The Razor's Edge [[Feitan x Reader]]

33: The Admission

   It was raining outside. Machi said that it would rain all day. This didn't deter us, though. We didn't mind getting a little muddy.

   Training went about how i'd expected it to after taking a month off. Any progress I'd made in keeping control over Poe was lost. I was knocked out as soon as i'd made the blood sacrifice. At least I still didn't need any recovery time after using my ability. Nobunaga's weight on top of me was a lot heavier than what I'd gotten used to with Feitan, though.

   As per usual when she was in charge, Machi stopped us after only one round of training. She was especially worried about pushing me too hard after everything I'd been through. While I appreciated her concern, I really wanted things to be the same as they were before. Still, I didn't try to fight her on it. I knew she wouldn't change her mind.

   "Are you excited for tonight?" Shizuku asked me as we made our way back inside.

   "Tonight?" I didn't understand what she meant. Was there a mission I hadn't heard about? "What's tonight?"

   Nobunaga groaned. "Aw man, nice going Shizuku."

   "What?" she asked.

   Machi sighed. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

   "It was? I didn't know."

   "We only spent all morning talking about it," Nobunaga said, rolling his eyes

   "Well, I'm sorry."

   I frowned. I hated feeling left out. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

   "We planned a little 'welcome back' party for you," Nobunaga answered.

   "Try to act surprised," Machi added. "We all worked really hard."

   Feitan got back to base that afternoon with Shalnark. I asked him to train with me, but he said no, telling me he had too much to take care of before we could start looking for the boss again.

   So, with nothing else to do I decided to spend some time in my room, making more bracelets—that was, until Shizuku dragged me into her room so that she could dress me for the party.

   "If it's supposed to be a surprise anyway, then does it really matter what I wear? I mean, why do I need to get all dressed up just to go downstairs and have a couple of drinks?"

   "It isn't just casual drinks, it's a real party," Machi insisted. "Kortopi even spent all day copying decorations and stuff for the main room."

   "And we're all getting dressed up!" Shizuku said. "Shalnark thought it would be fun."

   "And how would you have gotten me to dress up if I hadn't found out about the party?"

   Shizuku thought for a moment. "I probably would've told you that we'd set you up on a date or something."

   I couldn't help but laugh. "Really? With who?"

   "I dunno," she said. "A blind date."

   I scoffed. "I wouldn't have agreed to go, then."

   "Are you saying that there's someone you would have agreed to go with?"

   Machi was off to the side, pinching the bridge of her nose to keep from yelling at us. "Can we focus here? Look, whatever you wear doesn't have to be too fancy, just. . . a little nicer than usual."

   "Even Machi's letting me pick out a dress for her."

   She frowned. "No, I'm not."

   "Aw, come on! I promise it won't be anything too girly," Shizuku said, wrapping her arms around her.