小嫂子的味道

The following day was spent in a snap, I never knew that time could pass this quickly. First of, Anya and I returned to our rooms and were surprised to see that they were still being maintained and had not a single particle of dust.

After arranging our things and getting some rest, we were called by Ainge for lunch. It was good, tasting the food made by her hands after eating from the cafeteria for so long. It had a different feel to it.

I don't know if I could explain it to you, but most of the times eating in the cafeteria only filled with stomach, it didn't quite satisfied my mind and made me feel like I've eating something. But the food made by Ainge did that, and I cherished that feeling.

Now, here I don't mean to say that the food in the cafeteria was bad. But if you've ever been away from your house for a while and then come back and tasted your mom's cooking, you will understand what I was trying to say.

Once the dinner was done, time flew by so quickly that I didn't even realize. Most of it was spent in chatter. We shared our experiences at the academy, and the both of us were a little taken back to know how different the atmosphere around us was despite being in the same campus. But well, I guess it was only reasonable.

It was not only us telling the stories, Ainge and Ron had a few too. Well, if the details about how Ron wasn't able to concentrate on his work for a few weeks after we were gone and repeatable told Ainge how much he missed the kids, counts as a story. I asked them that if anything interesting had happened in the city while we were gone, turns out that everything was peaceful. That means at least now the places which were not mentioned in the novel were not getting affected by the plot either.

That was some information I was fortunate to get.

"Now, now, I guess that's enough talking for the while. You two should go and rest now," Ainge said, stopping the discussion.

"But I've already rested," Anya complained. She probably wanted to spent some more time with them, I thought that she  still didn't realize that we had a whole month to go.

"No, you are going to bed right now. You have traveled a long distance and your body must be tired even if you deny it, I won't be listening to any of your excuses," Ainge replied.

"But—"

She probably wanted to say something else but she got a hard stare from Ainge, and that was enough to quiet her down. For some reason, that trick always worked. I wonder why.

"Go to your rooms."

That was the final statement, even Ron wasn't able to say anything against that. Thus, both Anya and I stood up and went toward our rooms. It was still only seven in the evening so there was still some time left before dinner.

Since I had nothing to do, I was going to lie on the bed in my room. That's what you do on vacations, right?

[So those are your parents?] Req's voice resounded in my head while I was walking by the side of the garden, heading toward my room.

'Yeah, got any problem with that?'

[Not really. Until and unless they try to come between us—]

'Yes, yes, that's enough.'

[But I was just trying to make a point.]

'I'll block you out if this is the only thing you want to talk about,' I warned as I opened the door to my room and stepped inside.

"Sigh, fine. Sometimes your just stubborn. Will it hurt so much to listen to me?" this time her voice wasn't in my head, as she was in her human form, sitting on my bed while swinging her legs in the air.

"I do that because I already know all the nonsense you're gonna say," I stated.

It was true. Though her personality was different and she was not a cardboard cutout, it still didn't stop her from using some of the cliche lines I've read so many times in novels.

"Sheesh! How can you be so cold to such a cute girl?" she asked as she looked at me with her puppy eyes.

'And then there is the thousand years old girl troupe. How can I possibly forget that?'

"Will you get off my bed now? I wish to rest a bit," I said as I walked close and stood next to the bed.

"Oh ho?!" Req muttered in amusement, her lips curling upward in a mischievous smile. "Why don't you just come and lie down? We have enough space here for two people to fit in easily. It's the winter season, so might feel cold if you're alone."

"It's fine. The cold never bothered me anyway," I said as I sat on the other side of the bed.

"Oh, I see," Req replied. "However, I am not as durable as you, thus I might need your assistance to get some sleep."

"Just transform back in the sword," I advised. Even though I knew she already knew that solution and was only toying with me.

"Hmm? What do I see here? Could it be that you are hesitating to sleep on the same bed as me because you won't be able to control yourself?" she asked in an indecent tone.

"Cut it out already," I said.

"Hoo?! Now I know! My master won't be able to control his manly instincts when he sleeps beside a beautiful girl!! That is the case! I finally get it!"

"You have no intentions of going back to being a sword, do you?"

"You bet I don't."

"Sigh, do whatever you want," letting out a sigh, I said.

Unfortunately, I had no way to force her to transform back into the Requiem sword. I have tried it before but it didn't work, that was something she controlled out of her own will.

Thus all I did was ignore her as she sneaked into the blanket and lay on the bed beside me.

And I maybe Ainge was right, I was tired. Probably that's why I fell asleep even when I hadn't intended to.