Chapter 31 A Stay at An Inn

Shizu continued walking down the road to a nearby inn with an asleep Azi held close in her arms. Azi was giving off a soft snore with a dumb smile on his face as he dreamed about something that Shizu could only guess at as she could hear a bit of mumbling coming from him.

"So Soft ...ZZZZZZ and ZZZZ Fluffy haha... ha."

As he talked in his sleep, he cuddled his head close to Shizu's furry ear which caused her ears to slightly twitch at the touch of his soft cheek. A bit of red began to form on Shizu's face, but she pushed back her lewd thoughts as she began walking a bit faster to a nearby inn.

Arriving at the entrance, Shizu called out to get the attention of any staff still working.

"Hello! Innkeeper, are you here?"

Out from a side entrance located behind the front counter of the inn came a young woman in white sleeping clothes. This was the innkeeper and she asked.

"Lady Shizu, what can I do for you? And at such a late hour."

"Do you have any available rooms? And is the bath still open?"

"Unfortunately, the bath was closed and is no longer usable at the moment. We usually close it at night to save on water. We, fortunately, do have a room available, but it fits one person. If you want, I can bring your sleeping friend to another nearby inn for a room of his own."

"It's too bad about the bath but it's alright, the single person room should suffice for the two of us. He is quite small so we can fit in one bed. Hey, Azi wake up. You need to get cleaned up before sleeping."

"Hmmmm, 5 more minutes please ZZZZZZ." Responded a drowsy Azi.

As he responded to Shizu's voice, he unconsciously pressed his body closer to Shizu's which caused the innkeeper to wryly reply.

"ara ara, he seems to really like his current sleeping conditions."

Flustered by the innkeeper's words, Shizu's face reddened in exasperation, and she began to shake Azi violently in an attempt to wake him up.

"No, wake up Azi. Come on, you have napped enough."

After a bit of rough handling from Shizu, Azi was eventually awake enough to walk on his own but had to be guided by his hand by Shizu. After requesting the innkeeper for directions, Shizu guided Azi to their room.

Before the two got out of hearing range, the innkeeper told them.

"I'll bring you some warm water and towels to your room, be sure to clean yourself up before heading to bed."

Shizu gave a wave of thanks and continued walking to their room with Azi in tow.

The innkeeper, after seeing the pair walk off hand in hand, spoke in a soft tone.

"It is a good thing their room is a private one. At least the sound won't leak out."

Unbeknownst to Shizu, the inn that she brought the two of them to was known for its private rooms that allowed for great privacy. The innkeeper also had a policy of allowing their guests to engage in intimate acts in the private rooms and provide services that made their stay more comfortable.

Basically, Shizu has brought Azi to what equated in Azi's past memories as a love hotel.

After getting settled in the room, Azi was able to wake up a bit more and it was just in time as the innkeeper had delivered a few towels and 2 basins of warm water. He remembered that this world did have baths and showers, but they were costly.

So, the usual way a person could clean themselves would be through wiping themselves down with water and a towel or if they had time, a dip in a steam bath.

Understanding that there was likely no option to use the bath at this time of night, Azi grabbed a towel and basin of water and moved to a corner of the room. Seeing this, Shizu grabbed his shoulder before he walked off and stated in a commanding voice.

"Sit DOWN."

Azi felt a chill down his spine at Shizu's words and meekly complied to her command. Sitting cross legged on the wooden floor of the small one-person room, Azi braced himself for whatever Shizu was going to do.

While he did not know what she would do, he still braced himself as he had learned these past couple days that she acted in a rough or harsh manner with people of the opposite sex.

Azi was then startled when she began to remove his clothes but was relieved that she was only removing his shirt.

With his skin laid bare to her, she began to wipe down the dried sweat, dirt, and grime that clung to his back. Shizu noticed that while his body was quite small, he had a somewhat toned back as the contours of his muscles were somewhat definable. She then moved to his front and began wiping down his chest.

Again, she noticed just how toned his body was, while his muscles were not large or pronouncedly defined, she could tell that Azi worked hard to obtain the current muscles he had. She thought.

'It must have been difficult for him. He seems so frail and small. Yet I can see it in his body, he has trained or at the very least worked out to improve his stature.'

After Shizu finished wiping up Azi's body she then looked him in the eyes and stated in a calm manner.

"Help me clean myself. It is your duty as my apprentice."

Azi, still a bit confused by the turn of events witnessed as Shizu turned around, sat down on the laid-out futon bed, and then began taking off her top. With her bare back in front of his sight, Azi's mind slightly blanked but he quickly recomposed himself to drive away his immoral thoughts.

With a composed and reddened face, he grabbed a clean towel and a basin full of water and began to wipe down her back. Azi was given a firsthand experience of how soft Shizu's skin was and how tender her muscles were.

The muscles on her back were much more defined than his own and he could tell that Shizu's title of knight was not just for decoration. He thought to himself.

'Her back is so soft, yet her muscles are incredibly defined. She must have worked for years to attain a body like this. But why work so hard, this isn't normal for a feudal era woman. Has she gone against the norm?'

Breaking out of his thoughts he remembered that he would have to clean her front. With the best stoic expression he could muster, he hesitantly moved to Shizu's front.

Azi then did his best to wipe down her front side but had a hard time wiping her breast due to how he tried to avert his gaze away from her bare breasts. Seeing this Shizu grimaced in annoyance as she told him.

"Don't hesitate, act."

Hearing Shizu's short statement, Azi resolved himself and allowed his gaze to fall upon Shizu's large bare chest. The appearance of her pair of lightly pink nipples made Azi blush, but he shook his head to keep his immoral thoughts from creeping up on him.

Carefully moving his hands, he gently clasped one of Shizu's breasts and began to wipe her down with the towel in his right hand. He then lifted her breast to allow the towel to slip under and wipe the previously inaccessible areas.

As Azi gripped her breast a bit more firmly so as to not let whatever he was holding slip out from his grasp, Shizu stifled a soft moan that unintentionally came out of reflex.

In response, Shizu scolded Azi.

"Be gentler you dolt!"

A fear began to fill Azi's mind as Shizu shout had made Azi remember a moment from his past that he would have liked to forget. The shout of someone blaming him weighed heavy on his conscience and soon he felt disappointed in himself.

On top of his recent actions today he felt severely depressed. Not only did he do something untoward to her by kissing her, he also did not win in their previous match, and he also felt guilty about the negative emotions he had felt during the fight.

Feelings of anger and guilt towards Shizu were what he remembered and while he could remember the warmth that welled up in him as a result of the two negative emotions clashing, any trace of that warmth had left him.

He could not really recall it with enough clarity and felt as if something important was lost to him.

The feelings of loss and regret for his misplaced negative thoughts about Shizu made him feel anger towards himself and then sad as the realization that he was still a failure to himself and others. A feeling of self-doubt haunted his mind as he could remember the feeling of failure from his fractured memories.

Azi responded to Shizu in a sad and meek tone.

"Yes, I am sorry about that."

Shizu sighed at his response as he finished wiping down her other breast in a more delicate manner. Azi then stood up and turned around but before he could take his first step away to sleep in a different part of the small room, arms then locked around his abdomen.

"What is... it?!"

With Azi's words coming out in a bit of a surprised tone. Azi was embraced from behind by Shizu as she dragged him to the floor and laid him next to her in the futon bed. Azi felt a soft sensation against his lower back and felt a bit flustered as he spoke.

"I should really sleep separated from you."

"You have touched my breast again." Said Shizu. "I will receive my due recompense."

Stiffening up at her words, Azi then sighed in defeat and surrendered to his fate as Shizu's body pillow. He could then feel her grasp around him tighten and felt her cheek and chest against his back.

He then spoke in a soft tone as to not let Shizu hear.

"I have no idea if I am lucky or unlucky?"