old man and as such, held a rather elevated place in his heart.

"That's... I don't understand." Echidna looked down, slightly troubled, this man had a burning passion for certain things and yet, the world would never see it exude from him. Always appearing as someone too tired, she didn't like that. She saw his memories so she knew better than he himself just how much he desired certain things.

"Well there's Laevatein sooo, yeah." Samuel smiled widely, treating him in a certain way may end with him getting the Jade Emperor's powers, if not, then he would use the sword... though, only as a last resort. He preferred hand to hand fighting far more than any other form of combat.

"I'll study it." Echidna nodded somewhat seriously, they needed to know all about it before using it.. besides, she was extremely curious about something that could end the world.

"You know if it gets too tough, I'm always here."

"I see." Samuel slightly nodded, it wasn't too tough just that, he needed to run wild for a bit.

"Hm hm, have you fallen to my charms?"

"Not by a long shot."

Echidna deflated.

===============

Share thoughts mfs.

....Russian fuckers stole mah shit and made money off it.....

Should I set up a patreon?

Echidna and him are developing nicely.

Hayasaka and him do have some synergy, 'Society won't accept you if you show your real self.'

I have my plans set up though don't be annoyed by her acting around him, it's in her nature.

Oh yeah, iirc, some guy asked about Samuel's glare. I posted a pic in chapter comments so you can get an idea of how he glares... though he rarely does it.

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