ℂhapter 4

It was cold out. She's in her night gown, staring at the view in front of her...but...why?...why was she crying?

Her legs curled up, inside of her gown. She's in a comfortable position. The scenery of the nature intrigues her.

She began sniffling her nose & wiping away her tears.

"I-it's nothing...please just leave me alone..."

This time, I don't leave her be. I pull up a chair & take a seat beside her, staring directly at her.

"You know you don't always have to do things alone..."

She glances at me. "What does a loser like you know?... absolutely nothing."

I chuckle at her words

"Yeah, I am the loser...but who is exactly crying out here by herself, looking pathetic?"

She lets out a little laugh but catches herself & covers her mouth.

"I'd rather be alone & pathetic than talk about my feelings to the likes of you."

Always quite the obnoxious one.

"You know...people actually like talking to me about their feelings."

A lot of people have come to me in the past because they desired for my advice so i'm not lying...it would just take a turn when they would ask me out on a date.

I guess I was just that nice.

"Good for you but I will not be on that list of girls who envy you or your advice." She scoffs.

Oh boy. I am getting deja vu. She reminds me so much of Silas.

"I am happy just figuring things out on my own."

I have realized that it will be extremely hard to break through this barrier of hers but I did make her accidently laugh a little so that should be progress enough.

"Maybe you don't need any advice that comes from me." I tell her. "But I still believe that keeping things bottled up isn't good for you..."

I gently shake my head. "It's an unhealthy lifestyle."

She pouts, pointing her eyes down. "The only thing unhealthy here...is the way you wield a sword."

Ouch.

I am pretty decent in a sword, hence the fact that I fought in a lot of wars since I was a young kid...but I was never professionally trained like she was. She has the advantage that I never did.

"Way to change the subject." I respond, rolling my eyes.

This time, she lets out a genuine laugh that lasts more than one second.

"Well...it's true!"

I shrug my shoulders & sigh. "Well at least I got you to laugh."

She instantly stops & covers her mouth again. "I'm not laughing."

I lean in closer to her. "You're not fooling anyone."

As I look into her eyes, I haven't noticed this before. They're so beautiful. They have a bit of sparkle in them. I almost stare too long until I realize that I may look creepy so I hide it with a small clear of the throat.

"But there is one thing I learned from this conversation..." I inform her.

"And what is that?" She responds.

I slide my fingers through my hair, feeling the breeze of the wind. "I've decided...that I want to be better at wielding a sword."

I grin. "And you're going to teach me."

She gloats, placing her arms around her legs. "And if I refuse?"

"If you refuse..." I begin, leaning back in my chair. "Then this loser will be bothering you nonstop, annoying you all day."

She corners her eyes to the side in happy annoyance. "Fine. You've got yourself a deal."

Rumia doesn't like sharing her personal problems & I get that. Regardless of it, we're not close enough anyways. She's not even comfortable sharing her thoughts with a half stranger like me.

...

The Next Day

Rumia told me to meet her outside after she is done with her lesson to teach in swordsmanship. She wanted to work with me separately than her students since we were going at different paces.

I had a bit of time before then so I just hung out around the palace.

"Felix!" Rias calls me. She seems annoyed.

"Have you seen Silas?"

I shake my head. "No, not today, why?"

"Ughahh!!" She groans. "He better not have left the palace gates by himself!"

I almost laugh. Rias really doesn't want Silas to do anything that will humiliate the Empire.

"Relax." I comfort her. "He probably just went to get his sword sharpened."

Silas usually sharpens it himself but ocassionally, after time has passed, he goes to a blacksmith & gets it sharpened there.

This seems like one of those times.

"hmmm I guess you're right." She sighs. "...But if he starts any trouble, he won't hear the last of me!"

I chuckle as she goes on her way, angrily. Silas is not the immature type who starts chaos on purpose so i'm not worried & neither should she be.

"Don't worry your pretty little head too much!" I turn around, yelling after her as she aggressively stomps her feet.

"Noted." She shouts back in a sharp tone.

She may not admit it but though she claims to hate Silas, she deeply cares about him as well.

"Are you ready?" Rumia asks when I make it to the area she asked to meet me at.

Though she had just taught a two hour lesson, she still appears to have kept her composure really well. Her hair is in place, no sign of sweat, her armour is still nicely intact.

"I've been ready."

She wields out her sword out of her scabbard & points it at me. "Oh, really?"

I take mine out as well.

I know she won't go easy on me.

She swings at me without notice & I dodge just in time. "Playing dirty are we?"

I swing back at her. "At least give a man warning next time!"

Our swords both clash into eachother as we stand in front of one another, panting.

"To me, this is fair." She grins. "A loser like you can understand that, correct?"

She pushes her sword forward, having mine go flying across the air & onto the grass. I look back & her's is pointed right in front of me with a cold glare in her eyes.

"First, if you want me to go easy on you...you need a better sword than that rusty looking one."

I chuckle, going back to lift up my sword. "How cold...this sword is my baby."

It may be rusty but it helped me fight wars. It helped me win & it helped me get to where I am today.

"Sorry to break it to you..." She responds, sarcastically. "But you need a new baby."

I take this opportunity to swing at her. She gets startled because she didn't see it coming but doesn't show it much.

"Are you offering?" I grin, jokingly.

She steps back, swinging her sword around. "As if i'd offer to be the babe of a loser like you!"

I laugh. "Is loser the only insult you got about me?"

Though, being called loser by her is kind of sweet...in an odd way.

"No." She narrows her eyes. "You're also weird, too nice, can't take a hint, terrible at wielding a sword, annoying...I can go on but the list is far too long."

She says all that, while still aiming & swinging her sword at me in different positions.

"Sounds like you're in love with me." I respond. "But I do have a lot of things to say about you...but i'd rather keep my nice guy image."

This isn't a swordsmanship lesson anymore. It's a bickering between Rumia & I.

"Imagine being in love with you." She scoffs. "I have higher standards than that."

The arguing continues on & it adds heat to the moment as I realize that it's actually kind of helping my sword skills in a way so I am not complaining.

"You're in luck." I breathe. "My standards don't contain girls who think so highly of themselves."

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