[Completed] Legend of the Five Knights I: Rise of a Guardian Angel

Episode 41: Abandoned

Akari shook her head, snapping out of the trance she had put herself in. She led Takuya back toward the apartments but stopped momentarily to admire some of the goods. Her eyes lit up when she saw a crimson gown. The glint in her eyes vanished as she recalled that she was out of money.

Takuya lowered his head. She had spent all of her money on him, a complete stranger. While he had no experience in modeling, he would fulfill the role, for her sake.

His eyes shifted toward one of the stands, and gasped as he saw a woman who resembled his mother talking to a cloaked person.

"Ma, Kuroshi?" Takuya said as he glanced back at them.

The woman who resembled Anis was laughing. It had been years since he had seen her smile like that, not since the time his pa was still alive.

"Your mother is here?" Akari asked, coming to a stop. She glanced over at the pair as they stopped to look at some food.

Takuya's mouth started to water by the delicious scents. He shook his head.

The blonde woman chuckled. "Come on, let's go. I'll prepare you something once we arrive."

The young man wiped his mouth right away with the sleeve of his free arm. He took one last glance at his ma and the cloaked person. He was sure it was Kuroshi. What was their relationship? He looked down. It was alright for his ma to move on, but... to doing so on the anniversary of his father's death was simply... He shook his head, pushing the thought out.

***

"I feel weird in this," Takuya said, stepping out of the bathroom. He had taken a shower and changed into his new garments. The clothes fit him perfectly and looked nice, but he felt like a dog wearing cat fur.

Akari stood up and whistled. "What do you mean? You look dashing." She made her way to him, walking comfortably in a pair of the two-inch high heels. "Let me fix this." Her hands tagged on his collar, adjusting it so that it lined up perfectly.

"Where did you get all this money?" Takuya asked, staring down at his beautiful silk garments.

She sighed. "It's money that my parents have sent me. I'd been saving it up to get a wardrobe change." She glanced down at the black dress with lace trimming that she was wearing. "This dress and another are the only truly nice clothes I have. I used to have a lot back when I lived at home."

Takuya tilted his head and crossed his arms. "I see. Say, can we head to the castle now? I want to wear somethin' that suits me better."

Her face drew closer until they were inches apart. "Come on! You should enjoy looking this nice. I didn't buy you all these clothes so that you'll go back to looking like a homeless person."

"I guess that's true," he said, sighing, "Beats a suit too. Wearin' one makes me feel suffocated."

She tilted her head at him. "So, you've worn a suit before?"

Takuya averted his gaze. "I don't look like one who has, do I? But yeah. I wore one when I was a kid."

It was for my pa's funeral...

He looked down at his clothes again.

"Also, you didn't have to help me this much."

She smiled. "Of course I did! You know, my help isn't free."

He sat down on her golden bed and snickered. "Right. You want me to model. Mind explainin' it a bit more?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm an artist. Lately, I've been drawing people. I want you to be the subject of my newest collection."