Awkwardness?

The next morning when Zero woke up, he noticed he was the first one to get up from his bed. All that silence made him think of the last night.

'What the hell happened back then with Gin? I mean, I have seen some movies where a pair are shouting at each other before kissing but this was weird even by a movie's standards. I just went along since she was so annoying, acting like a complete bitch. I hope it won't make things weird around us.' Zero thought while getting ready to leave his room for breakfast on the first floor.

When he arrived there, he noticed Gin already sitting at one of the tables while staring at her plate full of food, seemingly lost in thought.

Zero grabbed his own breakfast and sat down across the table which finally woke Gin from her daydreaming.

"..." Gin was just staring at him with a surprised expression, maybe even expecting him to act more awkward or at least say something.

"Yo, good morning. Those two are still sleeping so it might be only two of us for a while." Zero said nonchalantly after feeling Gin's eyes on him for a bit longer than needed.

"...Good morning" Gin said in a more feeble tone than usual.

"You know...we can pretend nothing ever happened if you regret last night that much. I certainly have no need to go and brag about it to those virgins above." Zero said calmly while eating.

'I might be a virgin too but I had the honor of witnessing the power of the internet, seeing a single naked woman won't cause me nose bleed or loss of my mind over it. Although I have to admit the sensation of touching them was something else, I had a hard time keeping myself from squeezing them a bit more but Gin practically did it for me when she was pressing my hand against her breast.'

"Eh?" Zero's words seemed to once again wake Gin up and she started staring at him with an uncertain expression.

"Obviously, if you go and tell those two or anyone else for that matter, I will cut off the most treasured part of your body during your sleep. However...It's not like I regret it or do you think I would have done something just on a whim just to come to regret it the next morning, you jerk?!" The first part was said in a more feeble tone but Gin gradually regained her fierceness while glaring at Zero with narrowed eyes.

"Whatever you say, bitch" Zero replied without a care in the world.

"Call me that once again and-" Gin grit her teeth however she was interrupted by Zero.

"What? Will you beat me up? You call me a jerk, I call you a bitch. I like to promote equality so be careful when laying your hands on me." Zero replied with a provoking grin.

'What the hell was I thinking last night...I can't believe I let a jerk like him touch me. The worst part isn't even that I let him, I actually forced him. This is so humiliating...at least he doesn't seem to make such a big deal out of it, however, why does it make me feel both relieved and annoyed at the same time?' Gin thought while grudgingly eating her breakfast in silence.

"Anyway, I will be going out to gather information, you can go and wake those two up and tell them to quickly eat something. We will continue on our journey just as planned. Hm?" Zero explained and wanted to stand up, however, Gin grabbed his sleeve, forcing him look at her with a puzzled expression.

"I will go with you, those fools can wake up on their own, I am not their nanny" Gin said with a serious expression which left Zero thinking for a few seconds before he replied.

"Suit yourself"

The two of them went outside the inn to gather information related to their mission which took them around two hours before they returned and found Green and Natala eating their late breakfast on the first floor.

"Good morning you two. Zero, about the last night, we have heard some shouting inside the changing room, did you have an argument with someone? I thought it was only us inside the inn." Natala greeted them before he asked Zero with a cautious expression.

"Uh...I was just practicing with my snakes, trying to see if they can even understand the emotions hidden in my tone and how they react to it." Zero felt awkward, lying to Natala after seeing his overly serious and worried expression. He felt even guiltier due to what he told him before leaving.

"That explains everything. By the way, it is quite unusual to see you two together." Green added casually, not thinking too much about it.

"Why?" Both Gin and Zero asked at the same time with furrowed brows. They quickly started glaring at each other.

"Eh? Well, I think your relationship is quite obvious here" Green explained.

"W-What relationship?! There is absolutely nothing between this jerk and me!"

"Bitch" Gin explained with a panicked expression, not forgetting to add an insult to which Zero instantly retorted.

"Grrr" Gin grit her teeth when she heard Zero mutter "that" word. Green and Natala could only look at each other with confused faces before turning back at Zero and Gin.

"No...I meant that you pretty much dislike each other so why would you two go investigate the surroundings together?" Green tried to clear the misunderstanding but he never expected to find himself under the fire once again for nothing.

"Well maybe if you two wouldn't have stayed so late at hot spring, you would be able to wake up earlier and help one of us. Going alone is too dangerous even if we don't like each other." Zero threw the blame on them to which they could only release a tired sigh.

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The group continued on their trading routes before they made it back to Sweun. They gave all the profits and papers to Gozuki, they arrived slightly after Akame's group.

"Welcome back, everyone! It was so boring waiting here for everyone..." Poney waved at Zero's group with her usual enthusiasm and the others nodded their heads at her.

-----------------

"Well, I will be damned, Zero's team made a huge profit, it's not even comparable to Cornelia's team." Gozuki's eyes widened in a pleasant surprise when he checked lists from Zero's team.

"Damn!" Cornelia cursed, showing off more of her competitive side.

"That's me, a gentleman, a merchant, and more importantly, poetic man named Ren. No female merchant is safe from my grasp!" Zero undo his ponytail and let his hair fall down before performing a show.

"Ugh...what's that?" Poney asked with a blank expression on her face.

"The stupid fake identity he used to make some empty promises to the female traders. Basically, he just seduced some desperate women who gave him a better price, "zero" self-respect, hehe." Gin explained with a smirk while shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't act like you didn't puff out that chest of yours to get better prices from male merchants." Zero retorted with a provoking smile and folded arms.

"I did that only because you told me to do so! And don't even mention my chest aloud, you jerk!" Gin shouted while pointing at him.

"Whoever said you have to listen to everything I say? If I told you to jump out of the window, would you do it, bitch?" Zero shrugged his shoulders and replied nonchalantly.

"Grrrrr" Gin looked ready to explode.

"...What the hell happened on your journey?" Cornelia asked Green as they were watching the two of them bicker with surprised faces.

'I knew leaving those two on the same team would cause problems' Gozuki thought as he was quietly observing the situation