88 I A Knigh

The dinner had finally come to a conclusion after desert had been served. This was just about the time that I reach my wits end. I had never seen a person flirt so shamelessly like Wen Wen or a boy trying to provoke another just as Sora had been.

I also pretended not to notice Romeo putting his apparent "charms" on Rosli while Rinny kept trying to probe and distract me with questions. My only comfort was knowing this was all going to be over soon and I could sleep in my bed.

" Thank you my dear guests for coming tonight" Romeo finally said after he took the last bite of his food.

" Thank you for having us" I said politely.

[ I think I have aged about ten years tonight ]

" Do you want me to bite Wen Wen? " Kibbles said as he swatted yet another foot that came near me.

[ Not this time ]

Wen Wen leaned over the table and said " It was a pleasure to see you handsome, come see me anytime!" before she smiled.

" Thank you lady Wen Wen tonight has been an experience I will never forget" I responded in turn.

[ Will never .. ever forget it will haunt me until I am grey! ]

" Princess and I must retire for the night I look forward to see you all in future I fellow schoolmates. Thank you for the amazing meal Romeo and I do hope to see you around campus" I said smiling as I stood and bowed.

I then walked over to Rosli's side and offered her a hand out of her seat at Kibbles sat on my shoulder.

" Yuki, have a fantastic school year, you too princess Rosli." Said Rinny as she smiled at me and walked to Romeo's side before bowing.

" Thank you Lady Rinny" Rosli said polity as she gripped my arm like a vice and smiled.

[ Looks like Rosli wasn't handling this well either ]

" I hope we can sleep together under the stars again Yuki" Sora said and bowed.

[ AHHHHH WHAT THE HELL?! ]

My eye twitched as I merely smiled and didn't answer his prompt while Rosli looked at me wanting answers.

" That sounds like a fascinating story, please tell us when our guests have left" Rinny said and grinned.

" No fair! I want to go camping too!" Wen Wen said with puffed cheeks as she crossed her arms.

We said our finally farewells and took casual strides to the exit. As soon as we left the door and headed towards the second hallway both of us simultaneously let out a breath of air.

Rosli looked at me and then I her and we laughed.

" Long night, I was glad that you came, Rosy. I don't think I could handle Wen Wen without knowing you could back me up" I said absentmindedly.

" and Romeo was being a little overbearing" Rosli said and shook her head.

" What happened with Sora and you? You seemed to know each other" Rosli said before I explained the details of my adventures to find my father as we walked back to my dorm.

" I think the most troublesome is probably Rinny, she seems to scheme quite a lot" I said under my breath.

" You noticed that too huh. Being in our position will always be difficult daddy says that spirit beasts are easy they will come at you with sharp teeth but humans are the hard ones they come in shadows with blades sharpened" Rosli said sternly.

" The emperor is a wise man" I said thinking about her father.

Rosli giggled before she seemed to stop and pulled at my sleeve.

" Yuki.. I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I guess I feel like I don't know you anymore. Seeing you making all these new friends and becoming stronger is really different from who you used to be it is like you are a whole new person." Rosli said quietly.

[ I am a whole new person….]

" Must be hard for you sometimes" I blurted out.

" You think that maybe we can try again… I mean. I want to get to know you again. I won't complain anymore about not seeing you but could you at least make some time for me? I know Nathan and Leopold both like you very much. It would be nice if you could see us ...see me..more." Rosli said as she blushed.

[ Oh god don't do this…. I want to just find you annoying! ]

Rosli was surprisingly showing me a maturity that I had not seen as I had been growing up it looked like she had been too.

I paused and looked at Rosli who was neither crying nor begging but earnestly asking and I couldn't help but crumble. She was trying so at least I would try too.

I removed her arm from mine before taking a step back.

Rosli wasn't sure what I was doing she seemed uncertain but looked as if she was preparing herself mentally for whatever I would say or do next. I looked up to her bravery as I took a knee and saluted, while Kibbles also bowed his two front paws on the floor with his tail up in the air.

" I am Yuki Akiyo a single son of a long line of generals. Loyal to Tama and her people and faithful to the friends I cherish. I will be in your care in future." I said in the most knightley sounding voice I could muster.

Clap!

Clap!

Clap!

A small round of applause was heard as I looked over to see Leopold and Nathaniel. Leopold was clapping and Nathan was standing there with a shocked look on his face.

I looked over at Rosli who was blushing beet red. She looked me in the eyes and said " The crown is lucky to have such a fine young man" Before giving a half bow and holding out her hand to stand me up.

I took it as Kibbles jumped on my shoulder as Leo and Nathan walked up to us.

" Great speech Yuki! Loyal to your friends.. Very fitting!" Leo said with a smile.

" What are you two doing here? I was just escorting your sister back! " I said with a smile in return.

" You three took so long Nathan and I were wondering if they kidnapped you both. " Leo said before Nathan nodded in agreement.

" Plus we have classes that we have to prepare for" Nathan added clumsily.

I noticed he didn't stutter this time which made my heart feel warm.

" Thanks for coming to get us!" I replied and nodded.

" How was it Yuki?" Nathan said quietly.

We all began to talk in low whispers about the events that had transpired. I did not mention the shameless flirting by Wen Wen or that Romeo was a complete jerk but Rosli had made it a point to mention every detail she saw while Leo and Nathans faces went from white to red to black.

By the time we had made it back to my room the two brothers were fuming at all the hidden daggers that had been thrown at us tonight and were as equally mentally exhausted as the princess and I were.

I said goodnight to the trio and walked into my dorm.

Ki, Ren and Loki all took one look at my haggard face and decided not to ask any questions.

Ki ended up running me a bath while Loki took Kibbles off my hand. I knew they were talking telepathically as Loki's face kept changing.

Ren had said a few words to me before telling me Setsu had gone to bed for he too decided to head to sleep.

I walked into the bathroom and saw the clothes that Ki had left out for me before stripping down and entering the tub trying to scrub off as much Wen Wen as I could while simultaneously trying to forget the night every happened.

I ducked my head under the water and closed my eyes.

The warm water felt amazing on my skin as all my tension melted away.

I knew from this experience that in future if I did not avoid them all they would cause me nothing but trouble.

Even if I cared about Sora it was not worth dealing with the rest of them to try and figure him out.

I got dried and dressed before I said good night to everyone and finally crawled into bed. This was the ending of my first day off school.

One down and a few years to go.

[ Can I really live that long? ]