Snake bonding

A few weeks have passed since the group returned to the Capital. For those past weeks, they have stayed in the palace, relaxing or training. Cornelia was probably the one who trained the most out of everyone, however, no one was sure whether it was due to the emptiness over Guy's death or due to taking over Najasho's role.

Zero himself spent a lot of time trying to master and understand his powers. On the very first day, he has been sent by Gozuki to some physical examination where they just checked several things. Zero understood that Teigu users must be very scarce so he was partly expecting them to relocate him but after a few days, Gozuki told him that he would continue performing missions with them.

Since Zero could use the training grounds of the royal guards, he didn't have to leave the palace but occasionally, he went for a stroll into the city. He spent most of the time gathering any rumors and useful information in the slums but his paths crossed with Seryu's a few times. Thankfully, she didn't question his appearance or why he no longer works for Imperial Police.

'Despite discreetly gathering the information around, I still couldn't find anything regarding the murderer of my parents. I have some suspicions that some general of the Empire could be involved in this but there are simply too many of them for me to investigate them quickly while also discreetly. The only one general I managed to investigate till now is named Nouken and he is a real piece of shit, though I doubt he was somehow involved in this.'

'Ever since I joined this unit what the other assassination unit apparently calls "select team", I have become much stronger than before. Even during the past few weeks, my growth in strength and speed is much faster than before, however, maybe it is just an effect of my Teigu changing structure of my body.' Zero was sitting on the bed with crossed legs and closed eyes. One large black snake was wrapped around his body from his torso to his neck, resting its head on Zero's shoulder.

Whenever he was at a "private" place, he kept at least one of his snakes around just to get more familiar with his powers. As he was thinking of his next plans, his brows twitched, feeling someone blatantly staring at him.

"Do you really need to keep them around all the time?" He wasn't alone inside the room, there was one more person and it was none other than Poney who was still lying in the bed, recovering from her injuries. The reason why Zero was here with her was that he has been entrusted with a mission by Cornelia to watch over Poney since she was too impatient and wanted to go train with the others.

"Don't look at them with such disgust, they have feelings too" Zero opened his eyes and replied to Poney with a faint smile across his face.

"Really? It's hard to tell when they are completely black except for their yellow eyes." Poney said with a blank expression which made Zero look at her with one eye closed. The snake around him started slowly moving towards her bed.

"Eeeew, please keep them away from me!" Poney curled up while intensely staring at the snake.

"Maybe he is just attracted to you, I mean you are neither too big nor too small prey, you would make for an excellent lunch" Zero decided to tease her a bit more.

"I warn you Mr. Snake, one more step and I will fight for my territory! Wait, how do I know whether it takes a step closer? W-Whatever, just don't move closer!" Poney said with her upper body ready in a fighting stance.

Hearing her words, Zero made the snake stop with only his mind. Previously, he had to make hand gestures but now that he had better control, he could order them telepathically.

Zero got up from his bed and approached Poney's bed the same way as his snake and once he was close enough, the snake climbed back on him.

"Just try to touch it, its scales are surprisingly nice to touch and in case of emergency, there might come a time where you will have to cooperate with them in the future." Zero said and presented the back part of the snake just to not startle her.

"Ugh...." Poney hesitated for a few seconds before she closed her eyes and touched it and her eyes immedietely widened in surprise.

"Not bad, right? Plus, it won't attack you no matter what since it listens to all my commands." Zero said with a faint smile.

"Hmm, it's definitely not bad. Its scales do feel quite nice to touch." Poney said and lost herself in petting the snake with what resembled a warm smile on her face.

*Creak* "We have a new mission! All of us are to gather at the conference roo-?!" Green bursted inside the room without knocking and was shocked by the sight.

"S-s-sorry, I had no idea you two are-! I-I-I will leave you alone! Come after you are done!" Green instantly grew red and as quickly he arrived, he left even quicker.

"Eh?" Poney tilted her head at the closed door before looking up at Zero all the while petting the snake's tail.

Zero imagined what Green must have seen from his position and he immediately understood what exactly he misunderstood.

'Did he seriously think she was jerking me off? Is he stupid after all or is he just awkward when it comes to social relationships?' Zero thought with a blank expression before he looked down just to see Poney's confused expression.

"What was that?"

Seeing her expression, a twisted smile formed inside his mind while he kept a friendly smile outside for Poney to see.

"Green must have thought that we are doing something perverted judging from how red he turned when he saw us."

Hearing Zero's explanation, Green's words resounded inside her mind a few times before her eyes widened in shock.

"?! G-Green!!! Come back here!!" Poney jumped off the bed and darted towards the door while shouting with a flushed face.

Zero slowly followed after her and it took only a few seconds before he heard Green screaming in agony which made him chuckle.

'Let's just hope she will also clear this misunderstanding and won't just beat him up'