Escorting Home

After leaving the area with the members of the Katsuji Clan that were bound, Wang Xu and Shirona Yui were currently walking through the quiet streets. The duo walked in silence for a few minutes, each with their own thoughts.

It wasn't until five minutes later that Shirona Yui broke the silence, "Are you sure that it was alright to have left things the way that you did? Knowing Katsuji Natsume, not only will she be reporting this failure to her family's elders, she'll be sure to do a thorough background check on you before making her next move."

Wang Xu listened in silence as Shirona Yui spoke, showing a calm expression on his face. After she was finished, the corner of his lips curved upward slightly before he spoke in a carefree tone, "As I told her, I was already involved the moment they decided to go after you in my presence. Even if I had refrained from doing anything and they did capture you, their next objective would have been to silence me so that your family wouldn't have been able to figure out what happened until their plans were ready."

A frown formed on Shirona Yui's face as she contemplated Wang Xu's words. Putting herself in Katsuji Natsume's place, she could see herself doing exactly what Wang Xu had just described. Even if she wasn't willing to outright kill him, trying to capture him would have been the very next item on her agenda.

As if he was ignorant of Shirona Yui's current thoughts, Wang Xu decided to continue speaking, "Besides, even if they decided to investigate me, there won't be much to find. I grew up without parents and there aren't any other family members that they can look for that has any relation to me. In fact, them doing the background check on me would give them even more questions than answers. And since that's the case, why not have them chasing a few ghosts? This way, you'll have more time to prepare for future events."

After saying this, Wang Xu no longer spoke as he continued to match Shirona Yui's pace. As for the Department Head herself, she just looked at Wang Xu with a curious expression, currently wondering what kind of secrets this seemingly average-looking security guard is hiding from the world.

Knowing that she would get no answers to her own questions, or rather, feeling that asking those questions in the first place wouldn't be proper after what he had just done for her, Shirona Yui chose to keep quiet as she continued walking home. That being said, this didn't stop her from taking a few secret glances at the man walking with her from time to time.

The duo walked for another ten minutes before they finally arrived at the apartment complex that Shirona Yui lives in. Wang Xu raised an eyebrow as he examined the place. Although it was currently during the night, he could still see that this apartment complex was on the luxurious side. If he had to guess, the residents of this apartment complex were anything but ordinary.

With these thoughts in mind, Wang Xu took another glance at the woman next to him. From the looks of it, she must be really important to her clan if they had her living in a place like this.

Besides that, Wang Xu could also feel a few hidden gazes locked unto his figure the moment he and the Department Head arrived at the entrance. Going by the information that he possesses so far, those gazes probably belong to the bodyguards that were tasked with Shirona Yui's safety.

Having summarized everything up to this point in just a few moments, Wang Xu decided that it was time for him to take his leave. As Shirona Yui started to make her way inside, Wang Xu stood still long enough for her to enter before turning around.

He barely made it three feet before he heard a voice in his ears, "And where do you think you are going, Mr. Wang?"

Those words made Wang Xu stop in his tracks and turn around, only to see the bespectacled woman standing at the entrance to the building. There was an obvious expression of confusion on his face as he stared at the bespectacled woman.

Seeing this, Shirona Yui raised an eyebrow as she spoke, "Weren't you going to escort me home, Mr. Wang?"

Wang Xu nodded slowly as the confusion receded from his face, only to be replaced by a curious expression as he spoke, "Haven't I already done so, Ms. Shirona?"

A snort was the response he received as Shirona Yui adjusted the glasses on her face. Following this, she pointed to the entrance with her thumb as she spoke, "Escorting me to the entrance of this apartment complex and escorting me home is not the same thing, Mr. Wang. There is still quite a distance between both places and anything could happen to me during the time it takes for me to complete that trip."

When Wang Xu heard this, he was silent for a moment before he went over to Shirona Yui's side. Since she said it like that, he could only comply with her wishes.

If anyone told him that the Department Head was unaware of the various safety features in the apartment complex and her own personal bodyguards in hiding, not only would Wang Xu not believe that person, he would also punch them square in the mouth for lying to him. Such a person, whether they are lying or are truly ignorant would deserve such a hit.

Those thoughts briefly flashed through Wang Xu's mind before he shook his head slowly as he walked with the Department Head. For now, he would do as he promised and escort the bespectacled lady to her apartment.

Shirona Yui's apartment was situated at the last house on the seventh floor. Due to this, the duo had to take one of the two elevators in the lobby area up to said floor before walking for another few minutes to reach her apartment.

Although Wang Xu found that bit of information a bit weird, considering the possible safety issues that may crop up, he never bothered to point it out as it wasn't any of his business.

After a few minutes of walking together, the duo was now standing before the entrance of Shirona Yui's apartment. Unlike what he did at the entrance, Wang Xu decided to wait until Shirona Yui had entered her apartment and close the door behind her before turning to leave.

Alas, it seems that there was some supernatural being from up above that found messing with him to be entertaining.

"Since you're already up here, would you like to come in and have some tea?"

Those words. Upon hearing those words, Wang Xu tilted his head slightly in confusion. He vaguely remembered hearing similar words recently but he couldn't place it at the moment.

After a few seconds of confusion and not remembering, Wang Xu nodded in response before following Shirona Yui into the apartment. As he entered and walked a few feet, that vague feeling from before returned in full force. This time, however, Wang Xu recalled the memory and the corner of his lips curved upwards slightly before he suppressed his emotions.

'Calm down, Kirou. Just because their situations were similar doesn't mean that the end result will be the same. Besides, since when have my emotions been this unstable? Could it be because I'm in a younger body now?'

Those were a few of the thoughts that flashed through Wang Xu's mind as he followed Shirona Yui into her living room. Upon entering, Wang Xu was led to the sofa before Shirona Yui left to take care of a few things.

Sitting on the sofa, Wang Xu surveyed the room that he was in. The decorations were few but from what was there, Wang Xu could detect a cozy feeling of 'home' from the simply designed living room.

Wang Xu sat in silence for a few moments before Shirona Yui returned. She was currently dressed in casual clothes and was walking in with a tea set on a tray.

After placing down the tray on the coffee table, Shirona Yui sat next to Wang Xu and started brewing the tea. Her movements were smooth and deliberate, showing that she has considerable experience with tea making.

While this was going on, Wang Xu also took a few moments to take in the view of Shirona Yui in casual wear. Although it wasn't his intention when doing so, he had to admit that Shirona Yui gave off a different 'feel' in her current apparel as opposed to what she wore earlier.

Shaking his head free of such thoughts, Wang Xu watched as Shirona Yui finished making the tea and filled up two cups. After placing one before Wang Xu, Shirona Yui then took up her own before having a careful sip. As she did this, she gave off the feeling of no longer caring about Wang Xu but a closer inspection showed that she was watching him from the corner of her eyes.

To this, Wang Xu's eyebrow arched slightly as he took up his own cup. Instead of bringing it directly to his lips to sample it, he first brought the cup close enough so that he could take in the fragrance of the tea.

This was something he did out of habit, both as a means of enjoyment and a safety measure against poison. As someone who's lived long enough as an assassin, there have been many cases in which his meals and drinks have been laced with poison and it was through this simple act that prevented his death each time.

Don't overthink the situation. Although Kirou had heightened senses in his past life due to his training and his current body is slowly developing towards that stage, he isn't capable of identifying all the poisons that exist, nor does he want to. Instead, by taking in the scent of the tea, he can identify whether or not the ingredients have perfectly blended together. Usually, in the case of poison, there is always that one scent that stands out above the rest that disrupts the harmony of the fragrance in the tea.

Having found that the tea before him had no such irregularities, Wang Xu brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip. From the side, Shirona Yui watched his every move from the corner of her eyes. Seeing the contented expression form on his face as the tea slid down his throat, she no longer stared in his direction as she enjoyed the tea in her hands.

Like that, both sides enjoyed their respective cups of tea in silence, creating a tranquil atmosphere. As soon as a cup was emptied, the owner would then refill it with the contents of the kettle. This peace continued for another twenty minutes.

This time, both sides had finished their tea at the same time. Seeing this, Wang Xu went ahead to refill their cups, only to realize that the kettle only had enough for one person. It only took a split second for him to pour the rest into Shirona Yui's cup.

With Wang Xu placing down the kettle after filling her cup, Shirona Yui immediately realized what happened and looked at him with a curious expression.

Seeing her expression, Wang Xu chuckled before speaking, "Thank you for the delicious tea, Ms. Shirona. It's just a shame that there was only enough for one last cup."

Although his words sounded a bit disappointed, Shirona Yui could see the content expression on Wang Xu's face. It caused an unfamiliar feeling to well up inside her body. That said, those words of his sparked a strange idea in her mind, one in which she acted on immediately.

Wang Xu watched as Shirona Yui rose from her seat. Before he could even react, she then proceeded to straddle him. He was momentarily dazed as she carefully took a sip from the cup he had just filled before bringing her face close to his.

With her face this close, he was once again reminded of the charm that she normally had hidden from others. Before his mind could go further on that thought, her lips connected with his. After a small bit of prying with her tongue, Wang Xu's lips parted, allowing the tea to flow into his mouth.

After swallowing the tea, Wang Xu's gaze was locked on the face of the woman who just fed him the tea. He could see the mirth in her eyes, along with something else as she stared at him. That stare made Wang Xu immediately sober up as he returned one of his own.

Needless to say, the rest of the tea in that cup was forgotten as the duo went back to kissing. This time, however, their hands were no longer still as both sides made it a point to see who could caress the other more. Somewhere along the way, the duo found that their clothes were a hindrance so they helped 'relieving' each other of this hindrance.

As it stood, Wang Xu spent the night 'thanking' his hosting for the delicious tea that he was served.