Reconciliation

"...This sucks." Shu exclaimed.

The shirtless swordsman could be seen with a mop and several trash bags. He stood in a large room, and it was filled with excrement. Literal poop. Further ahead of him was an artificial habitat of sorts. There was even an obstacle course.

A large white fox with nine tails could be seen running through the habitat. A pink glow was on the tip of each tail. This was Fuzzy the fox. She panted with excitement upon seeing the new arrival.

At the entrance of the massive room was Rin. The snow demon was sitting against the wall. She hugged her knees, while constantly muttering under her breath. Her eyes were locked on to the sleepy man.

"Stupid Shu. Bad man. Evil demon. That's why you have to pick up shit. Hmph." Her expression was as still as a lake. The young samurai could feel a headache coming.

"Shut up."

"Idiot Shu. Dumb Shu. Lame Shu."

"...Shut up."

This continued for an hour as he cleaned the massive pen. He was second guessing his battalion choice at the moment. A powerful samurai like him shouldn't be doing this. It was bullshit!

Once he was done cleaning, he washed his hands. He then sat beside Rin. The dark ronin was still rambling. It seemed like she hadn't forgiven him.

"I'll kill you! Hmph. Blockhead Shu. Peabrain Shu-"

"Are you still sulking?" He interrupted.

His arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in. Rin struggled against him while hurling profanities. Unfortunately, the gap in strength was too much. She couldn't escape. Her face was pressed against his bare chest.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper earlier. Please don't be mad." Shu apologized.

The snow demon stopped struggling upon hearing his apology. A slight smile appeared on her face, unseen by him. Her anger was gone as if it was never there.

'He is kind.' She thought.

After a few more seconds, Shu released her. He rose to his feet and donned his kimono. His sheathed katana was back in his left hand. Rin looked up to see his right hand extended toward her. A calm smile adorned his face.

"Shall we go?"

Seeing his gesture, she took his hand. The petite beauty was lifted to her feet. Without saying goodbye to Fuzzy, they left. It took around ten minutes of walking to reach the living room again.

This time, Rin turned on the TV and sat on the couch. A bag of chips was already in her hands. Shu went over to the quest board and searched for a mission. The contents of the board were holographic, and had a difficulty level from Bronze to Gold. Supreme level missions were on the other side, but a sticky note declared that only the captain was allowed to do them.

"...Rin, I'm going to choose a gold mission." He called out.

The girl ignored him, too focused on the holographic TV screen and her snacks. The young samurai shook his head. He would leave her to her antics. Looking at the posted requests, he immediately filtered out the boring ones. Shu hated doing boring things. Eventually, he found a mission that fit his tastes.

[Investigate The Disappearance of Citizens in Lokni, The Town of Rain]

"The town of rain…" He muttered.

It had been a while since he'd experienced rain. Most of the time it was either rumbles of thunder or sunny days. He could go for some different weather. After clicking on the title of the mission, a 'pending' notification appeared. The sender of this request would receive a message saying their mission was accepted.

Now that he was done, Shu walked over to the couch and relaxed. The young samurai would set out in the morning. After seeing what she was watching, he decided to just go to his room.

"Luv Luv Magical Girl!" One of the characters chanted. Their outfits changed into battle costumes.

The sleepy man turned to Rin. Her purple eyes were wide with intense concentration. She wasn't even noticing the crumbs falling in her lap as she dug into her bag of chips.

"You can do it, Illia-tan!" She exclaimed quietly. The stoic expression on her face was adorable.

"Rin." He called out.

"Mnn." She hummed without turning her head.

"I've decided on a mission. We should set out in the morning." He said.

"Mnn."

Rin definitely wasn't paying attention. The lazy swordsman shook his head. He couldn't help but sigh while leaving the room.

'She better not get mad when I remind her tomorrow.' He thought.

After walking down a few hallways, he found his room. Shu quickly disrobed and plopped down on the bed. Using his greatest technique, he fell asleep instantly.

…

…

…

As expected, his fears came to fruition. It was the next morning and the snow demon was out for the count. Rin was asleep on the couch while several bags of snacks lay beside her. There was a new cup of iced tea that sat on the coffee table.

His attempt to wake her up ended with another bite mark on his cheek. Shu realized that this may become a common occurrence. It was unfortunate, but sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. He needed to become reliable in order to gain the information he wanted.

Now that Shu was part of Silent Night, his outfit had changed. He now wore an all black kimono, with dark battle armor gleaming from beneath. His outfit was militaristic in nature, similar to Rin's. Black tabi wrapped around his feet which allowed him to move silently. A metallic mana breather covered the lower portion of his face, and it made his voice a bit more intimidating.

The two were now outside of the base. Blue flowers rustled in the wind. The beautiful meadow could be seen as the river washed by. Shu was heading into the forest, but Rin pulled him back. He turned to her in confusion.

"Headstart." She exclaimed while pointing to a platform near the estate. The snow demon walked over and waited for him to follow.

"Is this a teleporter?" He asked. That would be extremely helpful. This journey would take about a week's time. The snow demon shook her head.

"Slingshot Accelerator." She said.

"...Huh."

The two stepped onto the platform. Rin tapped onto the nearby screen, putting north as the general direction. The circular part they were standing on revolved toward the north. Once they were pointed in the right direction, she tapped the big red circle. The screen disappeared.

HISSSS

The sound of mechanical parts resounded as tension built below the circle. A torrent of air mana condensed inside the machine. Shu frowned. He didn't know what was coming. Rin crouched into a low stance.

"Brace!" She exclaimed. One of her hands held the edge of her ronin hat. The young samurai also crouched down.

At that moment, the condensed mana detonated like a bomb. The circular platform shot them into the sky. In only a few seconds, they'd reached the clouds. Their destination was Lokni, the town of rain.