Chapter 84 Shopping in Shisayama

After recovering from Shizu's morning surprise attack, Azi was now seated in the wagon pulled by Kokona. Across from him was Shizu who was somewhat pouting as he had refused to sit on her lap or get close to her from the start of their day off.

His pride was somewhat damaged this morning and was not in the mood to indulge in the antics of his tormentor.

"It was just a prank. Come on, stop pouting and come over here."

Shizu held her hands out in an inviting hug, but to her dismay Azi turned his head away from her. Shizu slumped in mock depression and walked over to her sister at the front of the wagon.

"Wah, Rulu! What should I do?" *Sniffle Sniffle*

Patting the top of her elder sister's head, Rulu timidly placated her the best she could. Kokona did not need instruction to pull the wagon as the mount was quite intelligent, so Rulu had both her hands free to pet Shizu.

Rulu could only think that this situation was quite odd as it was usually in reverse. Whenever Rulu got sick, hurt, or depressed, Shizu would always be the one to comfort her.

As she ran rubbed the soft red strands of hair of her somewhat teary-eyed sister, she peeked over behind her shoulder to get a look at Azi to see how he would react. She wondered why Azi had a slight blush on his face, but the love bits and red marks on his neck gave it away.

Rulu laughed wryly to herself to hide the embarrassing thoughts she had tumbling around in her mind and tried to distract herself by turning her head away to ensure that Azi did not notice her gaze.

*Chirp Chirp Chirp*

Kokona, a Hororon, gave a chirp in what seemed like laughter and Rulu shushed her in light admonishment of her actions. Yes, Kokona was female and was quite intelligent, but no one could tell unless they saw this firsthand.

Azi looked over and saw how Rulu and Kokona seemingly talked to each other. He swore that Rulu could somehow communicate with the giant bird. His expression changed, until Shizu moved to Rulu's side. So, he turned his head away from the front of the wagon to hide his expression.

Shizu eventually felt better since hugging her sister made her feel at ease. While she would have been more content if she received it from Azi she promptly banished the thought as she tried to recompose herself as they were going to enter the village soon.

She had to be strong, she had to show that she was a proud knight. She then moved to sit at Rulu's side as righted her posture.

They had not entered the village yet but were instead still on the path to the inner entrance to the village's southern section. The three of them were heading to the northern section of the village and would soon cut through the more populated areas.

During the trip, many people would soon recognize the pair of sisters. They were a contrasted pair as the rumors of the two would make most people not believe that they were siblings. Rulu blushed at all the attention she was getting while Shizu stayed somewhat stoic and silent throughout the trek across the village.

Arriving at their destination and getting off from the wagon, the group of three went about the numerous shops and began to browse for items or goods they wanted to bring back. Rulu was grabbing a few groceries while Shizu looked with Azi for items he could use to populate his somewhat barren living room.

The variety of the market's goods was vast as it had small items like cooking utensils and plates to larger items like beds and tables.

Shizu, with a stoic expression, blushed a bit when she suggested getting a few plates and other wares that had cutely drawn pictures of animals on them. Azi felt the design was childish but liked the aesthetics as it tickled the fantasy bone in his body.

To Shizu's slight dismay, Azi urged her to begin picking and choosing a few to buy for their own use. Their shopping spree continued but Azi had to put his foot down when Shizu tried to suggest getting a few unorthodox items like a large bed with hearts on it, or a few pieces of night wear that looked a bit too enticing.

As he held what looked like clothing in his hands, he thought to himself.

'Seriously, this isn't even clothing. It's so transparent and so flimsy that I could tear it in half with a single pull.'

He imagined Shizu wearing it and he blushed when he realized that she was likely teasing him. Noticing that Azi was reacting to her suggestions as he looked at the thin piece of clothing, she came over and whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to wear it after our wedding."

Azi panicked as he was taken off guard by the sudden whispering in his ear. Tossing the thin piece of clothing back to where Shizu got it, he then moved on and attempted to hide his expression from Shizu, who continued to follow behind him with a gleeful smile.

For the past month, they have gotten much closer from a physical point of view and to get his mind off those very embarrassing thoughts, he looked around for something of interest. Azi saw a large catalog lying at the front counter and decided to peek at it for anything he could buy.

After deliberating for a few minutes, he settled on a bedding that was colored red and white with a blanket as dark as the night sky. It looked cozy and was more modest in comparison to Shizu's previous suggestion of bedding with numerous heart shapes on it.

After gathering what they wanted to buy, the trio pulled together their money to pay for their goods. Luckily, Azi was able to save a bit of coin as he had to downsize his house, so he decided to foot most of the bill. Shizu pouted as she was the one to suggest to help pay for the goods.

"At least let me pay for the bedding."

"Nope, but I would prefer if you would be tamer in your actions next time."

Understanding his meaning Shizu turned away to hide her blush from him. Azi and Rulu laughed at Shizu's reaction which got a cuter pout out of her. The trio then filled the wagon with all the items they had bought and Shizu asked.

"Is there anywhere else we need to go?"

Raising her hand timidly, Rulu responded.

"If you don't mind, I need to pick up a few cookbooks at a certain store. Do we have time?"

Shizu looked to the sky and saw that the sun was able to set but seeing the expectant look Rulu had in her eyes, she acquiesced and convinced herself to not deny her little sister's request.

With a nod, everyone then boarded the wagon and after a chirp of affirmation from Kokona, the party was on their way. Rulu was directing Kokona at the driver's seat of the wagon and seemed to be in a hurry.

They parked the wagon near a waiting area with other parked wagons and Rulu quickly departed the wagon to rush into the nearby bookstore.

Shizu and Azi looked in confusion as to why Rulu was in such a hurry as the bookstore looked as if it was going to still be open for a while. As they entered. they saw that Rulu was nowhere to be found inside and Shizu slightly panicked.

She worried that Rulu was kidnapped but Azi suggested that she was probably in a different section of the store.

Leading Shizu by the hand, Azi guided her around the shelves of books for a few minutes. After having no luck in the first room, Azi opted to search the next room. This made him notice the curtains that read "age restricted" on them.

"Do you think Rulu is in there?" Asked Azi.

"No way, my little Rulu is no deviant."

Azi smiled wryly and said with a grin. "She might have picked up a few of your proclivities. Hahaha. Ouch"

Getting his ear pinched, Azi winced in pain as Shizu gave him an admonishing glare, but she mused his suggestion. With a confident stride she led Azi by his ear through the age restricted curtains.

When the other side of the curtain came into view, Azi's eyes widened as he saw a large assortment of books that tickled his curiosity. So many colors and so many detailed illustrations populated his sight.

Some had quite enticing illustrations on its covers but what got Azi's attention was a certain book that had the figure of a shirtless and beautiful man with ornate gauntlets. Behind the man was a fiery background that gave off the feeling of violence that was not brutal but passionate.

The name of the book was "The Tale of Fiery Love". He approached and began to read and examine the sample pages and illustrations. His mind was somewhat peaked as the gauntlets reminded him of his own sketches and drawings.

He had a hard time getting the gauntlets to look somewhat practical and aesthetically pleasing as he had only a few references to go off of as not many people used gauntlets as a primary weapon.

The illustration helped to guide his imagination as he was piqued by how the design looked somewhat ahead of its time. Shizu, who was at his side, asked plainly.

"Do you like that kind of book, Azi?"

"Not really, but the illustration of this gauntlet looks nice. I wonder if I can make it." He said this while not taking his eyes off the pages, he was in a somewhat focused state of mind as it raced to imprint the image of the gauntlets into his memory.

Seeing the illustration, Shizu blushed a bit as he began to give her opinion.

"Quite a beautiful drawing, but I think this drawing is a bit too immoral."

"I agree with you on that but look closer at the gauntlets. If you ignore the lower half of the drawing, the armor on the man's arms seems somewhat practical."

"Maybe, but I don't think you can get such detailed work. I think this design originates from the capital of Yamato."

*****

Off to the side, Rulu was in a corner of a room, and she peeked around the corner as if she was hiding away from a beast. Her hand was somewhat trembling but from her position she saw Azi and Shizu talking to each other about a certain drawing.

She had initially thought to deftly enter the shop to grab the book she wanted, but it was not in its usual place, so she panicked when she realized that Azi and Shizu had followed her in. Luckily, she was sure that she wasn't seen when she moved to hide but was now wondering why they would come into such a place.

But her mind was more focused on the stack of books next to Azi, so she steeled herself and for her next actions.

Taking off her hair ornaments and putting on a coat and scarf she had prepared ahead of time. Rulu began to slowly approach the stack of books besides Azi.

Her legs were trembling, but after a few steps she was within arm's reach of her prize. When she attempted to put the book to the bag at her side, it slipped from her hand and fell audibly to the floor.

*****

"THUMP!"

Hearing the sudden thump behind him, Azi and Shizu turned around and saw a girl with long flowing brown hair who was wrapped up tight like a dumpling. The coat was thick, and the scarf was quite fluffy, and Azi thought that the girl seemed too overly dressed as the inside of the bookstore was quite warm. Shizu thought the same but believed that the girl was somewhat feeble as she saw how dainty her outstretched hands were.

Their sights now locked on the girl, she froze like a statue and Rulu began to sweat profusely under her disguise.

"Here, take it and be sure to be more careful next time."

Azi had picked up the dropped book and offered it to the disguised Rulu who respectfully bowed in response to his actions. She then promptly grabbed the book and walked away. She was visibly trembling, and Azi wondered if the girl was sick, but suddenly.

"Ouch. Hey! Stop it Shizu. What did I do?

Having his hair suddenly ruffled in a somewhat uncomfortable manner, Shizu was somewhat jealous that Azi was concerned for another girl while in front of her. Shizu did not explain herself and kept her silence but continued to ruffle his hair.

After a bit of banter and browsing, the two of them eventually found Rulu waiting at their wagon who explained that she had seen them enter the age restricted area and opted to let them browse as she waited for them outside. Shizu grinned wryly and declared.

"I told you. My sister would not go into such a place."

"Alright Alright I'm sorry. But I did enjoy looking at all the books."

Shizu glared at him and said plainly. "Pervert."

"Says you. The only pervert here is you Shizu. I didn't think you had it in you to do that kind of thing to me this morning."

Azi gave a huff which made Shizu retorted that it was only a prank. As the two of them started a somewhat playful bickering, Rulu looked on in relief as they had bought her explanation.

She thought that the two acted and looked like a bickering couple from one of her romance novels, but she was somewhat still put off by the amount of affection they showed each other when not in public.

Rulu was nonetheless glad that her hobbies were not found out, so after timidly intervening in their bicker, the three of them got back to making their way back to their homes as it was already getting dark.

Shizu would again sleep with Azi in their new bed as she had, to Azi's dismay, made herself a permanent resident in his house. Azi made a mental note that he would have to pay Ben and Bail a visit to "ask" about why they had created a set of keys for Shizu without informing him.