Chapter XVIII: A parting gift

Misaki, on the edge of District A, low-cost apartments.

Midory's vision cleared looking around, she was in a room, at first glance there was a living room with some armchairs, her bag on a cushion, a window adorned with wine-colored curtains let the orange rays of the sun pass through, the floor adorned with a red carpet gave the feeling of being in a peaceful place, a corridor to one side led to two doors, to the left, in a small space, was the kitchen.

Trying to distract her thoughts, she began to detail what she saw, hoping not to continue with the conversation from before.

His teacher noticed what he was doing and sighed, he didn't want to force his disciple to speak, he wanted the girl to feel comfortable.

Calming his thoughts, he regained his spirits.

"This is my room, I rented it recently, I want you to wait here, I'm going out, I won't be long" said the older one smiling.

Without looking away, the minor agreed to her Master's words, then, hearing the door close, when she was alone, she began to explore.

In minutes that felt like hours, Midory walked around the room avoiding touching the objects, she didn't want to get into trouble, except when it was the first time she was in an apartment, she always imagined living in one, she saw it different from what her home was. House.

More lonely, nice.

Stopping exploring her surroundings, she sat down in one of the armchairs, taking her bag, she checked what she had, a sigh of relief came from her lips confirming that she had not lost anything, however, she felt that she was forgetting something, her doubt it dissipated as she settled in better, the softness of the cushions incited her to want to lie down, hesitantly she dropped her body on the soft surface.

He let out an exclamation of happiness when he perceived a synthetic smell along with the texture of the fabric, he wanted to sleep for a while, he closed his eyes to better appreciate his sense of touch.

Coming to her senses, Midory didn't hear the apartment door open, letting in a burly figure.

Eros paused as he looked at his disciple lying in her chair, a teasing smile appearing on his lips.

She wanted to avoid disturbing her and let her enjoy herself for a while, but she couldn't control her laughter when she saw the expression of the minor, she seemed to have found an oasis in the desert, it seemed so out of the ordinary that laughing was inevitable.

Hearing a voice that wasn't hers, Midory jumped to her feet, her face red with embarrassment as she stared at her Master.

"Yes, you relaxed quickly" commented Eros near the door, he crossed his arms with a smile, in one of his hands he held a package.

"I'm sorry" was the first thing Midory said followed by a bow, it was in bad taste to behave that way in a place that wasn't her home, sometimes her cheek got the better of her and she couldn't help it.

The major dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"Relax, it's not a bad thing for me, come on, we have to go" spoke her mentor, turning around and crossing the threshold of the door, the young woman followed him with a reddened face grabbing her bag, always lowering her head.

Eros let Midory out observing her withdrawn attitude, he found the change in behavior funny just because of her presence, he closed the door afterwards.

Walking through the busy streets of District A, the minor limited herself to avoiding colliding with passers-by, Eros instead began to talk to her as if what had happened before had not happened, Midory appreciated the gesture.

Little time to chat, both began to joke and make jokes.

The trip home was being more pleasant than the minor thought, Eros had a quality of changing people's moods.

Each one had a way of laughing, Eros with double meaning and morbid jokes that made Midory cover her face in sorrow, the young woman, however, was able to make her teacher laugh by telling him about situations in her life.

"I swear I didn't want to scare her, but the mirror was there and the makeup wouldn't come off, you know what she said, "If I'm going to look like you, I'd rather die", that offended me" said the minor touching her chest, making a face affected, Eros laughed out loud imagining the situation.

A young woman smeared with makeup from a play raising her face just as a girl was going to enter the bathroom, he could visualize the expression of horror on both of them before one of them slowly backed away, not without first commenting on something.

Midory couldn't help but laugh along with her mentor, her laugh was contagious and she liked to listen to it.

Taking his master seriously was difficult when he acted like this.

Without realizing it, they had already crossed the boundaries of District A and B, entering the neighborhoods where Midory lived.

Telling more anecdotes they arrived at a small house, separated by a wooden gate.

The young woman stepped forward with a smile.

"Thank you for saving me and teaching me what I should know" said the young woman bowing with respect, she couldn't describe how much fun she had had with the elder, feeling that she was lucky to have had a better mood after what happened in that alley.

Eros waved his hand.

"It is my duty as guardian and future master to take care of the relics" he confirmed with pride in his posture, he had an arm around his waist and one of his feet raised on tiptoe.

Midory stared at him laughing inside, she couldn't understand the thoughts behind Eros's actions, however, she didn't care, she liked that attitude of his.

"He's doing it again, he looks like a model" she said, her mentor blushed eliminating her posture, it was a mania she had as a youngster, she was surprised that the minor would limit herself to commenting on it, without looking uncomfortable about it.

Eros tried to regain his dignity by acting like he was upset.

"Don't embarrass your teacher, unfilial disciple" he commented turning his head.

The two fell silent before letting out a small laugh.

Midory bowed again before speaking.

"Have a good night, I wish to see you soon" said the young woman, the elder nodded.

"I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, take care of yourself," Eros spoke, turning around, noticing the package in his hands and exclaimed, "Ah! Take this, I know you were shopping before the robbery, just take your bag with me in a hurry, it's a apology gift for the problems caused" she replied giving the gift to Midory, it had been her fault that she ended up involved in that incident, at least she wanted to help her in whatever way she could.

Midory wanted to refuse, but seeing her mentor's happy look, she decided to accept, she didn't want the day to end badly, she took the package and bowed with a thank you coming from her lips.

Eros did the same, then his hand waved goodbye, the younger girl saw him go in the distance.

He looked at the package feeling how heavy it was, he shook it to hear what was inside, however, no sound came out.

Then, Midory looked towards her house, nerves entered her body, she didn't know if her sister would be home, she didn't want to be scolded again for being late, and explaining why it wasn't to her liking.

Despite her doubts, she opened the door, the silence made her confirm that she was alone, she sighed with relief, her parents were rarely there, they always stayed at a friend's house to save a trip from work, her sister stayed home at this hour , except when she visited her best friend, at those times she came back late, however, Midory could not know when her sister would be, so she avoided arriving at these times as much as possible, she could not help but thank her luck this time .

Entering, he closed the door, his mind wandering in thoughts as he changed his shoes for his slippers at the entrance, fixing his shoes, a thought caught his attention.

"You can't fight" she remembered, a discomfort arose from her heart, she had wanted to avoid thinking about that and although her teacher was of great help to forget it, now that she was alone, she couldn't ignore what her head was saying.

"Being strong is impossible, I have to accept it" she convinced herself, walking towards the kitchen, she wanted to cook something to distract herself and have dinner.

"What's the use of training if by not attacking I was going to lose all my battles?" she reproached annoyed, it was a problem without an answer, it would be great if she could fight as her teacher.

While he was thinking about the last thing, a growl in his stomach made him ignore his ideas, he was hungry and when he checked what he had, he realized that he didn't have enough ingredients to cook.

"Am I going to bed without eating?" She complained loudly, a sickness arose in her stomach, she didn't want to be depressed, so she thought of something nice to improve her mood and she carried her belongings to her room.

Arriving at the room, he left his things on the edge of the bed, while he undressed to put on his pajamas, he perceived out of the corner of his eye how something moved, then, the sound of something falling was heard, apparently, the weight of the package had tilted part of the mattress, causing both it and your bag to end up on the floor.

However, her movements stopped, she had a confused look, she was sure she had heard something metallic when the objects fell.

Arranging her clothes on a rack, she went over to the bed to pick up what had fallen.

She put the bag aside and sat down, she looked for a way to open the package finding a loose fold, she started peeling that part revealing the inside.

The minor couldn't believe her eyes.

She ran out of the room and into the kitchen, turned on the light, and pulled out everything from the folds of paper.

Cans of different brands were revealed on the table, each one heavier than the previous one, he gave a quick survey of what he had without being able to hide his joy.

She had from vegetables to meats, she even found what she had bought.

Understanding the importance of the gift, he wanted to remember his teacher's words, convincing himself that it was not a dream.

"I know you were shopping before the assault, it's an apology gift for the problems caused" the minor's smile was impossible to erase, something warm crossed her heart causing it to speed up, a look of gratitude crossed her eyes.

With hands shaking with excitement, she put the canned goods away in the pantries, she didn't care what her sister would think, she rarely questioned what was in the house, except if it was very expensive things, like fruit or clothes, and even if his parents came, he could lie saying that he had won them in a store lottery, it was not uncommon for it to happen in Misaki, it was a way of promoting products by vendors.

Cooking her favorite dish, the young woman was distracted humming a song. At that moment, the front door opened letting in a sleepy Yoko.

Ignoring her sister's unusual mood, she gave her greetings before locking herself in her room.

Finishing cooking, the girl's dinner felt delicious, always smiling when she remembered her teacher.

She wanted to see him again to thank him for what he had done, the minor would never forget it.

Turning off the lights and making sure everything was locked, he entered his room.

He made himself comfortable on his bed, positioning his arms as pillows, his eyes glowing in the dark before closing his lids as he imagined what the next day would be like.

Next Chapter: Difficult Decisions.