Shangri La Pt. 1

32: Sheepish

"It was nice having you see me again, Izumi, please come again when you aren't busy at the palace." Inko happily requested to her daughter as the disguised greenette and Captain were ready to head back to the palace. 

"Don't worry, mom, I will." 

"Oh– and Izumi–" Inko waved for her daughter to lean in like earlier that day and whispered; "I do hope you bring this young man with you again in future visits. He seems like the perfect man for you." 

"M-Mother!?!? W-We'll be going now. And please take good care of yourself." Izumi embarrassingly demanded as she started pushing the Captain out of the house.

And just as the disguised greenette was pushing the Captain, Katsuki managed to glimpse back and see Inko smile and nod at him about what she spoke about to him earlier that day. 

"S-Sorry if my mom said anything silly or weird to you, she hasn't met an outside person in a very long time." Izumi noted. 

"Ha? How long is a 'very long time'?" 

"Probably over 5 years. It would be dangerous if anyone found out she was alive, hence why I haven't asked anyone to watch over her." 

"Cause you can't trust anyone?" 

"Mn. B-But since you already know about me, I-I figured it would be fine since it was you, b-because you haven't hurt me. R-Right?" she stuttered as she glanced up at him.

Hearing her voice become sheepish and frail was just in showing how much she was scared of other people to the point that it made his chest throb at the idea of hurting her. 

"Ah– You don't need to worry about that, and you most likely won't have to worry about the other guys going after you," he noted. 

"Hm? 'The other guys?' You mean the other knights?" 

"Yeah. Figuring you don't know this, your little clan isn't considered a threat in the West, so the other guys wouldn't really see you as a threat if they knew about your background." Katsuki clarified. 

"Oh– I-I see." 

'He's so kind, and just when I thought he was nothing but a meathead with a giant sword... he's actually pretty thoughtful and... caring. Erm–' When she thought about it, she realized she had no other chance to do this and stopped in her tracks, causing the Captain to notice.

"Ha? What's up with you? Why'd you stop?" he questioned as he looked back at her. She remained standing there and clutching the package in her hands and then took a deep breath as she raised the package up to him. 

"This is for you." she spoke as her cheeks blossomed a sweet pink color. 

Katsuki ended up standing there frozen while looking down at the package in her hands and didn't know what to say or do. 

"You– Huh?"

( Slight Flashback! )

"There you go, mom, nice and clean." Izumi sighed as she finished helping her mother get her body all washed nice and clean. 

"Thank you, sweetie. And there's something I wanted to ask you." 

"Hm? Oh no– Don't tell me it's about that guard you met earlier. I promise you, mother, there's nothing going on between–" 

"I was going to ask you what's in that package you brought in with you?" 

"Ah– Huh? Oh–" Izumi glanced back to where she placed the package Kendo gave her earlier that day. 

"It's for what just happened. I'm so sorry Neito acted like that to you, so think of this as a compensation. I would've preferred Neito to do this instead of me, but he's gonna be embarrassed for a while, so take it." "Don't worry, this was something I made specifically for you."