When Akashi, Sayo, and Ieyasu arrived at Akashi's mansion, both Sayo and Ieyasu had their jaws dropped while looking at the enormous mansion.
"Help her clean up and then dress her up in something durable but not too attention-catching." Akashi said to a few maids while pointing at Sayo who was still wearing just some rags, barely covering anything but instead of her milky white skin being exposed, the only things visible were bruises and dirt covering her body.
When Sayo heard his words, she blushed a bit.
"Understood. Let's go, my lady" 2 maids bowed down with a smile before helping Sayo walk to the bathroom, where all the things that will happen there will also stay there.
Ieyasu on the other hand was admiring the beauty of these maids inside the mansion.
"All of them are beautiful..." He unintentionally muttered, making a few maids walking pass them giggle.
"And their loyalty is even better" Akashi replied with a stoic expression, not being bothered by his comment. After all, all those maids had the privilege of using all kinds of beauty products inside the mansion, not to mention they weren't just some harmless maids to begin with. Most of them were orphans just to be later taken under Akashi's father protection where they were trained in various things. Since they were never forced to do anything against their will, most of them already consider Phoenix family as their own family so their loyalty is unquestionable.
Ieyasu just nodded and looked towards Akashi with expectations apparent in his eyes.
"? Do you want me to call some butlers to help you clean up?" Akashi looked at him with a confused expression before he realized his mistake and asked him with a teasing tone.
"?! No-No-No, I will be fine alone~!" Ieyasu waved his hand to refuse Akashi's offer before he sprinted down a random hallway.
'He is an idiot' Akashi thought with a blank expression before he stopped one of the maids passing by. He caught her attention by putting his arm around her shoulder which startled her a bit but she didn't shake in fear or anything that would indicate that she is uncomfortable.
"Can you please show that fool where is a bathroom and can you also bring some new clothes for him? You don't have to do anything else beyond that." Akashi brought his head closer to her and pointed at Ieyasu running down the hallway.
"*giggle* Of course, leave it to me, young master!" The maid followed where he was pointing at and nodded with a smile when she saw her "target"
After they cleaned up and dressed up in new clothes, they were lead to Akashi's study.
"Alright, finally you don't stink of death. Can both of you strip down to your underwear?" Akashi commented when he looked at them before he asked quite an absurd question.
"W-W-What?!" Sayo blushed and immediately hugged her body, hiding away her breasts.
"I-I didn't know you swing that way..." Ieyasu said with a panicked expression.
"I just want to check on your bruises, they might be infected. You might not feel anything right now but it is possible that something harmful is still inside your body. After all, slow working poisons also exist." Akashi explained calmly while shrugging his shoulders.
"Agh...A-Alright" Sayo dropped her head down before replying still with an uncertain expression but she already began taking off her clothes but when she rolled up her shirt up to her breasts, she stopped and looked at Ieyasu.
"What?" He asked innocently but he was still eyeing her with a lewd smile without even being aware of it.
"Get out!" Sayo shouted while sharply glaring at him.
'Eck! What the hell, you are embarrassed to let me see you in your underwear but in that warehouse, I have seen you naked...Well, it's not like I was focused on that thing at that time' Ieyasu complained inwardly but he still left the room and started waiting behind the door.
Sayo followed Akashi's instructions and lied down on the sofa with her stomach facing up.
"Hmm, none of them appear to be infected but I can't be sure if it isn't already inside your blood and for that to check, I need to touch you, is that alright with you?" Akashi crouched down next to her and inspected all her bruises and cuts before he asked, making already blushing Sayo completely red.
'...He looks at me with that stoic expression and I can't even see a bit of lust in his eyes...Am I not good enough or what?' Sayo had complicated thoughts about this, she was sure that she can trust him but on the other hand, it also awakened other thoughts.
"Do your job." Sayo nodded while averting her eyes.
Akashi nodded back and placed his hand on her stomach where most of the bruises were located and when his fingers touched Sayo's skin, she shivered a bit, not because his fingers were cold, on the contrary, they were warm. The real reason was that this is her first time a man touched her half-naked body.
While Sayo's blush only deepened, making her neck red, Akashi had his eyes closed shut while focusing his flames on speeding the regeneration of Sayo's body. When she noticed her bruises and cuts disappearing on her body, she immediately asked Akashi with a lot of enthusiasm to treat all of her other bruises. Which woman didn't want to look beautiful...
While Akashi was treating her bruises and cuts, she decided to start conversation to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.
"Um, how is it, living as a noble in the Capital?" Sayo asked while still averting her eyes..
"Not bad, you have many privileges but you are also on the eyes of many people and you have very limited freedom. There is also enormous amount of paperwork each day, making it hard for someone like me to train." Akashi replied with a stoic expression while continuing his job.
"Um, you said that...that Aria was supposed to become your wife...What will happen now?" Sayo asked with a slightly concerned tone.
"Who knows, maybe they will try to force marriage on me once again but I highly doubt that. Previously it was forced on me when I was just 3 years old, I wasn't as powerful as now. My family's influence also became much larger. When you have a big influence and also personal strength to back it up, it is very unlikely that anyone will force anything on you." Akashi replied.
"...I see and do you have...anyone you are interested in?" Sayo couldn't help but grow curious like any other woman. Akashi had almost everything any woman could dream of from their husband so she couldn't help but be interested in this fact.
"...There is someone but it's a bit complicated...not our relationship but her status." Akashi suddenly showed a gentle smile and replied to Sayo.
"Oh?! Is it like in those fairy tales where prince fall in love with a farm girl?!" Sayo suddenly asked in great vigor while sitting up, looking straight into Akashi's eyes that were only a few inches away.
"Hm, something like that...Can you lie down? I need to finish it up, also try to relax your muscles" Akashi's smile disappeared and said with a calm expression.
When they were done and Sayo was about to dress up...
"Just to be sure...They didn't inflict any damage on your private parts or perhaps stuffed something inside you through there?" Akashi asked with frowned brows since it was the only location he didn't check.
"N-N-No, thankfully, no" Sayo's grip on her shirt loosened when she heard his words, making her drop her shirt but she quickly replied while stuttering.
After that, he did the same for Ieyasu who was probably shivering even more than Sayo much to Akashi's annoyance.
He let them sleep for a few hours before he woke them right before the dawn. He took them to the location where he is supposed to meet up with Najenda if he ever wants to discuss something with her. He did as Kurome previously described and then they just waited for someone to arrive.
'Should I plant some Wrigglers at them? Maybe not...it's not safe to do that in case the one who arrives here is Leone. If she or anyone else were to discover them, they would definitely connect them with me since they have already seen them once and I was also in that place. Not worth of the risk.' Akashi thought while waiting for someone to arrive.
After a few minutes, the one who came was Leone and Akame.
"*yawn* Why do you have to contact us so early? It's not even morning yet." Leone grumbled while yawing and scratching back of her head with her claws, as expected, she was in her transformed form.
"I am giving you these 2 to you. I don't care what you do with them as I have already done my job." Akashi said and turned around to leave them.
"Wait, Akashi!" The one who shouted at him was unexpectedly Akame.
"What is it?" Akashi stopped and turned at her while asking her with a raised eyebrow.
"What is Kurome to you?" Akame unexpectedly asked while gripping her Murasame tightly.
"I see no reason for me to answer that question but just to avoid a meaningless conflict, I will tell you. She is my little sister that can be sometimes clumsy but is also very hardworking. I love her in the same way as you do. Satisfied?" Akashi said with a serious expression.
Akame just nodded her head with a small smile creeping up on her face.
"Wait, you contacted us just because of that?" Leone asked with a disbelieving expression.
"Yes" Akashi shortly replied with his stoic expression.
*Thud* Leone fell backward on the ground, back first and started muttering how she wants to go back to sleep.
Sayo and Ieyasu already thanked Akashi numerous times but they still thanked him for the last time before he left them.
---Night Raid's hideout---
A few hours after Leone and Akame retrieved Sayo and Ieyasu, in the morning, Tatsumi woke up and expected the boss, Najenda, to give him some job just to be surprised by Sayo and Ieyasu's presence once he entered the main hall.
"GUYS!!!" Tatsumi exclaimed and immediately hugged both of them.
"You both look like nothing ever happened to you...What had happened to you after we rescued you?" Tatsumi asked after he saw that there were almost no bruises on their bodies. Other members of Night Raid smiled when they heard him say "we rescued you".
"Akashi helped us...his powers are really strange. I can't really explain how he treated our injuries." Sayo replied with a forced and apologetic smile.
"It's good that he kept his word, I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to you after giving us his word. Anyway, can you tell me more about the time you spent at his place and perhaps some information you gathered about Akashi?" Najenda asked with a friendly smile.
"Um..." Sayo turned at her but she was unsure if she should say anything.
"My bad, I am Najenda, leader of this organization. I understand that you are reluctant to give away any information about someone who treated you but I can assure you that I simply want it for my personal reasons." Najenda recalled that she has yet to introduce herself so she introduced herself while explaining herself which made Sayo's cautious expression soften a bit.
'Personal reasons?!' Lubbock's eyes immediately started dangerously glowing when he heard Najenda's words.