~ The ebony wood rests by his side - V ~

When I opened my eyes again, I felt my stomach grumble with hunger, the soft light from outside entering into the small room. The fresh breeze sliding over my body as I shivered.

I remembered what I had done earlier, and my eyes instantly shot open. I looked over myself only to find my body naked and clean, wrapped under a thin layer of sheet.

Blinking the haze away, I sat up to see an empty room, the sheet sliding down my body and pooling at my waist.

Blushing, I looked over my body to check for something, but seems like Xi Ken had taken the trouble to clean me, as my skin felt spotless, the only oddity looked to be the dark black ink around my navel and the one on my shoulder.

It felt odd, but upon touching the inking, I did not feel anything, as if it was my own skin and nothing more.

"You are awake," Xi Ken's voice came in as he entered the room, a few bags in his hands made of some jute or other material, tied with a decorative fashion.

I blushed, his voice really sounded so light when compared to earlier, which had been heavier and more sensual. He had helped me get off, but even while doing so he had been very sensible about it, and... pretty demanding if I dared to say so.

But thanks to his help, I didn't have to suffer for long. My thirst had been quenched and I was back on track now.

Obviously, my embarrassment was still clearly there. Even the mattress seemed to be mocking me with 'we saw you panting, you wanted more, hahaha...'

"I am awake, what hour is it..." I looked outside at the soft light, ignoring my burning cheeks, acting as if nothing had happened.

Thinking that it felt like early morning, I considered that I must have slept yesterday the entire time. No wonder my stomach felt so empty.

"Change into these clothes, and then we will leave this inn, we have to travel far this time."

I nodded, watching as Xi Ken left the room again, to give me some privacy to change, even though he had seen... actually heard me speak in all sorts of voices. I really believed he was blind, but sometimes, his accuracy chilled me, it always felt like he wasn't blind.

But then if he wasn't blind, he wouldn't keep those blindfolds on.

I scattered the contents of the bags, and found them all filled with different pieces of clothes. One was an undershirt, the second one was an upper layer of half sized robe, and then the third consisted of pants and sash belt.

I felt blessed to see that the clothes weren't robes, but more cheerful and vibrant pieces. They looked like hanbok from Korea, the upper layer of blue prints flaring below the knee and the undershirt providing with a solid cream coloring, combined with lose cream pants. It seemed young, just like me.

I quickly wore the clothes, since I was very sure I wasn't dirty, managing to wear it in the first try. Then I recollected the bags and stuffed them into one smaller bag, knotting the piece closed.

As soon as I came out though, I found someone staring at me, and turning to see who it was, I was struck still with whom I saw, it was the same man I had met yesterday, the one that had eyed me.

I thought he would do something cheap again, but his eyes widened instead, and the face paled, with a quick muttered apology, he scrambled for his room, sliding the door closed with a loud thud.

Puzzle, I glanced at myself, but seeing nothing out of place, I shrugged. "What a weirdo," I mumbled, skipping through the corridor down the stairs.

I really loved the dress, the color was nice, the smell was also nice, as if it was perfumed, and even the sash belt had been easier to tie this time.

"Xi-" I stopped half way through, wondering when I had forgotten that it was Zuen Ken and not Xi Zuen. I don't even know how I did such a major misplacement of the term Zuen. But yesterday... Xi Ken hadn't reprimanded me for that, so did that suggest he was okay with whatever I called him, right?

Smiling, I looked for Xi Ken, as he sat on the couch by the counter, chatting with the staff about something related to extra charges for... laundry?

I almost choked dry, my body buzzing with shock, I hadn't paid it any mind, but what we did yesterday must have soiled the mattress and not to say, even though the dress Xi Ken wore was the same black with a white shimmery upper layer, the design was surely different. I concluded he had to change his dress because of me.

This really made me want to die.

"Raven," Xi Ken noticed my presence, "Are you ready to leave, the master here says if we want to have the traditional delicacy of this town then we can always visit the scoudon store next street."

"Okay," I agreed mindlessly, "and... t-thank you for the dress it is nice, sorry for the... everything else..." I couldn't manage to see him straight, absently noticing that the staff who seemed very eager, his ears perked up for more.

What the-

I frowned, glaring at him, which he noticed, his cheeks blazing as he began to wipe his desk with a cloth, wanting to tell me he wasn't eavesdropping.

Well I wasn't a fool I knew he was curious.

Xi Ken sighed, distracting me, "If you like the dress then that is good, I was skeptical about which color to chose."

I smiled slightly, the man was really considerate, he successfully diverted the topic away to safer subjects, "I like blue," I told him with a blush, "so it is cool."

"Then let us leave, the sun will be more intense if we delay any further."

I nodded, watching as Xi Ken turned to leave, expecting me to follow, which I did.

Once we were out, I asked him with hesitation, "What is the stick you carry around, it doesn't have bristles and it also smells very nice."

"You can smell it?" He asked as if not expecting that from me.

So I stammered, scratching my head, "Yes, you smell like that wood too, since you keep it around with you."

His face tilted up towards the sun, as if he could see the intense light of it even with his blindfolds on. We walked across the street, as the local folks crowded the path for their own chores. Their set of clothes no where near like Xi Ken and me, since I could feel the heavy stitching and embroidery work on mine. I didn't even know how much it cost, but I was curious, since I had to return everything to him one day... Although, asking about the expenses could be managed at a later period of time.

"A master's brush is his weapon and defense tool, so we make contract with our brushes," Xi Ken explained as we continued to walk, his steps light and soft, "One day a man came to play a game with me, tricked me into a corner and burned my brush tip. Thinking I would step down from my rank, go into hiding like most would consider after their failure."

I frowned, dying to know who it had been to use such a dirty trick. Xi Ken continued, "Then I did the unexpected, I practiced until I could draw from just the stick which was left. The stick was made of Ebony, so I managed to style it with my own powers."

"Oh, nice job," I tried complimenting even if I was bad at it, the words coming out oddly, "You did good showing up that evil person. But is that person still alive, I really wanted to slap him for giving you such a hard time. I can't believe how jealous he was."

The side profile of Xi Ken was beautiful as I watched him, ranting on his behalf, noticing the soft curve of his lips when I finished.

"You are interesting Raven," he mused, "it has been a while since I met someone so protective of me."

Now all I felt was awkward, looking away with a flustered expression, waving at him to quit his buttering even if he wouldn't be able to see it. "S-Stop it Zuen Ken."

"Xi Zuen was also pleasant to hear, you can call me that if you want."

My eyes widened, "R-Really?"

He nodded, "Really."

I chuckled, "Well if you say so, from now on I will call you Xi Zuen, sounds nicer."