"....Alright."

Accepting Shihon's plea to rely on her based on his feelings that he had kept to himself, Liohime sighed deeply and continued, "Don't believe that you'll have great advice on what I'm concerned about though. They're all too complicated.

On hearing this, Shihon scoffed and rolled her eyes, waving that notion off with her right hand.

"Oh, please. It's surely not that hard to respond to-"

***

"Yeah that's kinda hard to respond to."

"See? I told you."

While in the bathroom, the two residents were separated by a shower curtain as Shihon sat on the covered toilet seat, waiting and listening to Liohime, who was currently showering.

Although almost getting distracted by her yearning to take a peek at his shadow behind the opaque curtains, she remained attentive and listened to all that he had to say.

From the first time of hearing about his concerns for his deceased parents and his Chief to his thoughts on the upcoming mission, she pondered on it all.

Still, she realized that she had almost no knowledge of his personal struggles, and found it hard to give good advice on anything.

"You don't need to say anything, Shihon," the voice within the shower called out. "I feel a bit better talking to you about it though. Still, I can't help but want to prepare myself as much as I can so that I can be ready to face those fears head on when the time comes."

Exhaling, Shihon folded her arms and placed her hands behind her head as she gazed at the ceiling.

"Fuck. I wish I was as good as you when it came to giving advice."

"I bet."

"Even so, I feel like you would say something like, 'If you're too focused about something, you won't be able to rest and take care of yourself,' or something like that."

Liohime, whose naked body was drenched with the hot water from the showerhead, raised his head up sharply.

He…did say something close to that line, actually.

When did I say that, again…?

He froze as he scanned through his own mind, searching for a recent memory where he believed he had said something along that line.

And then, it hit him.

((

"...Sometimes, when you keep your eyes too focused on the road in front of you, you will fail to relax and enjoy the beautiful things around you when you pass them by."

))

Ah. That was when I talked to that Billy kid, right?

He smiled, and began to think about his own words that he had used to comfort the eleven year-old after the Laser Tag game while Shihon continued to talk.

"Anyway, like I said, Master, I really care about you, so even if you feel like you must keep working to fulfill your goals,you need to rely on me more. For instance, the way you're behaving about this mission makes it seem like you haven't factored me into your arsenal, you know."

"-urk, wait, what?"

"I mean, you have the help of the only Magical Beast to be a hybrid of both a human and a beast, and as far as I can tell, I'm pretty sure that I'm more powerful than most other Magical Beasts. I don't like to brag though….no, that's a lie. I'm pretty fucking strong."

Liohime fell into silence as the drops of water from above continued to shower over his head while he stared downwards.

In a sense, she was right. Shihon was the Magical Beast Girl, and possibly one of the strongest assets he could ever have.

Why tire himself out by trying to push past his own physical capabilities when Shihon existed?

I need to…rely on her.

Thus-

The shower curtain was swished aside, and the most serious expression flashed across his face as he stepped out, staring at his partner with newfound determination.

Uh, well…that was not the only thing that was flashed.

…Liohime, you exhibitionist.

"GYAAADDSJDABDJAKWDALWSSJLSLSSL!?!?!"

Blood leaked out of Shihon's nose as she turned completely red and she yelped, with steam emanating from her cheeks as Liohime grabbed both of her hands and held them together with his own.

"Please help me out with this mission, okay? Whether it be in your human form, or your beast form."

"U-Uwawawawa…."

"Uwawa….? Oh."

I got too enthusiastic.

He hadn't even packed up his towel, and water had been dripping from his body onto the bathroom floor.

"S-Sure thing," was the faint reply from the young woman as she averted her eyes, feeling even more jealous of his past relationship with Tisha Marsey.

***

"A-Are you sure that I can be here, Master?"

"Hey, weren't you the one whining about not being able to go out more because I was neglecting spending time together?"

"Sure, but…"

Both Liohime and Shihon sat together at the former's favorite bar, and the latter had returned to wearing her cute hooded clothing.

With weeks past the incident of the missing secretary, the search had been stopped, and even though the duo were still limiting their large-scale movements, Liohime had decided to take his partner out for another outing.

Shihon eyed the passers-by around as she remained awfully close to her Master, holding his hand tightly as they sat near the bartender.

"Relax," Liohime assured her, "nobody's gonna start shit in here. Well, granted, you probably do stand out, but I'll cover for you if need be. Okay?"

"I guess."

Finally, the female bartender walked up to them and greeted them kindly while petting her miniature mechanical kitten-like Magical Beast with a metal tail that contorted into a claw.

While Liohime ordered drinks, Shihon kept her eyes on the cat, staring it down with a spark of hostility in her eyes.

"Alright, will that be all, Lio?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem, the drinks are coming right up-"

"Actually, we can add two more drinks to that, don't ya think, Li-Li?" a new female voice interjected in a high pitch, cutting through the air as Liohime flinched.

Wha….huh?

Before he could move, a strong arm was casually placed over his shoulder, and Liohime cocked his head to the right before his eyes widened in utter shock, exchanging glances with the two figures who stood right next to him.

"Looks like we found him at the right place and at the right time, Ohpi."

"Yeah, let's just hope we're not too late."

--Bica and Ophiel, two members of the Shinigami Soldiers, had suddenly appeared.

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