Chapter 88 Prank …. Successful?

As a red faced Shizu complained about Council Member Jerome being a pain in her ass for the past week, Azi comforted her by laying her head onto his lap. The floor was made of wood but the futon bedding acted as a comfortable cushion for them to sit on.

He scratched behind Shizu's fluffy ear as her head was turned away from his chest, which caused a throaty purr to emanate from her throat. Azi then noticed that Shizu's long red colored fluff of a tail was swaying in front of him. It was quite long and looked oh so pettable, so without hesitation he moved to gently coerce Shizu's tail into his hands.

Shizu noticeably tensed up and was about to shout at him to not touch her there as it was discourteous to touch another person's tail, but Azi's touch felt soothing as his hands began to sink into her tail's soft fluff.

He didn't move his hands, but instead let the natural motion's of Shizu tail guide his own as they sunk into the tail of fluff. Eventually, Azi had a gentle grasp on Shizu's tail and began to nuzzle his head into the large plume of fluff he now held.

Azi knew that this was immoral from Shizu's lessons on etiquette but he failed to notice that his mind had begun to buzz when he drank the grape wine. The overpowering sweetness made him not notice the feeling, so both Shizu and Azi were in a somewhat stupored state of mind.

As he was nuzzling her tail with his head, Azi saw from the corner of his eyes that Shizu was looking at him with expectant eyes. In response he answered in kind with a look from his own pair of his own eyes that glimmered in expectation.

To get his point across he began to nibble on Shizu's tail which caused her to blush a bit. It tickled but it was the sight of this that made her embarrassed.

Making up her mind, Shizu gave a slight humf as she pouted a bit as she mouthed the word, Yes, to him. Azi then released Shizu's tail and grabbed the blanket that was laid off to the side. In this moment, Shizu pounced on him from the front. She then allowed herself to get covered by the blanket he had pulled over them.

A pair of arms snaked around her back and began to bring her closer into Azi's embrace.

*****

Unknown to the passionate couple under the blanket, above them was a wooden roof which looked to be a flat surface from below. This was, in fact, a deception as the wooden planks could be moved with ease.

One such plank could be fiddled with to reveal a hole large enough for a pair of eye's to peer through. The sound of the moving pieces of wood went unnoticed as it was on the corner of the room which was not well lit and escaped Azi's prior investigation of the room.

These eyes belong to Elder Sung and she was also undetected due to how high the ceiling was in the hot spring inn. She had come to this hot spring multiple times in the past as she usually played this prank on her clients that were in relationships of their own.

"Oh my, I didn't think it would go this well. Maybe I should have held back on the aphrodisiac?"

With a bit of surprise in her voice, Elder Sung talked to no one in particular. But unexpectedly, a deep voice that came from her dark surroundings caused her to tense up.

"I see. So my hunch was right."

Elder Sung mechanically turned her head up and looked around in a hesitant manner, her eyes fell upon the visage of Kajima who looked as if he was emitting a fiery red aura which made the hue of the room somewhat red which was odd as the attic part of the inn was not well lit and Kajima did not have a magic aptitude for fire.

Elder Sung held her hands up in surrender and said that she was caught, but as she attempted to back away from Kajima. Kajima smirked which made Elder Sung cock her head in confusion, but as if to answer her question she then felt 2 pairs of stout arms around her own.

Looking to her left and right she saw Ben and Bail who were grinning at her as they whispered in an ominous tone in perfect unison.

"Prepare yourself."

Elder Sung was then dragged away by the two burly men as her head slumped in defeat. She had worked so hard for this moment, she had been patiently waiting for weeks to put her plan in motion but it seemed she would be unable to see Azi and Shizu consummate their relationship.

She knew that the two likely love each other but was frustrated by how this happy couple was not officially in a physical relationship. So, to ensure that all went well she had Saki suggest this hot spring inn as she knew of the inn's attic that she could use to spy on any of the "victims" of her mischievous manipulation of events.

She had planned to write down what would happen and use it to pull more pranks on them to get a rise out of the couple. Elder Sung had done this to Ben and Bail in the past with their respective girlfriends recently turned wives. She then used this incident to further torment them for years to come for her own enjoyment.

But her plan with Azi and Shizu had failed as she was now sitting in a seiza position in Kajima's room as she was glared down by the trio of burly men.

"Oh my what would you boys want with little old me."

Giving a wink as she spoke to lighten up the mood, the three men only sighed in exasperation at the old woman's shamelessness.

"Sung, I think yer too old for this kind of pranks. It's best you leave the young ones alone."

At Ben's words, Elder Sung glared at him with a chilling stare. It was improper for him to call her old but before she could bark Ben's ear off, Kajima moved to sit in front of her.

Kajima then placed a black opaque bottle of grape wine between them. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bottle as it was the one she had prepared for Azi and Shizu. It had a noticeable mark on its cork that was made by her to allow the staff to differentiate it as a reserved bottle. She moved her lips to form a question but was again cut off.

"I know what you are trying to do, Elder Sung, but I have to agree with Ben on this. Their relationship is blatantly obvious but the speed of their relationship is abnormal."

"Oh come now, why does the speed of their relationship have to be of any concern. In fact, it's good that it's so quick and the two of them are both grown adults." Retorted Elder Sung.

Kajima knelt down to sit and sat up straight, he then raised his head and looked into Elder Sung's eyes. Sung was stunned silent as his gaze was one she would like to forget. It was the same stare he gave when he returned from war and when his wife and children passed away. Harsh and pained but with a resolve to get his point across no matter the difficulty.

It then softened a bit as a color of concern painted his face when he sighed.

"I know I should not tell you this but it is best that I do in the long run. From now on, anything that we hear or say cannot leave this room."

Kajima turned to Ben and Bail who gave tenses nods of agreement, he turned back to Elder Sung and she had a cocked brow.

She was confused by the turn of events as she thought she was going to be scolded like a misbehaved child and was not expecting such a serious conversation to start.

To get his point across, Kajima took out a bronze seal from his yukata's inner chest pocket and flashed it at Elder Sung. Her eyes noticeably widened but then closed in a long blink to steady herself. She sighed, nodded in agreement and asked.

"What do you need to tell me?"

Kajima then told the other three about Ozen's and Shizu's agenda to train Azi into being a useful citizen of Kujyuri. He then told of how Shizu suggested this to Ozen and that Ozen gave her the go ahead to court him in an attempt to win his heart.

That would in turn bind him to Kujyuri and keep him in Ozen's sphere of influence to be possibly "utilized" to better Kujyuri. Everyone knew of the rivalry between the 8 Great Generals so all knew of the political issues that it entailed and what Azi was starting to get wrapped up in.

"Do you think Shizu is manipulating Azi?" Asked Elder Sung.

Kajima sighed and unhesitantly stated his conjecture.

"No, I believe their relationship is real but I see Shizu's hesitation. Her advances on him are fierce but they aren't as fierce as her usual personality. I'm sure you noticed the changes in her since Azi came along. There are times that Shizu second guesses her action towards him and usually defaults to comforting him to take her mind off her own emotions."

"Agreed, in fact, when I first met Azi and Lady Shizu together I thought to prank them to lighten the mood but it seemed as if Shizu was truly a different person. It seemed her mind wandered between her duty and her feelings. I confirmed it with Saki and asked about Shizu's past. Shizu was usually violent towards men or severely judged the men who attempted to court her or befriend her. The rumors of the 4 failed fiances run deep and they tell of how Shizu had put them through her intense training. She never once interacted with them on a personal level or hesitated with her actions towards them." Added Elder Sung.

"The lad was still brutally trained by Shizu, but she seems more affectionate with him. I heard from Saki that the two of them sleep in the same bed nowadays. Not to mention that she asked us to make a copy of keys to Azi's new house. Ben and I got a tongue lashing from the lad when he came to pick up a shipment of ores." Commented Bail.

Kajima sighed again as he tried to process everyone's words, his eyes then turned back to normal as he rubbed the stubbles of hair under his chin.

"In any case my worries is that Shizu has yet to get a grasp of her emotions. Also, Azi still has

amnesia and acts like a naive child. He knows little about the political hellscape of the Empire and less when it comes to himself. What you attempted to do might have been beneficial in the short term but a relationship can easily crumble if not cultivated properly. Azi just recovered from the expedition and he has a lot on his plate right now. Both physically and mentally."

Elder Sung's breath caught in her throat as she thought to argue but stopped as she remembered her diagnosis on Azi. Physically he was fine which was odd as she heard from Kajima that Azi was badly injured. But what really concerned her was what she saw spiritually. She could see that Azi's soul was clouded and due to her long years of experience she thought that his soul's shape seemed off.

Elder Sung was an apothecary but knew a bit of thaumaturge as she found it useful for her work. She could easily use inspection magic while undetected which made it easier for her to diagnose the mental state of her patients.

"I—I agree." She then sighed and attempted to break the tense mood. "To think that the "Berserker of Kujyuri" would be giving me, of all people, relationship advice."

Kajima's brows twitched at the utterance of his past title and countered with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

"OH INDEED "Witch Healer". Unlike you, I at least got married."

Elder Sung went red in the face with anger, but calmed herself down as another matter popped into her head when she remembered the bottle of grape wine that was sitting between them.

"I just realized. If they didn't drink the aphrodisiac laced wine. Then why did they start going into heat?"

Ben and Bail stifled a laugh but Kajima stated plainly as his eyes conveyed a sense of not caring about something that had become so commonplace for him to see.

"Those two passionate idiots do that all the time. When they started living together they quickly became close and now seem inseparable." A wry smile formed on his lips as he reminisced on all the times Shizu and Azi had cuddled.

It was heartwarming then embarrassing then just plain annoying.

"Then why hasn't Shizu gotten pregnant yet? I check her in secret everytime she comes in with the groups of wounded soldiers these past few weeks." Asked Elder Sung.

"Beats me, but I think the two of them unconsciously know not to cross any boundaries that an unmarried man and woman should break. When I remember that one time I can only... BWAHAHAHAHA"

Kajima broke into raucous laughter as he remembered the sight of an unconscious Azi being shaken by Shizu.

"Oh please, do tell." Elder Sung's eyes widened in excitement as she pulled a notebook and charcoal pen out from her yukata.

Kajima's laughing soon subsided as he directed a teasing smile towards her.

"No way. In any case you are going to have to be punished for what you have done." Grabbing the bottle of laced grape wine, Kajima told Ben and Bail to get some rope which they did so with great haste. Uncorking to the bottle, he held Elder Sung down and began to forcefully make her drink her own medicine.

This was the literal sense of the saying, "A Taste of Your Own Medicine".

The three of them then tied her up in a spare futon bed and handed her over to the hot spring inn's staff to nurse her for the night. The staff looked confused as to why they were handed what looked like a roll of bedding that was tightly secured by ropes.

It was only after they noticed the delirious and red faced head of Elder Sung poking out from the bed roll. This was when they mistakenly believed that the elderly woman was in need of medical attention. The staff thought that the men had tied her up to ensure that she did not injure herself.

After another round of drinks to celebrate a successful foiling of Elder Sung's antics, the trio of men went to bed satisfied.

*****

Meanwhile in Azi and Shizu's personal room, the two were exchanging numerous kisses in bed. Shizu was on top of Azi and they both had each other in their embrace.

Releasing each other's lips, they both took a chance to catch their breaths as they rested on each other's respective shoulders. Through their heavy breathing, they felt an itch overcome their nostrils. They both sneezed but were able to stifle it.

"Ugh, how are we catching a cold? We are literally tucked in bed. Azi, pass me a towel."

Doing as instructed, Azi reached over with one of his free hands to a nearby towel that would usually be used to clean one's body. He handed one over and grabbed another for himself. The two of them then wiped their noses.

Tossing the rags to the side, they then nuzzled close to ensure that the other was sufficiently warmed.

"Not sure, maybe someone is talking about us?" Suggested Azi.

"Again, what does that mean?"

Azi took a moment to think but could not remember what he meant by his words. "Not sure. Must be a memory issue, but if we are getting cold then we only need to get warmer."

A teasing smile formed on Shizu's lips which Azi returned in kind. Taking his words as a go ahead signal, Shizu, for the umteenth time, pounced on Azi.