Suikoden Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Just a Form of Insanity ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Notes: I realized that Kouruko kinda disappeared down a plot hole… So he’s reappearing. Since he disappeared when Rico had that talk with Watari, we are just going to assume that are darling canine was accidentally locked out of the room And I will get around to fixing the previous chapters.

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Chapter 13

“Is there any possibility of you liking me?”

How did Fred got himself into these situations, he didn’t know. Give him a dragon breathing fire hotter than the furnaces of hell. Give him an invading army or a gargantuan spider and he’d happily deal with it. Anything was better than dealing with feelings, particularly those belonging to other people.

“It isn’t about liking you. I don’t have time for such foolish matters.”

“But, if you did have time for foolish matters?”

The knight turned away quickly, not willing to look him in the eye. This just kept getting more and more uncomfortable. “I see no point in this line of questioning. It is pointless.”

“Humor me and answer it.” Fred was about to retort that Watari and the word humor didn’t make any sense when put together but decided to keep his mouth shut, as he could also sense a disturbing amount of bloodlust coming from the ninja.

“I suppose under other circumstances, I might consider it…” Would he really consider it? Fred wasn’t sure. He’d never been interested in a relationship, so he hadn’t given it much thought. The most thought he had given it, had been around the realization that the most appropriate partner for him would be a young noble woman of high standing, someone who was the flower of virtue. It hadn’t really appealed to him for some reason, even though he felt a great amount of admiration towards that sort of woman.

“So then, why don’t you have time?” He doubted the ninja had talked this in his entire life, which Fred supposed was a good thing, or would have been it had been about anything else.

“Because I have a duty.”

“I wouldn’t get in the way. I‘m trained not to.”

“That’s not the point!” Fred began to put all his effort into moving towards the door, dragging Watari along with him. Which wasn’t easy as the ninja seemed to have his feet planted firmly and was pulling in the opposite direction.

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After dragging the ninja through half the castle, Fred came to the realization that he was in a real pickle here. Everyone had seen Watari clinging to him and so there would be even more gossip than before. He had considered hacking off the ninja’s arm, except that would have meant a knife in his back and a bloody mess for the castle staff to clean up.

“I’ll let go if you just answer my question.” One would have thought this was all a joke if not for the fact that it was Watari doing this.

Even if it wasn‘t a joke though, Fred refused to humor him. “No.” Some women snickered to themselves as they passed by the two. Fred reddened even more, the possible loss of his reputation beginning to worry him. “You are making a scene.”

“It’s you making the scene.” Watari offered matter of factly, not loosening his grip.

Fred huffed and jerked his arm forward, dragging Watari with it. The ninja was a heavy load to carry, even for him. “Fine then.” He glared at Watari as if he was the most repulsive thing he had ever seen. “As an ally yes, I do accept you and like you. As a friend, I could like you once I got to know you, enough that I could ignore your distasteful profession. As a lover though,” he sighed to himself, “it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.”

Watari let go of his arm then and nodded. “Good.” With that he started to walk away as if he had not been clinging to him for hours.

“That’s all you wanted? You just humiliated me even more, just for that?” The knight now found himself even redder, though this time it was from anger rather than from embarrassment.

The ninja shrugged, not turning to look at him. “Needed to know if I’m wasting my time.”

“Huh?” Fred scratched his head wondering what the ninja had meant by that, though he had the sinking feeling that it couldn’t be good.

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Regardless of how he may have acted, it was hard for Percival to relate to those of the higher classes. He had always been afraid that he’d be looked down upon for his lower birth and thus he tended to be a little cool towards new comers. So he had been a little wary when this Roan du Lac had randomly joined him at the diner table.

But, the youth had proven to be quite enjoyable, if a bit arrogant. He was a lot like Borus actually, accept a little clumsier and unsure of what to do with his lanky frame. “So, how is it that you are to be married to our Lily Pendragon?” Percival said this with a kind smile, for he could only imagine how troublesome such an engagement would be for well, anyone.

“Ugh..” The boy racked a hand through his hair, which seemed unwilling to stay put. “After Highland was liberated, Tinto made contacts among the merchants there and well, my father was the head of the guild there. He and Gustav decided that an alliance between the guilds would be a good idea and since they had two children the same age.”

“Ah. It’s a rough life, even for the children of merchants.” He grinned wryly at the boy.

“I suppose you could say that.” He smirked for a moment. “Guilds have a lot more power than you’d think though.”

“You don’t need to tell me. Zexen thrives on the almighty dollar.”

“So, is it true that your captain is a woman?” The change in subject caught Percival off guard, though he supposed it was to be excepted.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Is she pretty?”

“Though I should not comment on such matters, she is indeed fair.” Actually he’d have said more than fair, far more than that.

“Hmmm… Well if Lily likes her, I doubt that.”

“Have you thought of running out on your wedding? Because in your case I’m thinking that might be for the best.”

“Been planning it for years, but my father would disinherit me. And Lily would kill me for humiliating her in front of the entire wedding party.” Percival chuckled at the grimace on his face. “But let us not talk of unpleasant things. I have a question for you. How well acquainted are you with that ninja Watari?”

“Why do you ask? Did you try talking to him and find that it was like talking to a brick wall?

“So he’s still like that.” At Percival’s look, Roan got flustered. “I mean, I assumed that he was the silent type. You can always tell just by looking at a person if they are really responsive or not.”

“I see.” Percival was suspicious but decided not to call him on it. “I’m afraid that no one knows much about him. He was hired for a large sum of money till the duration of the war and has been here ever since. Oh and apparently Miss Ayame wants to kill him.”

“Ayame’s here!?” The boy stood up for a moment, then settled down. “I mean…” He pushed his chair in and looked around. “I’m afraid I have to leave. Thank you for your companionship.” And he was off before Percival could stop him.

“Well that was peculiar.”

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Kouruko hadn’t been happy about being locked out of the room, but had quickly decided to go exploring some more. He was hungry after all, so it was time to see if Cecile had anything for him to eat. Trotting outside, the dog was unhappy to see that his bowl was empty.

He sat down in front of his dish, curling up into a little ball. Now that the dog thought about it, he supposed he had down a bad thing by hanging around Watari so much. The ninja was in ‘like’ with that that loud human. And humans seemed to dislike it when they didn’t get to be alone with people they were in ‘like’ with.

As Karouko contemplated this ‘like’ thing, he felt a dark shadow looming over him. As he looked up, he yelped and backed up quickly, sensing incredible hostility coming from the person before him.

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To Be Continued…

Who is it that’s menacing our beloved canine? What of Watari and Fred? Or Roan for that manner?