Chapter 13 Part 2: Because, I love you Hori-san

POV Katsura

I reach the kindergarten, the other mothers are already there, picking up their kids. I go in, Souta was already waiting, he runs towards me and hugs my leg. "Nii san"

I feel happy, at least he is happy to see me. A teacher approaches me. I show her my guardian pass, which I borrowed from Hori san.

"Are you a relative? Its usually Kyoko chan who picks him up" before I reply,

Souta chimes in "Hmmm. He is my nii san" The teacher smiles at him nicely and turns to me.

"Nice to meet you. By the way Yuuna chan's mother called. She has been stuck in some emergency work and can't pick her up, she told to allow her daughter with Souta's guardian, which would be you. Is that okay?"

Yuuna chan? Did I know her, I look at Souta confused. He explains "She lives next door, she is my friend, Yuuna chan come on let's go" Souta calls out to a small red haired girl. Her hair was shorter than most girls but still longer than the boys. She had a tough look on her face for a kid, she looked kinda shy, but I found her pretty cute.

"Hello there, nice to meet you" I say to her. She hides behind the teacher. "She is actually more accustomed to Kyoko chan, so She is probably feeling shy" the teacher explains.

"Yuuna chan, this is nii-san I was talking about; he is super strong and he knows magic too." Souta tells her excitedly, she looks up at me, and speaks slowly, her voice is soft and shy

"Do you really know magic?" she asks

"Yes, a little bit, do you wanna see ?" I say.

The girl nods her head, clearly more excited than before.

I pull out my lucky coin out of my pocket.

"Look closely" I say. I toss the coin in the air and snap my fingers, making it disappear, then make it reappear, on my other hand, I do a few other minor tricks with the coin, finally making it disappear and I say, "Yunna chan, check your pocket"

She does so and pulls out the coin. Her eyes flicker with admiration, by this time, the other children have flocked around me, and I hear a round of applause.

"Your nii-san is amazing Souta" a boy calls out. "Yeah. What did I tell you? Nii-san is the best" Souta says proudly. My heart gives a lurch, being this close with the kid, him admiring me so much, the Hori family has given me so much.

"Nii san show us some more tricks" the others start begging. I had to finally consort to their requests.

After a few more tricks, the kids finally leave, I could feel the curious eyes of their mothers stabbing my back, I could literally hear them type gossip about me in the group chat probably. I was a stranger, curiosity was natural, but if I thought I was intense, these mothers were like a pack of ravenous vultures. Scaryy!

"You sure are popular with the kids. If you ever need a part time job you can always apply here. We are always short on manpower and we could use your skillset" the teacher says.

"Thank you, but you flatter me, these are some petty magic tricks, anyone could do them" I say, smiling. Wow, a job offer at a kindergarten, probably a first in the history of assassins and spies. I had really left my past life behind. Harry Freemans ghost gave peaceful vibe.

I hold one hand of each of them and get on the way home. I don't know why I feel so happy today, I feel like skipping, these toddlers look so cute, and they are holding my hands, almost like a real brother.

I think about dinner. Hori san didn't make any, I don't know what was in the house, so I decide to buy some groceries.

"Souta, Yuuna, what would say about getting some Ice cream ?" I ask "Ice cream-yaay." "Thanks nii san" they both chime in. In this short time, Yuuna had started calling me nii san too. Wow.

Souta shows me the place where he usually goes for ice cream.

"So; what would you like." I ask the both of them they both think for a moment.

Their young faces turn serious, as if it was a choice of supreme importance into, they look even cuter. They seem unable to decide faced with so many choices. "How about one scoop of chocolate vanilla and butterscotch each" I say.

"Really nii san ? nee-chan never allows me three scoops" Souta almost jumps in excitement.

"Sure, just please don't tell Hori san about this, she would get mad" I say.

I go to place the order. "Two of these flavours please, with 3 scoops" I say.

"Nii-san will you not buy one for Yuuna chan?" Souta asks.

"What sort of monster do you think I am ?" I sigh

"Of course it's for the both of you" I explain

"Then wouldn't you have any?" Souta asks.

"I will have it with Hori-san, once she is better" I say. Souta looks at his ice cream, suddenly unsure about eating it, he probably feels bad about her too.

"Hey come on now Souta cheer up, I promise, we will all eat ice cream again together, you me Hori san and Yuuna chan".

I escort them to a table and sit with them, while they manage their ice-creams. The ice-creams were so big that it was difficult for them to manage, they looked so cute eating them, that I had to take a picture, the other kids around us were looking at them enviously, not every day a kid enjoyed the luxury of 3 scoops, I felt like buying one for everyone, but I was sure, their parents wouldn't like it.

"So, Souta Yuuna, what would you like for dinner?" I ask

"Omlette rice" Souta says almost instantly.

Yuuna puts her head down shyly and says "I can eat whatever, you don't need to worry about me" quite mature for her age, but kids this age, shouldn't be mature, they should speak their minds, I wanted her to open up a bit more, but I didn't want to pester her.

"Sure, I will make that for you Souta, and Yuuna chan would you be fine with vegetable stew, I will be making that for Hori san, I could also make chicken for you, if you prefer that."

"Chicken would be nice" Yuuna said dreamily. Her expressions clearly told me she liked chicken. So, she liked it after all.

"Souta, does Hori san hate any veggies, I should know about?" I ask.

"Well… Nee-chan doesn't like tomatoes, other than that, she likes everything ugh" he makes a pretend throw up face. I laugh. So; Hori san didn't like tomatoes. Good to know.

We get out of the ice cream parlour and I buy some groceries nearby, I suddenly feel so different, shopping for groceries, picking up children from kindergarten, going to ice cream parlours, The heartless assassin, burnt with every step I took, soon not even the ghost would remain.

"We're back" I announce loudly after reaching home, it had taken us almost two hours for a supposedly short trip, I put down the groceries on the dining table and decide to check up on Hori san

"Souta Yuuna play here for a moment; I want to check up on Hori san" I announce.

I make my way upstairs and slowly push open the door. Hori san was sitting upright on her bed, looking outside her window, her expression distant.

"Oh, you are up, that's good. You skipped through lunch" I say

"How are you feeling ?" I ask,

"Now, I feel much better, thanks Zura" she says, her voice calm.

"So, where were you?" She asks,

I pull her desk chair near her bed and sit on it

"Well, I had to bring Souta from school, and I don't know, but the teacher told me to bring another girl can Yuuna-chan back here too, her mother requested it?" I say

"Oh, that's alright, it happens some days, when she is extremely busy, her parents are extremely busy, and we need to take their daughter in sometimes" she explains

"Well, I had to show her some magic tricks to convince her to leave with me, the teacher offered me a part time job would you believe that?" I say,

"Wow, that teacher is hard to impress… Hey, you know magic!!" Hori san exclaims.

"Its nothing, just petty tricks I picked up in my childhood" I say casually

"You know, you surprise me every day Zura" she says in an astounded tone

 "By the way, Hori-san, are all the mothers in kindergarten like this, I could feel their curious eyes drill into me, they were soo scary !" I say hugging myself.

Hori san laughs out, her laugh is nice and sweet. "Zura, the secret spy scared of housewives…" she says.

"Yeah, they can be a bit overwhelming sometimes for outsiders" she adds as an afterthought.

"So; then I shopped for some groceries for tonight's dinner" I say.

"You shouldn't have, we could have just warmed up the food from the fridge" she says.

"No way I am letting you eat that while you are sick, you rest here, I will go do the other chores" I say firmly.

"Zura don't be ridiculous, it's not fair for you to do my chores, I am alright now" she says I hear the door open behind me, as Souta and Yuuna curiously peep in.

"Ah, you two are right on time, please watch over Hori san while I do the household stuff" I say "Don't let her do any work you two" I add.

They seem to find their jobs of utmost importance, they huddled close to her,

Souta put his palm on Hori-san's forehead, "Nee-chan you should sleep" let me read out a story. He says.

Hori san was unable to protest, I leave them be, and slowly make my way down. I had memorised the layout of the house long ago, so I knew where the vacuum cleaner was, I slowly start vacuuming the house, then I go into the bathroom. Strictly speaking it's not ethical for me to clean their clothes, but under the current circumstances, I find it necessary, there was a huge volume of unwashed clothes. Hori san washed these everyday ! ! I am amazed.

I put the clothes in the washing machine and start cleaning the bathtub, after what feels like a minute, the machine is done. I pull out the clothes, and go into her backyard, where the clothing stand was.

Mind you, I have worked in rich households before, as a cover so I knew the basic housework guide, I slowly put up each object to dry and clip the socks to the sock hanger. Then I go back in and complete cleaning the tub. Finally, I fill up a bucket of water and mop down the house, after I am done with the work, I feel satisfied with the results, it was worth it.

My stamina is biologically enhanced, so I feel little effect of the hard work I do, Hori san did this almost everyday, and she studied afterwords, my admiration flared up for her every second.

Suddenly I hear voices above me, "But, nii-san told us to watch over you while you rest" I hear Yuuna's meek voice squeak

"I am resting, but my back hurts from sleeping all day, I need to go outside my room" I hear Hori sans voice.

"Its all right, let her out guys, just don't let her do any work" I shout out.

After a while Hori san and the others walk into the living room. They look like a convoy, with the children guarding her.

"I have a bit of a summer cold, I am not terminally ill, you can just let me walk normally" she protests, she had not changed clothes before going to bed, so she still was in her uniform, the clothes were creased after a long day on bed.

Hori san and the others sit on the floor near the kotatsu.

"Wow! Zura, you did all of this" She looks at me surprised.

"Its nothing Hori san, after all you do it everyday" I say.

"What are you, stupid ? I don't do all the stuff myself. Mom does most of it" She chides me.

"Okay you guys sit here, I am gonna make dinner, Hori san, you should change and take a bath, I have cleaned and refilled the tub" I add before leaving for the kitchen

POV Hori san

Zura has been surprising me all day, since morning he had not left my side since morning and then he unleashed "THAT" bomb, and now this, doing all my housework, I could feel how much he cared for me, he was almost like the elder brother I never had, I do as he says, and change into something else, then I go take a bath, the bathroom looked spotless clean, and the water was perfectly warm, was he a professional housekeeper?!

After a nice long bath, I plan my approach on Zura, he has been surprising me since we met. Now, it was my turn to surprise him. I dry my hair with a towel, and come outside. It was really refreshing after the bath, I didn't even feel like I was sick. Well, the excitement had done most of the job

I walk into the kitchen, Zura is chopping of radishes inside, his back towards me, he goes on cutting it, he doesn't seem to notice me.

 Ready. Set. Go. "Zura do you like me ?" I say in a matter-of-fact way.

Zura stops cutting he quickly turns back and sees me. His eyes are wide open, surprised, Point one for me

"I… Yes, Hori san, Yes, I do like you. Were you not asleep that time ?" he asks, he was surprisingly quick to answer, I liked his conviction.

"Why didn't you say it to my face ?" I ask

"Well… I didn't want to make it awkward for you, all my life I manipulated people, I lied to people, all my life, I never had anyone close enough to call a friend, heck I never had anyone who trusted me and sure as hell I never trusted anyone, I didn't want to make anything awkward for you, I like what we have here.." he trails off

"What do we have here ?" I ask

"Me coming to your house every day, playing with Souta, studying with you, talking with you, going out shopping with you, hanging out with you, I never want it to stop, I.. I… didn't want to loose you too…" he says, his head held down, his fists rolled in, it was painful for him to say "lose".

All his life, he had been losing, he had never found peace, I feel honoured that he placed me on that pedestal.

"Dummy…" I say

"Ehhh…?" he looks at me confused.

"Dummy, dummy, dummy, how could you ever think, I would leave, don't you see it, I like it too, what we have here, both glimpsing into each other's lives, hanging out together, how could you think I would leave you, after knowing what you went through, what sort of a monster do you think I am.." I say out angrily

"I…I…" he trails off, clearly, he would cry again. It was so easy to make him cry.

For a guy for whom happiness was never an option, I am still not accustomed to how he was easily touched.

"Don't you dare cry, dummy dummy dummy.." I trail off, once I say dummy, it seems I cant stop. He looks up at me, I see him wipe his tears from the corner of his eyes. He drops the knife on the chopping board. He laughs out loud as I make out a face at him, then he surprises me again, he kneels on one leg and bows his head

"Hori-san sorry for not being real with you about my feelings, I really like you, would you allow me the honour of becoming my queen, I will be a faithful knight, I will protect and serve you, I will be yours to command, after all, I am a puppet, but I love being used by you, I know you will not do me wrong, please take me on as a knight hime-sama" he blurts out.

For a guy with no romantic experiences, he sure did it cutely, I understood why he wanted to be a tool, all his life he had been told that he was a tool and nothing more. Sure I will play along

I grab his shoulder "I hearby appoint you as my knight, my first order of business, I absolve you from your sins, and make you human, you are an equal to me and not a tool, my first command, live your life happily" I say, not breaking character.

He looks up at me surprised, his eyes widen with happiness, all his life, suffering. It seemed he found something at the end of it, he looked like he was about to cry again, but he didn't, he said

"I… I.. swear. Thank you Hori san" he says solemnly

"You don't know how much this means to me" He stands up awkwardly, now it was official, we loved each other, he was coming in terms with the fact, his eyes processing it. His mouth broke into a huge smile and he laughed out loud, I laughed out loud too, Souta and Yuuna walked in, they were sure confused to see us both laughing without any reason. Man! I love it when Zura is around.