Chapter 207 — In Bed Together

Yuki

After dinner, I sat alone in my room, waiting for Akeno to arrive.

She said she wanted to get ready before heading to my room.

Koneko had looked annoyed by the jabs Akeno made at her during dinner as she teased that she was stealing her spot tonight.

Koneko hadn’t reacted much to the teasing, however.

She had left immediately after dinner without saying anything.

She was likely heading down to the basement to train, or was already in her own room.

I glanced at my own dresser as I lamented that I wouldn’t be able to get any extra training in tonight.

I had spent longer in the bath with Xenovia and Yuuto than I had planned and wasn’t able to spend time looking over the spell books I have in my room, or studying my cursed items.

The necklace I had taken from my Devil work with one of my contractors, Hiyou-san, has given me an idea that I had not yet been able to test out.

The way the entity it contains is summoned caught my attention.

I was wondering if I could use the mechanics of that curse to create a spell of my own.

I was broken from my thoughts as I heard a knock at my door.

I stood from my desk and crossed the room to answer my door.

When I opened it Akeno was wearing a light purple yukata.

Her hair was down rather than in her usual style and she was smiling at me as I opened the door.

I was surprised to see that her choice of pajamas was much more tame than I had been expecting.

She noticed my look and grinned.

“Are you disappointed by my choice of clothes? If you’d like, I can change into something more exciting.”

I sighed and shook my head.

“No I’d rather you didn’t. What you’re wearing is fine.”

Akeno’s smile dimmed.

“Do you not like it?”

I blinked at how earnest she looked as she asked the question.

Her teasing tone vanished as she frowned slightly while she waited for my response.

“I only meant that I didn’t want you to go and change. You look very nice in your yukata, Akeno-san. The purple looks good on you,” I replied. 

“I’m glad. I picked it knowing that you like the color,”  she said with a soft smile. “And you look good in yours as well, Yuki-chan. I like the flowers.”

I was wearing a yukata as pajamas as well, and as Akeno had said, it had a simple floral pattern on it.

I normally wore them to bed and would only occasionally sleep in something else, like an oversized shirt.

“Well, come in,” I said as I gestured for her to enter my room. “I don’t believe that you’ve been in my room before, so feel free to look around.”

Akeno walked into my room and looked around.

Her gaze lingered on my desk and bookshelves as she scanned the room. 

“It really does look just like Ise-kun’s room. The massive bed and desk are the same, but he’s added the couches and coffee table while you’ve added some bookshelves,” she commented. “Your room seems a bit more bare, but it’s just you in here, while Ise-kun has Asia-chan and Rias with him. Though I suppose you could say that Koneko-chan rooms with you at this point.”

“Koneko-chan only keeps one or two sets of clothes here, and occasionally spends a night in her own room,” I replied. “And I suppose I should get somewhere for people to sit. Xenovia, Yuuto-san, and I play chess occasionally and we normally use one of the common rooms, but I suppose we could play here.”

“I’d like to play a game with you sometimes. I don’t play as often as Rias or Yuuto-chan do, but I’m decent enough.”

“Sure. I’d be happy to play against you.”

Akeno smiled and glanced at my bookshelves.

“So, you are obviously an avid reader,” Akeno said with a small grin. “I noticed you and Koneko-chan spending time at bookstores while you followed Ise-kun and me on our date.”

I sighed.

“Yes, Rias-Buchou requested that all of us be involved with her plan to watch the two of you. I decided to take the time to shop for myself and look around since we were out.”

Akeno chuckled. 

“I noticed. It was fun to watch Rias’s poor attempt at spying.”

Akeno paused as she noticed the lock box on my desk.

“Whats that? Keepsakes?”

I shook my head.

“Cursed items that I’ve collected. They are either harmless or contained. I keep them locked away as an extra layer of security,” I replied.

“You keep cursed items in your bedroom?”

“As I said, they’re safe. Plus, I’m the most equipped to deal with them, and we don’t really have somewhere to properly store them in the house.”

Akeno tilted her head slightly. 

“I suppose that’s fair. Maybe we should bring up making an artifact storage room to Rias. But circling back to being followed on Ise-kun and my date. I wanted to thank you for not telling Rias and the others that you found us.”

“You’re welcome. You deserved to have some time alone with Issei-san on your date. Even if he probably didn’t realize that it was a real date,” I replied.

Akeno sighed.

“He is dense when it comes to these things, but he’s not the only one in the peerage like that,” Akeno said as she looked over the titles of the books on my shelves. “But that’s enough talking about Ise-kun for now. We are supposed to be enjoying our night together. We haven't really spent time with just the two of us before.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“I thought the whole point of your reward was to sleep in the same room. And nothing was stopping us from spending time together if you had wanted to before.”

Akeno looked away from my books and gave me a wry smile.

“Well, you’re almost always with Koneko-chan if you’re not training. And if I asked to be alone with you, you’d probably think I’d want to mess around and be on guard, right?”

“With how you normally act, I likely would be suspicious of you. And Koneko-chan and I are good friends. We enjoy each other's company as the two quiet members of the peerage. Plus we are both Youkai.”

Akeno nodded.

“She’s been even more attached to you since she stopped hiding her Nekomata traits. I’m surprised that she hasn’t tried to move into one of the adjacent rooms yet,” Akeno said as she walked to my bed and sat on the end of it. “And that’s why I was quite happy to get a chance to spend some time with you alone.”

Akeno patted the bed next to her.

I debated bringing my desk chair over for a moment before deciding against it and sitting beside her on my bed.

“And what exactly would you like to do?”

“I didn’t have anything particular in mind, actually. Why don’t we just talk for a while before we go to bed? Tell me more about your book collection to start.”

I nodded. 

“Well, I got my love of reading and my taste in books from my mother. So a lot of the books that I have in my room were ones that she had in her collection in my home growing up.”

Akeno smiled softly.

“It’s nice that you have something related to your mother like that. The reason that I take care of one of the local shrines as a shrine maiden is that my mother was a Shinto priestess. I enjoy taking care of my shrine because it makes me feel closer to her.”

“It's good to hear that you have a way to remember her like that. And I’d heard that you took care of a shrine in town from Bucho. I’d like to see it sometime if you’d be able to show me around it.”

“I’d love to. Maybe during a weekend we could head there and I’ll show you my shrine. I haven’t been able to take care of it as easily now that we all live here, but I still keep the shrine in decent shape,” Akeno said. “So, besides training, reading, and playing chess, what other hobbies do you have?”

I paused as I thought for a moment.

“That's it really. Up until I became a part of Rias-Buchou’s peerage, I wasn't really able to pursue any hobbies outside of reading. And now that I have all of you to spend time with, I’d rather do that, or train to improve my abilities than do something else alone.”

Akeno frowned slightly.

“Well, you still need time to yourself to unwind. And I get that you enjoy reading, but you could try other things as well in case you’re not in the mood to do that. Besides taking care of my shrine, I also garden and play music in my free time alone. I’ve been growing plants on the rooftop garden here since the building was renovated.”

“I didn’t know you did either of those things. I haven’t been to the roof besides taking a look around it once,” I said. “What instrument do you play?”

Akeno smiled wryly. 

“The shamisen, though I wouldn’t say I’m particularly skilled at it,” Akeno said, then frowned. “My mother knew how to play and I had wanted her to teach me, but she never got the chance.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Akeno-san. If you’d like someone to listen to you play, I’d be happy to listen.”

“That sounds nice,” Akeno said with a smile. “So, what kind of hobbies sound interesting to you? I’ve already told you some of mine. Are there any that you could think of that you’d like to try?”

I shook my head.

“Right now, I want to focus on training mainly. I’ll have time to focus on other things later.”

Akeno fell backwards and lay on my bed.

“You're too focused on getting stronger. I know it’s important, and we are all training and practicing techniques, but you’re single-minded with it. I’m not the first to tell you, but we are worried about how far you're pushing yourself,” Akeno said. Then more softly. “I’m worried about you. I hate seeing you hurt.”

I looked back at her as I sat on the edge of my bed.

I leaned back and lay next to her, staring up at the ceiling.

“I have to be stronger. I’m not like you or the others who are growing their strength as they push themselves,” I said as I traced the ceiling with my eyes. “My strength is capped. I can only grow so strong, and I need to improve my technique and combat skills to improve myself. So I have to train harder. After the Khaos Brigade attack during our Rating Game against Diodora Astaroth, I realized I was being complacent.”

Akeno turned towards me with a frown.

“You don’t need to be like that, Yuki-chan.”

I turned to look at her.

“Be like what?”

“None of us were ready for that fight. But you’re looking at it as if you should have been. Like you failed personally after being put up against an impossible opponent.”

I shook my head.

“I could have done more. If I had focused more on my training earlier or if I had managed to get more of my seals released I could have done more. I could have been—“

“More useful?” Akeno asked, cutting me off.

I hesitated to reply.

“I’ve paid attention to you long enough to start to realize how you think. And I know that part of it is that you want to protect us, but I’m worried that a part of it is that you think that you have to have a value to us. To be useful to the peerage,” Akeno said with a faint frown. “You don’t need to think that way with us. We care about you and the only thing we want from you is for you to stay with us and be happy.”

I opened my mouth to reply.

Then I closed it as I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to say.

I turned and looked back at the ceiling. 

I debated lying, or at least not telling the whole truth briefly before sighing.

“I… I’ve lived most of my life with some kind of use or value expected of me… Whether it was to act in a certain manner, or to perform a task a certain way, I had to be useful. If I wasn’t, I would be treated worse by my master or deemed unnecessary and traded away to a new owner… I know… I know that Rias isn’t like that. That this time it’s different and that I can trust her and all of you. And I care deeply for each of you in a way I haven’t been able to for a long time, but the way I’ve learned to think and been trained to act is still there. Even though I trust all of you, I can’t look past the need to prove my worth so that I can keep my place.”

My voice began to sound more raw as I finished speaking.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a breath to steady myself.

Akeno’s hand found mine.

She gently held my hand as she spoke again.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, Yuki-chan. I only wanted to remind you that you’re with people who care about you now. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It's alright, Akeno-san. It’s… frustrating. I know how I want to think and act, but I can’t. I can’t remove myself completely from the mindset that I’ve lived with until now. I... I want to be able to be more normal. To be able to focus on my friends because I enjoy being with them. I can’t fully remove myself from thinking the way I did when I was before I joined Buchou’s peerage.”

Akeno rolled onto her side.

“It’s alright, Yuki-chan. You’ve only gotten away from the [Kings] who treated you so poorly recently. You need time to get past the things that you experienced. And I’m sure if you told me a fraction of what happened I’d want to tear apart your old masters more than I do now,” Akeno said with a grim smile. “Rias isn’t going to trade you away unless you ask to be. So you'll have all the time you need to unlearn that mindset.”

I glanced at her and let out a sigh.

“You’re right. Thank you, Akeno-san. I’ve been with all of you for a while now, but it’s still hard to get used to the idea that I’m where I belong.”

Akeno grinned.

“Ara? You’re saying you belong in bed with me, Yuki-chan? That’s rather forward of you, but I appreciate the honesty.”

I let out an amused huff before giving her a look.

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” I asked.

Akeno chuckled.

“No, not really. But you smiled so it’s fine.”

“I guess I did. So what would you like to talk about next?”

Akeno tapped her chin with a finger.

“Hmmm, well since I got you to smile, why don’t you tell me who you’re interested in?”

My smile shrank.

“I’ve told you before that I’m not interested in anyone romantically.”

“I don’t believe that Yuki-chan,” Akeno said gently. “You’re not made of stone. You’re allowed to like whoever you want to like.”

I shook my head.

“I’m telling the truth, Akeno-san. There isn’t anyone I’m interested in. It’s for the best anyway. I don’t think romance or dating is for me.”

Akeno frowned slightly.

“Why not? You’re at the age where it should be on your mind a decent amount. And you’re very attractive, so people will definitely be interested in you. So why would you think romance isn't for you?”

“It's just not. At least not right now. Maybe in the future I'll find someone who changes my mind, but otherwise I’m not interested in it.”

“Is this just a way to avoid admitting you’re interested in Ise-kun?” Akeno asked with a grin.

I shot her an annoyed look. 

“No. I’ve told you before that I’m not interested in him.”

Akeno chuckled softly.

“I know, I know. So does that mean that you have a crush on me and you're too shy to say it? That’s rather cute of you to be interested in your senpai.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You’re rather full of yourself today, Akeno-san. Why would you think that I have a crush on you?”

“Well, I recall multiple times that you and I got into rather intimate situations.”

“That was only me pushing back against your teasing and my instincts getting the better of me,” I said dismissively.

“Oh? Was that really all?”

“Yes.”

Akeno placed a hand on the side of my face, her thumb brushing against the base of my ear. 

I stiffened.

“I don’t know if I believe you. Maybe we should find out if I could be that someone who changes your mind.” She said quietly.

I searched her face but didn’t see any of her usual signs of teasing.

She was looking at me in a way I had only seen her look at Issei before.

She leaned forward with half-lidded eyes.

I watched as she moved closer.

I could push her away.

I should tell her to stop joking and go to sleep.

Instead, I closed my eyes and didn’t move away.

This was going to be a mistake.

I knew that already.

But after seeing how she looked at me, I decided to be selfish for the moment.

I couldn’t help wanting affection like this, even if it was wasted on me.

I felt her pause for a moment before she moved towards me again.

Then the moment fell apart as there was a loud knock on my door.

I opened my eyes and immediately moved back from her.

I saw Akeno’s expression fall as I did.

Before either of us could say anything, the door opened.

“…Hello, Yuki-senpai, Akeno-senpai.”

Akeno immediately schooled her expression.

She smiled at Koneko as she walked into the room and shut the door behind her.

Her smile stiffened as the door shut behind Koneko.

“What are you doing here, Koneko-chan? Did you forget that tonight is my reward with Yuki-chan? Or did you get jealous and decide to interrupt our time together?”

“I came to go to bed,” Koneko replied casually.

Akeno’s eyebrow twitched.

“Ara. Are those big ears for show? It’s my reward night with Yuki-chan. That means that I get her to myself tonight.”

“…You never specified that you got to sleep in the room alone with her as your reward. So the three of us can sleep in the same room.”

Akeno scoffed.

“This isn’t something that you can just make up a technicality on, right, Yuki-chan?”

“… It's fine if I stay, right Yuki-senpai?”

Both of them turned to me with expectant and competitive looks.

I glanced between them as I quickly thought of how I should answer.