Chapter 73: Voyeur?

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Tightening his grip on the intruder's shoulder to prevent escape, Ace was on the verge of incapacitating them. But abruptly halting, he realised it wasn't a "him" but a "her" peering at them.

His eyes widened at this revelation, prompting him to loosen his grip enough for the startled girl to escape. She hesitated, understanding the futility now that he had caught up. Turning around, she revealed a young face with dark lilac eyes – someone he recognized, none other than Kanao.

His astonishment shifted into a frowning expression. "Kanao? What are you doing here?"

Kanao, her usual stoic expression slightly faltering at his tone, hesitated before replying, "I... I apologise. I was strolling nearby and heard some …..unusual sounds. I didn't expect to find you two there."

Ace cursed under his breath, realising he should have been more careful during doing the deed with Mitsuri, and not let himself to completely get lost in it. But how on earth did he fail to sense her presence? Unless she was watching from a long distance, which made him a little suspicious.

Directly addressing her, he asked, "Were you spying on us, Kanao?"

Thump!

Before she could answer, the sound of Mitsuri landing beside them was heard, catching up to them.

But before Mitsuri could even balance herself from her landing, she saw who the intruder was, and her expression went blank. She couldn't utter a word.

Observing her reaction, Kanao shook her head inwardly. Her eyes focused on the ground, and her words were stammering. "No, I-I didn't intend to intrude on your privacy. I was merely searching."

Ace, deadpanning at her explanation, asked, "Searching what, exactly, Kanao?"

"You two!" Kanao immediately said before continuing, "It was quite late already since you two had not come to the mansion, so Shinobu sent me to go look for you two, and during the time when I was looking, I saw you two…"

Her voice trailed off, and there was a noticeable awkwardness in the air. After a moment of silence, Kanao finally managed to speak again, her words carefully chosen. However, one could easily notice a tinge of red trying to creep into her face, which she was forcibly trying to hold back. "I searched for you two, and I thought something might have happened, so I followed the sounds to make sure everything was alright."

'Really, something happened to us during the day! Just say you were curious.' Ace thought internally, laughing at her excuse. After all, how would anyone be able to harm a Hashira during the day? Even if thousands of humans attacked them, a Hashira would easily slaughter them.

But Mitsuri, upon hearing Kanao's words, had her face transition from blushing red to a pale expression as she pondered the implications.

How would she explain to Shinobu that Kanao had witnessed their intimate moments? How could she even justify engaging in such activities with Ace? It was supposed to be a secret, but now everything was unravelling.

Her body trembled with the weight of these thoughts. Not only had she been intimate with Ace, but she had also inadvertently exposed Kanao to something so personal, potentially corrupting her innocence.

Ugghhh, she just wanted to die now.

'What a mess,' Ace thought. But he wasn't that stressed about it. As he never planned to hide his relationship with Mitsuri, though it felt a little awkward being seen by someone else during an intimate moment.

It wasn't as embarrassing for Ace as it was for Mitsuri, given that she is a woman. Thankfully, Kanao is a girl otherwise… it was better not to day what he would do.

But now he had to first calm Mitsuri down; she was panicking way too much.

"Kanao, can you wait a little? I need to talk to her," Ace said, and she nodded as Ace pulled Mitsuri to the corner.

Pulling her aside, Ace said, "Calm down, Mitsuri. The world is not ending."

"B-but she saw us like that. How can I live in the same house with her now? Everything will be awkward, and what if she told Shinobu?" Mitsuri said, her voice filled with anxiety.

"So what?" Ace asked.

"Huh?" Mitsuri questioned.

"I wasn't planning to hide it from Shinobu anyway. If she learns it now, then it's okay," Ace stated.

"But.." Mitsuri grew silent upon hearing his words. In her heart, she was also not planning to hide it, as it would feel like she is deceiving her dear friend. She just felt that she needed some time to prepare herself, but suddenly Kanao seeing them had panicked her.

"And you don't have to feel guilty for her watching us. It's actually she who should be feeling guilty; she watched us secretly and only ran away when we caught her," Ace reassured.

Ace continued, "Besides, It was bound to come to light sooner or later. We just need to handle this situation with transparency and honesty."

"And we should be thankful that it was just Kanao and not someone else. You also know how Kanao's personality is; she doesn't blabber around," Ace explained to her.

Hearing his words, she finally calmed down, realising she was panicking too much, and said apologetically, "Thank you, Ace. I was acting too anxious."

"No worries," Ace said, patting her head, causing her to look down in blushing. "Okay! Let's go. We need to talk with our little peeping girl."

Ace and Mitsuri approached Kanao, who stood patiently, her dark lilac eyes focused on them. As they got closer, Mitsuri could feel her heart racing with a bit of embarrassment from Kanao's stare.

Ace, maintaining his calm demeanor, addressed Kanao, "Alright, Kanao, let's be straightforward. Did you see us doing... you know?"

Both Kanao and Mitsuri almost choked on their breath, hearing his blunt question. Mitsuri, in response, pinched Ace's waist with enough strength to draw blood. She didn't think he would be so straightforward.

 "Ouch!" Ace winced and looked at the culprit but the culprit glared back at him.

"If you guys are worried about that, you don't have to be. I didn't see anything. In fact, I just arrived here," Kanao reassured, her expression calm and sincere, as if she wasn't fazed even knowing what they were doing.

An immediate relieved expression appeared on Mitsuri's face upon hearing that Kanao didn't see anything, though Ace didn't fully buy it, understanding that Kanao wouldn't blatantly lie to them.

"Thank you for your honesty, Kanao," Mitsuri said gratefully and added with a sheepish smile, "Can you keep what happened here a secret for some time?"

Kanao nodded, her dark lilac eyes revealing nothing. "Sure, I respect your privacy. I won't mention this to anyone."

Mitsuri, feeling a mix of relief and gratitude, chimed in, "We appreciate that, Kanao. Let's just put this behind us and continue our day."

Kanao nodded silently, her usual composed self returning. "I apologise for any disruption. I'll report to Shinobu that I found you both."

"Let's go together then. We are also heading back," Ace said.

Both Mitsuri and Kanao nodded to his words and walked back to the mansion.

As they were walking back to the mansion, Ace couldn't resist but inquired, "Kanao, why did you try to run when I chased you?"

Mitsuri, curious, also perked up her ear to catch the response.

After a brief pause, Kanao explained, ".....I wanted to avoid any misunderstandings, so I thought it was best to leave without you guys knowing but unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough, and you caught me."

Ace and Mitsuri nodded at her answer, understanding her intention.

As they neared the mansion, they saw Shinobu standing in the entrance, and were greeted by her, "Why are you guys so late?"

"We were training and lost track of time," Ace quickly responded.

Shinobu nodded, understanding the reason, as it was normal for people to sometimes get lost in training.

Then, turning to Kanao, Shinobu asked, "And why are you so late? It's been five hours since I sent you to search for them!"

As she said this, everyone froze. Kanao's face shifted from pale to red, and then in an instant, she vanished, no- more like ran away.

"What happened to her?" Shinobu asked, turning to Ace and Mitsuri, only to find Mitsuri standing like a statue while Ace sported a smirk that clearly said, 'I knew it.'

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Sorry for the delay; I was writing a another fanfic of mine "Naruto: Blood & Pleasure." Feel free to check it out on Patreon. I'll also be releasing it on ScribbleHub soon.

Link: patreon.com/NexusPrimodius