4/15!


When Grayfia awoke the morning after the two Nekos arrived at the castle, she was both confused and slightly giddy. Confused as to why she didn't remember why she fell asleep and when but giddy to the fact of where she woke up. While not being the strongest ice user in the Underworld, she was however known as the Ice Queen alongside the Strongest Queen. It was a troubling dilemma for Grayfia, continue to hold her picture perfect stoic expression or allow herself to indulge in the helpless and asleep Gawain who was right beside her, currently with both of his arms wrapped around her waist. It was enough to completely dissuade her strength from helping her cut loose.

But what troubled Grayfia the most was that for the first time in a while, she woke up strangely refreshed. And once that sensation rushed through her body she froze and the last words she heard Gawain utter to her the night before. She felt great, possibly even awesome and that's what made her freeze. How could a thin piece of cloth over cheaply made desks allow someone to feel so revitalized after waking up in the morning. It made less sense than most fiction.

"Gawain-sama, wake up. I must start on my day's work."

"Muhmuhu...Leave it. The maids will be here soon to try and wake me like they do every other day. You'll be fine...Muhmuhu."

'Muhmuhu'? The way Gawain said it didn't even make it to a cute splutter from just rising, it was just weird.

"Nekos, you awake?"

"Nyaaaa~~ These desks are bliss-nya."

"Bliss-nya."

The soft chorus of the younger neko followed the notion that the older neko gave, making it all hit Grayfia even further.

"Ahh Nekos, I forgot to ask your names."

"Kuroko-nya."

"Shirone-nya."

"...Coloured sound? Is that even a thing?"

Grayfia sighed at Gawain's lack of tact, his brain never worked before 10am and with her body clock it was approximately 6am right now. And with Gawain's brain unable to begin properly before 10am, it made Grayfia wonder why he asked the maids to wake him up so early when he not only ignores them but can't do a lot during this time. Gawain was a most peculiar mystery to her.

Unable to fight back, Grayfia found herself being rolled onto her back and to find Gawain now lying on top of her, his sleeping face firmly lodged in between her bust. And the action just completely stripped away the thought of going to do work, conceding to Gawain's strange brilliance Grayfia wrapped her own arms around him before allowing herself some more time to sleep.

When Grayfia awoke yet again later in the day, she was filled with bliss when she immediately noticed that Gawain was still sleeping soundly on top of her not having budged a single inch but there was a problem for her, she caught sight of a light that was definitely too bright to be a part of Gawain's room and when she turned, her eyes widened in shock and embarrassment was quick to follow.

"See-nya. The Ice Queen gave in-nya."

And there Kuroka, the black cat stood, in the doorway to Gawain's room with her younger sister Shirone by her side, and the Gremory family standing just outside the doorway looking into the room. The two siblings of Gremory both jumping for joy, Lord Gremory watched on with a slight smirk as Lady Gremory showed a motherly smile.

"Grayfia, you finally told him."

"She didn't-nya."

'Damn cat.'

"Blondie-nya forced her in telling her that she'll learn the awesomeness of the desks-nya. To not let her escape, he slept with her in his grasp-nya."

The sound of a deep breath being took echoed through the room as Gawain wretched his head free from the comfortable bosom that he used as his pillow. He looked straight down at Grayfia and then turned to look at those by his door and he blanked, the most confused expression took to his features and then he went to speak but stopped himself at the last minute. He visibly gave up with the shake of his head before just putting his head straight back down into Grayfia's chest, the sound of him sleeping peacefully eliciting the room moments later.

"Yay for Aniki~"

"Yay for Grayfia~"

""Yaaaaay~~""

The two Gremory siblings let out their happiness in a makeshift chant, the only thing being reminisce was the lack of pink pompoms to be shook.

And it pained Grayfia that she couldn't smack Sirzechs with her harisen for not only being childish, but being childish about her. But she put up with it, she currently had what she wanted even if nothing was official yet and he hadn't even made a notion towards starting something. If there was anything that devils had in spades, then it was time.

Thus it lead to the two older females of the Gremory family to deal with the end. Both Lady Gremory and Karissa Andrealphus, took their respective husbands by the ear and forcibly dragged them away. Rias Gremory hitching a ride by jumping onto her older brother's chest.

"Watch your back Cat."

"NyaNyaNya~"

Kuroka then toddled off herself with Shirone in hand, not bothering to take the threat properly.

"Grayfia..."

Her breath then hitched, Gawain had did it again. Used his famed ability to make it look like he was sleeping when he wasn't, even doing a detailed look over his body would look like he was asleep but he wasn't. It gave Gawain the ability to get out of a lot of things by just simply falling asleep.

"Yes Gawain-sama?"

"Sounds like you have something to tell me."

The room was then met with silence, a silence that Grayfia was too stumped and probably embarrassed to interrupt. The stoic types always interested Gawain more, their embarrassed expression always meant so much more.

"Who would have known. The Strongest Queen had an interest in younger guys. What was that term again...Ah! Cougar, that's it. Grayfia is a cougar. I'm currently 17 and you are an age that I would be hit if I knew and mentioned it but nevertheless you are a fully-fledged adult and so that means one thing. You have Ephebophilia."

The tease however was a little too much, even if it was just a set-up to whatever he was going to say next.

"But I'm ok with it. I like you too Grayfia."

"Eh?"

"I said 'I like you too'...That was what you wanted to tell me right? That you liked me?"

"Y-Yes, it was Gawain-sama."

"So I was right. Then as of this minute, this very soft pair of breasts are mine. Itaa!"

Gawain was then forced to mumble in place as he sported a war wound from the strike of Grayfia's deadly harisen, a weapon made out of paper that was stronger than steel.

And that was it, as simple as that. Too often do people stumble around wondering what if or whether its ok to love said person or to wonder if they'd even accept. Just tell them, either they accept or decline but the thing is, no matter their response it's always one that allows you to move on. They say yes and you can go forward to enjoying your life with that person. They say no and you can move on from them and do things you enjoy, possibly even meeting the right one. If you hesitate then you are going to stumble and potentially lose them before you can even put up with a fight.

That was Gawain's philosophy when it came to dealing with other people. Do not be shy even if it may seem a stupid question. If it ends up being so then so what, you may have been embarrassed but you still learnt something more and that's something you can be proud of. To be hesitant or to second guess yourself makes you weak in Gawain's mind.

"With that notion made, it would be best that we got on with our day-to-day things."

"But Aniki, I don't waaaaannaaaaa~!"

"Milady, even if you don't like him you should still speak to him."

"Aniki, you are meant to be on my side."

"I am Milady, remember when you told me to give him a taste of Victory? I forced his mouth open and shoved Galatine down his throat. Raiser Phoenix has become rather scared of me, Sirzechs-sama has said that he even flinches at the sound of my name. And remember Milady, I did it in front of a number of guests when we held our New Years party."

"Mou~~ You know what I mean Aniki."

Currently, Gawain was carrying his young master through the Gremory Castle. With her thrown over his shoulder, he walked through the castle complete in his armour, the sound of his boots clicking and clacking against the ground beneath him echoing through the hallways.

Rias though, was currently sporting a new look. Rather it was more like the only hairstyle that Gawain could do and that was braids. Though Gawain had to say, he did a damn good job with her hair.

"Mah mah Milady, the quicker you see him the earlier you can leave. Anywho, just put up with it for now and when you come of age challenge him to a Rating Game for your freedom. Then we can ceremoniously shove Holy Sword after Holy Sword after Cursed Sword after Divine sword into his body."

"Yaaaay~~!"

Rias' reply was rather unfortunate, she has got too used to the idea of people experiencing pain after being around Gawain. Gawain spent a lot of time musing about how to defeat people in a fight, Rias just had a penchant for asking what was on his mind solely at those times. You could actually call that lucky.

"Where are the two Nekos anyway Milady? Shouldn't they be around to find out about who their new master is supposed to be getting married to?"

"Training~ It's better this way~"

And truthfully that it was. Allowing Kuroka in a room with nobles that weren't from the Gremory clan was a very stupid thing to do because either she will curse, flirt or steal and perhaps maybe even belittle if Gawain is in a good enough mood to join in.

It was only two months into their stay at the Gremory castle and the two Nekos had already joined Rias' peerage but it was also at a time that the Elder Council had forced Gawain into doing a mission that forced him to fight 3 S-Class strays at once. Gawain was pissed when he returned from that and not because of the mission he was forced into but because his armour had got badly damaged during the fight, near enough completely destroyed chestplate. A full 2 days of expending his magic solely on it to fix it. He was one pissed off Welshman.

"WE HAVE ARRIVED~!"

Bursting through the large doors to the living area of the Gremory castle, Gawain went feet first with no care in the world with his young master still over his shoulders but now in a very cheerful façade.

"Gawain, you brought her … and smiling."

"A Saber never fails to brighten his King's day Lord Gremory."

"You've been forced into watching that anime again haven't you?"

"Well...the honest answer would be yes there."

Waltzing into the room, Gawain plopped his young master down in between her parents on the glamorous sofa that was directly opposite another sofa which held the Phoenix trio. The Lord and Lady of Phoenix and then the 3rd son, Raiser Phoenix, a boy who was the same age as Gawain but completely irked by his presence.

To Gawain's left though was a troubled Grayfia, a Grayfia who was paying her dues for getting to excited. Gawain was easygoing for the most part but bondage was one of those things he was never going near and so currently he was giving her the cold shoulder, more than likely why he had the time to do Rias' hair. Something which the lovely Lady Phoenix noted on.

"Oh Rias, trying a new look? It suits you."

"Thanks~ Aniki did it for me!"

The trio of Phoenixes then looked straight at Gawain dubiously.

"Milady asked me to play with her hair. It was either brush her hair or braid it, so I chose the one I thought would be more pleasant for Milady. Though I must say, all I could do was continue to compliment her adorable little face~"

"You can style hair?"

"Not really Lady Phoenix, all I can do is braid hair. I do suppose I should read up on it for future times so I can allow Milady to broaden her horizons in that aspect. Perhaps I could experiment and see what she looks like with my hair."

"Aniki no~!"

At the abrupt decline, Gawain could only turn his head away and click his tongue in playful annoyance while mumbling under his breath that he was looking forward to it.

The talk however quickly turned into just the two Lords and Ladies conversing between another on goings on in the Underworld, casually bringing Rias or Raiser into the conversation, mainly Rias there. Raiser however was wholeheartedly content at staring at Grayfia in all of her beauty. So utilizing his 'intelligence' Gawain decided to deal with that in his own way.

Gawain actually went about it simply, of course he was smacked by a harisen because of it but it was still pretty simple. He dismissed his gauntlets and the poked Grayfia in the boob before smiling at her when she turned to face him, before she blushed then smacked him while wearing an exasperated expression. Gawain however was defiant in this and he wasn't deterred in the slightest by the blow from the Strongest Queen. His eyes reverted to their hawk-like appearance and they bared down on their targets before drifting down slightly. He was determined to not only embarrass her but anger her as well, possibly the only person stupid enough to do so especially in the manner he had planned.

His hand blurred from by his side and appeared directly in front of Grayfia's stomach, it floated there for what seemed to be an eternity before it shifted and poked Grayfia. With Gawain's eyes directly on the 3 Phoenixes, he saw their expressions widened dramatically completely shocked and confused that they even saw it and then Gawain disappeared only to reappear behind Raiser Phoenix making him shudder violently.

"Ga-wain-sa-ma."

"Oh Grayfia, you sure do look pissed there. Why?"

The though was a simple one and it was also a correct one. He was an idiot.

He may have felt confident in his ability to tease her but it all dropped and was washed away by complete dread as Grayfia slowly pulled out her harisen with an aura that looked to be hell-bent on dealing Gawain his punishment. Despite all that, he was still brave enough to play right up until the end.

"That reminds me. You should really stop calling me '-sama', keep it for the foreplay at least."

Gawain watched as her gears shifted upon his mentioning of foreplay in front of others, but he was at least rewarded with a sigh from Lord Gremory.

"Haaah...Gawain, you really do have a death wish when dealing with Grayfia."

"Just keeping her sharp. Don't want her to get rusty now, I don't want to take the title of Strongest Queen simply because she has got all old and rusty."

"Gawain...You deserve what's coming to you, you know that right?"

"I should say yes but not only do I keep Grayfia oiled up during the day so she works well at night, it also allows me to get some training in. Not many people better for a spar than the Strongest Queen who is hell-bent on destroying you with a Japanese comical prop. Anyhow Milady, remember what I said earlier. Ciao~!"

With a short wave of a salute, Gawain ran...no, more like he fled the scene with Grayfia in tow. Leaving the door wide open in their wake, shouting voices reverberated throughout the castle.

"Blondie-nya, did you pinch her nipples again-nya?"

"Not the right time of day for that kinda kink Kuroka-nya. I poked her breasts and stomach before saying some things, you should do it sometime. One hell of a training session."

"Nah-nya. I like to live-nya."

"Gawain!"

And back in the living area, both Lord and Lady Gremory sighed at the exact same time for the exact same length of time before shaking their heads in union.

"That Gawain...One more reason to hate the church."

"Isn't that the truth dear. Maybe they knew this would happen and abstained him from being able to relax or do anything other than fight and train."

"Well, let's just be happy for him. Grayfia has been doing less work because of it."

That night, Gawain had returned to his room of desks victorious at defeating the Harisen Demon simply by being able to outrun her. Thanks to his constant missions involving forests along with utilizing his familiar's eyesight, traversing forests was almost second nature to him so losing Grayfia became simple. Though it should be said that Grayfia chased him for near enough 8 hours straight, going through the Gremory capital before finding themselves in the surrounding forests.

"This moment calls for one of those football chants. 'We are the champions~ We are the champions~!' Hmm...That was how it goes, I think. Or was that the Queen song?"

"Hah...hah...hah. Gawain, you have too much energy."

Since entering into a relationship with Gawain, Grayfia found herself being led back to his room every night and forced to spend blissful nights on the most comfortable desks in the end and she soon started to go there on her own accord.

"Ehehe~"

"I wasn't complimenting you Gawain."

"Ehhh!?"

Gawain was truly astonished that he wasn't being praised because it damn well sounded like it to him, as the teenager in puberty that he was.

"Anywho, Milady challenged Raiser to a Rating Game to get outta the wedding and without me their in the room it seems like he got cocky and readily agreed to it without thought. He must'a really liked me shoving Galatine down his throat last time."

"You evaded me while chatting to Rias-sama on the phone? I don't even see why I am surprised anymore."

"I should ask though Grayfia, were you wearing your battle panties for a reason today? If so, you better not be trying to force me into bondage again."

"W-Wha? When did you?!"

Gawain looked honestly perplexed as to why she didn't know that he knew.

"When you jumped the cliff after me. Isn't it pretty cliché for the first jumper to latch onto a vine or a plant root after jumping off? Black panties are good in my book."

"That's when a car plummets off of a cliff, people don't chase each other off of cliffs!"

"That's goes without saying Grayfia duh!"

Thwack!

That brought the tally of Grayfia hitting Gawain over the head with a harisen up to 88 already in his two years with Gremory, but counts up to his 36th since getting into a relationship with Grayfia. It could honestly make you question whether they could work together.


Honestly, was the chapter expected to go this way?
I definitely didn't expect it, kinda weird how it all just flowed for me.

In my mind, Gawain is a seriously broken person but is able to play on it for the most part.
But with how i say and mean broken, it's more like he was never born with all the pieces together.
He is slowly putting himself together as he gets older.

Next chapter though, it took a lot out of me to do.

Hwyl Fawr~!