Chapter 112 Shizu’s Claim

A soul chilling shiver ran through everyones' body as the voice that called out to them had an intense and immense amount of killing intent behind it.

Turning around, the men and women of the bath looked on in great abject fear at their captain whose red eyes gleamed like crimson drops of blood. Their grips loosening and Azi was able to release himself from their grasps but began backing away from Shizu as the look she gave him caused him to want to run away.

It wasn't like the times she would give him an intense look of teasing or her regularly enraged expression whenever they got into an argument. No, it was intense hatred at the current situation.

Shizu began to approach and was soon in the large bath with only a few paces separating her from Azi.

In a few seconds, as Azi moved away unconsciously in fear, he soon found that he was up against the wall with Shizu looking down on him with an expression that he could not fully understand.

"UHH Shizu? I'm sorry for using your group's bath. S-Sumi told me I could use it so I thought it was alright. I'll leave if you want me… to."

Learning of who invited Azi in, Shizu briefly turned around and gave Sumi a glare which was returned with a slightly mischievous smile from her vice captain who stuck her tongue out a bit.

Shizu had her suspicions after the sparring match today as she recalled how Sumi went from looking harshly upon Azi to somewhat softening her gaze on him.

Seeing that smile confirmed her suspicions and she promptly got to work in foiling her vice captain's schemes.

Moving closer to Azi, he flinched back in fear as he thought he was going to be punched but instead of feeling a hard impact he felt himself getting scooped up into Shizu's embrace. Repositioning herself, she got Azi to sit in her lap as she hugged him from behind.

With her arms, she wrapped them around Azi and held him close to her soft and ample chest. Nuzzling her head to the top of his own, Shizu directed a glare at the now gawking men and women.

"He's mine."

After such curt words, Shizu began embracing Azi which made him squirm a bit in her lap but that soon ended as she could feel that he was relaxing in her lap. His face was red and he looked around shyly as he asked her his concern.

"You're not mad?"

Nodding her head, she placated him with a few rubs of her cheek against the top of his head.

"This was likely one of Sumi's schemes. She is a bit like Elder Sung and Saki but she is a bit less creative when it comes to pranking people."

"Captain! Don't tell him that! I worked so hard to keep a straight face! Also, come on. Share him with us. He's so cute and so small, I could just eat him up."

Taken aback by Sumi's outcry, Azi quickly turned around in Shizu lap and began embracing Shizu from the front to hopefully stay protected from the surrounding women who, from his perspective, had crazed looks of interest and possessiveness.

Seeing the somewhat fearful look on his face, Shizu wanted to give him some relief and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead which promptly made him fall asleep due to her trick with her resonance with him.

Now out like a light, a sleeping Azi was now being guarded by Shizu as she gave a harsh admonishment and scolding to her personal soldiers.

"I DID TEACH YOU ALL TO BE SUCH SHAMELESS PEOPLE! HE MAYBE 27 BUT AT LEAST HAVE SOME TACK TO ASK FOR MY PERMISSION IF YOU WERE GOING TO TOUCH HIM! DO YOU KNOW HOW VIOLATED HE MUST HAVE FELT!"

Hanging their heads, Shizu's personal guard became depressed as they began repenting for their actions. While thinking about what they did wrong, the men and women washed themselves off in silence and promptly left.

The last to leave was Sumi, but unlike the others, she left with a grin on her face that she hid from Shizu. 'Good luck captain. I hope you have a nice night with him.'

In truth, Sumi had planned this event out to this point as she wanted to help brighten up her captain's mood. Since she was her vice captain for a couple years, she could tell that Shizu had something bothering her since the day she returned with the caravan.

This only changed when Azi had come to the training grounds. Seeing how delighted Shizu was while hugging Azi and how downcast she became when he left, Sumi deduced that her captain could unwind if she was left alone with Azi.

Now that her scheme was executed flawlessly, Sumi got changed and was soon lying in bed with a content smile on her face.

Meanwhile in the bath, Shizu and Azi were left alone in the large communal bath. The tiled tub had enough room for over 10 people which made the current situation feel somewhat lonely as Shizu was stuck with a sleeping Azi in this large bath.

Feeling that she should get out of the tub soon, she reconsidered when Azi started to nuzzle his head into her chest. The sensation of his movements in her arms were somewhat fun to feel and she wished to drag this situation out just a bit longer.

It had only been a couple days since they had a private moment together, but to Shizu it felt somewhat longer than a couple days. In truth, she had not been sleeping well as the usual "pillow" she would indulge in was absent from her bed.

While improper for an unmarried man and women to sleep in the same bed, Shizu had foregone this rule in Shisayama as it was out of the public eye and was begrudgingly allowed by Kajima. Now that she and Azi were in the capital, their relationship had to be kept somewhat tame as gossip and rumor ran amok in the palace of the capital.

Hugging him close, Shizu spoke in despair to no one in particular.

"What am I supposed to do? He's just so huggable and soft and... What the heck am I thinking?! No, No, No. Stop Shizu. He's not just some pillow, Azi's a person. Come on, keep it together."

Quickly driving away any soft or flowery thought from her mind, Shizu let up on her grasp on Azi to show some restraint but as if to spite her, Azi unconsciously tightened his grip around her.

Mumbling in his sleep, Shizu heard him say some very intriguing words.

"Hmmmmm Shizu is…..*snore* the best pillow hehehe….*snore*."

Pouting at how "She" was now being treated like an object, Shizu wanted to wake him up to set the hierarchy straight. As she raised her fist to give his head a small tap but she remembered how Azi had said that he had also not slept well these past couple days.

"Snore Shizu hmmmmm Shizu hmmmmmmmm." Mumbled Azi as he again nuzzled against her like a puppy looking for warmth.

Somewhat confirming her thought, Shizu reconsidered her actions and sighed in somewhat exasperated defeat. She didn't want this moment to spiral into an argument or a round of teasing between them.

Instead, Shizu would much prefer this relaxing moment where the two could just bask in each other's warmth. While more intimate acts prevader her mind, Shizu coaxed such lewd actions to the back of her mind until a more appropriate moment made itself known.

Staying like this for a few more minutes, Shizu was able to take a short nap and felt more refreshed than ever. Before both their skins began to prune from the extended exposure to the bath water, Shizu got out and promptly got herself and Azi clothed.

Hoisting Azi over her shoulder like a bag of rice, Shizu made her way through the palace to drop Azi off to bed in his room. As she passed by the servants, she told them that she was just getting her friend to bed and gave them the excuse that Azi had over exerted himself to not raise any suspicions.

The cover was also somewhat fitting as Shizu had carried Azi over her shoulder rather than in a princess carry like she did in Shisayama. It was well known that Shizu was rough with men and the action of carrying Azi in such a crude manner fit well with her rumored personality.

After laying Azi in bed and tucking him in sufficiently, Shizu turned to leave the room but before getting a step away she considered staying to sleep with him. But this plan quickly crumbled as she would be discovered by the servants who would tend to Azi in the morning.

While she could attempt to wake up early to leave undetected, she felt that it was unlikely for her to scheme to go unnoticed due to the number of eyes in the palace.

Making up her mind, Shizu compromised with the conundrum and promptly gave Azi a kiss goodnight. Seeing the reflexive smile Azi made, had Shizu almost want to jump in bed alongside him.

Pinching her cheek, Shizu again stopped her rising urges and left with a bit of hesitation. The next morning, Azi woke up somewhat confused by how he had gotten back to his room without him knowing.

Recalling what Shizu did, Azi touched his forehead and began to suspect that Shizu had learned something "magic" related from Touma. He was no fool when it came to magic and Azi had detected the hint of magic energy from Shizu when they were in the bath.

While suspecting no foul play, Azi still wanted retribution for Shizu's actions of somewhat abusing whatever magic she had used to force him to sleep. It had happened so many times at this point that Azi could no longer turn a blind eye.

Hearing a knock at his door, Azi turned his thoughts over to today's events and realized that he would be attending a ceremony with Touma.

"Sir Azi. Please get changed as breakfast will be served in just a few minutes. Also, we have prepared some attire for your event today."

"Alright, Thank you. Please give me a moment."

While he was in his sleepwear, Azi knew from his etiquette lessons that this was not the right attire to present oneself to servants. While not a noble, Azi would still try to uphold his image to in turn uphold Shizu's reputation.

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