Chapter 47: Be Proud.

Orange clouds drifted through the azure sky, a warm breeze transversed across all realms. The sun had begun to set.

The people in the city began to close shop for the day as the night approached and the night facilities began to open their doors to the customers.

They removed their clothes from the dryer and they went to the bar to buy a drink, whether it be in joy or sorrow, one would not know.

Within the rowdy city, where the wind blew across the land and the dandelions flew. A young girl and a man kneeled on the ground, the man comforting the girl but it seems that his service was no longer needed.

For the girl had long since lost her tears.

The girl, Emmy sniffed as she wiped her eyes, her vision was no longer blurry and her mood had long since hit a plateau.

She felt strangely calm as the hand on her head seized, and she let out a low whine.

...And like a cat pushed her head up to receive more head pats, they did not come however and the girl pouted in annoyance.

Inu chuckled and stood up, he pay his robes to remove any dust that may have accumulated on them. Once done he extended his hand toward the girl, his Young miss.

"Huh?" Emmy said the hand in her vision snapped her out of her revere and she hesitantly took it up.

'His hands are very rough beneath the cloth, huh?' Emmy thought as she examined the hand of the one she threatened to kill a while ago.

She pressed it here and there and passed her fingers across it to feel it. Once she was done, Emmy looked at her own hands and felt them; she didn't feel the same sensations at all!

"How strange... I have been training frequently, and yet there are no callouses to be found. Is there a difference in callous formation between using a weapon and using a barbell? Interesting!"

While still tender Emmy noticed that her hands did have a small number of callouses but not to the degree nor in the same places that Inu had them.

...And just as she was about to dive deeper into the topic that caught her interest, she heard a cough and looked in the direction of the sound.

There stood Inu, her shadow guard and the person who comforted her a while ago.

Emmy blinked and then her brows furrowed.

She didn't take her eyes off of him but her mind wasn't yet there. A thought ran through her mind and Emmy felt her face heat up, no doubt she was now as red as a tomato.

'Didn't I just threaten to kill him? Why was I being so touchy, to ask for head pats like that? What am I, a cat? I even touched his hands and groped them like some pervert.'

She who thought of herself as shameless now felt that crippling emotion in her chest and it made her cringe slightly.

Inu who was watching the rapidly changing expressions of his Young miss, 'What is she doing? Why is she staring at me like that? She... She just threw a disgusted look at me! Am I going to be killed?'

Inu didn't dare to think any further as he looked once again and kneeled on the ground, his hastiness causing his knee to hit the ground with an incredible amount of force but Inu didn't feel such measly pain such as this.

He was a proud shadow guard of the Kujou clan!

Mild force such as these was barely enough to even tickle him, much less make him wince!

One was overwhelmed with shame as she cringed in embarrassment while the other thought that they angered their superior.

Thus, a strange scene was formed in the living room that was previously filled with a bolstering heat.

Ultimately, Inu decided to bite the bullet and speak first, "Y-Young miss... Did this subordinate commit an act that aroused your anger? Was it... Was it the fact that I pat... uh... stroked the head of the young miss."

"Eh?" Emmy made a confused sound, as she hurriedly looked at the kneeling guard.

'What is he talking about? I wasn't listening–, uh, my attention wasn't held by him during that point in time.' The girl swiftly corrected herself, even though the only one who could hear her was the system.

Inu didn't mind her at all, he ignored the confused state she was in and went on to continue what he was saying earlier.

"Indeed, the young miss would not like to be touched by a murderer like me of lowly birth," A self-deprecating smile came upon his face behind the mask, "The young miss needs not to worry, this one knows his place."

What was there to be proud of? Heh, in the end, he was only a dog, a little girl would kill him and not face the consequences.

"Huh? What the hell are you saying," Emmy scowled as she marched up to the guard, she raised her hand and hit him on the head, "Don't go deciding such a thing on your own. Did I even permit you to belittle yourself like that? Tell me the answer, now!"

"Uh, no?" Inu was confused, he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head and wondered why the young miss looked so angry.

"Damn right, hmph! Listen here, you are not allowed to belittle yourself in front of me or anywhere else... Why? Well, this is because you are a proud member of the Kujou clan and my, Emmy Edgar..." She stopped herself as if thinking about what she was to say next, she nodded as if she had acquired affirmation and continued, "Kujou Kamiko, the third young miss of the Kujou clan, head of the Inazuman military affairs, trusted subordinate."

"Do not shame me by belittling yourself!" Emmy didn't know why she was so angry she even wanted to hit him a few more times, she just couldn't accept him doing that to himself, "Am I understood?"

She almost wanted to hit him again when she saw how shocked he was through his body movements but opted to pat his head instead.

"Have some pride, yeah."

"I-," Inu couldn't speak, his voice stuck in his throat as a sour feeling surfaced in the back, he was on the verge of tears.

How long was it? How long was it since he was treated so nicely? Every day he had to do this and watch this young girl who probably didn't even care for his existence. And yet...

And yet, she called him a trusted subordinate.

Inu didn't move he bowed his head even deeper, and shakily he brought his hand to his mask, slowly he lifted it and wiped off his tears.

"Yes, young miss!" Inu smiled, while his features were hidden behind a mask, Emmy could feel his joy, "This subordinate understands!"

*****

A/N: Late chapter again, so how did you feel about this one guys? I kinda didn't know how to proceed from the last scene but here we are. Arc 1 will end in hopefully, 20-30 chapters. I need to introduce more characters or maybe not tbh. Some things will be revealed and then arc 2 will commence.

Need to do that Sumeru archon quest, didn't because I was lazy. *cries*

Peace!