My Sun and Moon (Akaza x OC)

Chapter 26: Atonement for One's Sins

To say that she had been excited by the fact he wanted to speak with her, it would have been an understatement. Seeing him here after the concern she had felt assuming she had done something to cause such a sudden change had been a breath of fresh air. An odd feeling. To be so concerned over him being possibly annoyed with her. The loneliness she had felt without him had felt foreign, a part of her hoped that after they would talk she needn't worry about feeling the way she had ever again. She knew there would be moments they'd be alone, she hadn't wanted to spend every single waking moment with him, but to feel as though them being side by side might never happen again? That had been something she desperately wished to avoid. Nagano wondered in that brief moment if she had grown to care for him? Could it even be classified as the same care one had for a friend? The other slayers she had grown up with and worked alongside she had considered them her friends, yet, how she felt with them did not feel the same as how it was with Akaza. Could it be affection? A deeper level of affection?

"Does this mean that our training time is over?" Kaigaku spoke up.

Turning to face him, Nagano gave a swift nod. "We will be cutting it short, yes. We'll continue tomorrow."

Grumbling in annoyance, Kaigaku's eyes glared as he watched Akaza standing in the archway, unmoving from his spot Akaza glared in return. The two of them stood in silence as they watched Kaigaku disappear out of sight after leaping to whichever unknown level of the infinity castle after exiting the archway of her room.

"You're training the sixth moon?" Akaza snorted amusedly, his face still turned towards the archway, perhaps still keeping an eye on wherever he might have gone.

"And?" Nagano raised an eyebrow. "Is there an issue with me training him?"

"He tried to kill you not even a week ago," Akaza shook his head, "Do you do that with everyone that tries to kill you? Will you train Doma next?"

"No," Nagano swiftly turned on her feet to face him. "Plus, he was the one to offer it to me."

It had been his turn to quickly face her, his eyebrows knitted together in a deep dare. "He what?"

"Why should you care? You wanted nothing to do with me a week ago, and now suddenly you return as if none of that happened?" Nagano demanded. If he wanted to talk, then she was going to get answers.

"Did you accept?" Akaza asked, ignoring the other questions she demanded.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Nagano scoffed.

"I know you tend to make foolish decisions." He raised an eyebrow.

"Accepting his deal is more than just a foolish decision. There isn't an ounce of trust that I have for that psychopath, there's no way I was going to accept his offer." Nagano took a step forward. "And to answer the curious look on your face when you asked about me training him, he was the one who asked me to train him, I didn't offer."

"How is he? Any good?"

Nagano bobbed her head from side to side as she pondered how to word it, pausing at the entrance of the room, she stared out into the massive expanse in front of them, "He has potential."

"That bad?" Akaza snorted and stood beside her.

"He's too angry," Nagano scrunched her nose.

"You have a temper, yet here you are." Akaza amusedly joked.

Akaza making a joke? Either he had hit his head a little too hard in the time away, or he truly was in a good mood. Nagano wondered what could have happened to cause such a change. It wasn't just his mood that seemed to change, but his entire demeanor. Very similar to the change he had seemed to have after being forced to watch her change. The change hadn't been anything physical, whatever had changed, it had seemed to be internally, mentally.