Beastmen Love-Chapter 205: Teddy Bear

Shinkou looks at Astri and can notice that she’s hiding something, so he wants to make her say what she’s hiding from him because he doesn’t want to risk himself on something that looks too good to be true.

"Why don’t you want to call attention? I understand that this is very valuable knowledge, but you could be the richest female. You could go to the Emperor and sell your knowledge to him, and he would pay anything you want." Shinkou asks.

"He’s right. The Emperor could give you the ship you want." Kenzou says to Astri.

"Why do you want a ship?" Shinkou asks, curious and wondering about the reasons for that new information he just got accidentally.

Astri thinks deeply and tries to understand what Nature’s telling her for some seconds. They feel the wind around, but only Kenzou can understand that Nature is communicating with her, and he’s impressed watching that.

"Maybe you’re right.. Is he going to let me go even knowing I’m a female with knowledge?" Astri asks.

"I don’t know.. No one would indeed want to let someone with your knowledge simply leave." Kenzou answers softly.

"You might ignore my questions, but I’ll ask again. Why do you want to leave and a ship?" Shinkou asks.

"I want to go back home.. That’s all." She answers.

"Is your home on another island?"

"We can say that."

"Why can’t your spouses bring you home?"

She sighs, already tired of hiding her true motives, and simply decides to tell everything to Shinkou. He’s trying to absorb everything she said, and then laughs again.

"I already saw females acting as if they were Goddesses, but you actually believe..."

Before he finishes, she makes a little lightning bolt hit the table in front of him, and then she controls the little fire that comes from it. Shocking both.

"I don’t lie, Lord Shinkou. Please, don’t laugh at me anymore. My soul is incomplete, but I can cut your balls off even without my powers. And do not disrespect Nature, we got broken together to try to save this world. I don’t know how my family is, or how my children are. I left a baby female who still needed my breast milk. I have no idea how long it’ll take to go back home. So, don’t make me angry!" She says seriously, but then her face turns sad, and she starts to cry.

Kenzou goes to her side instinctively and hugs her shoulders. She feels his warmth and hugs him back, hiding her face on his chest.

Shinkou feels very bad and guilty after seeing her cry that way. He scratches his face and head. Not knowing exactly what to say.

"I’m sorry... I didn’t know... Well.. Erm.." Shinkou softly says.

"It’s all right.. I normally don’t get angry easily. I’m just missing my family.. I’m sorry." She says, and cleans her face. "I might be a Goddess like you say, but I’m a female, too."

She stands up, putting away the basket.

"Good night. I will go to sleep and rest a little bit. Tomorrow I’ll make something special to eat." She says, and then goes to bed.

Shinkou sighs, still feeling bad for what happened. Kenzou keeps cleaning everything, and then he decides to go to bed, too.

"You can go. We don’t have more to discuss. She will call you if she needs you." Kenzou says to Shinkou.

"Are you her spouse for sleeping near her?"

"No. I sleep near to protect her. As you saw, she’s very important. Now go." Kenzou says and closes the door.

Kenzou lies down and watches Astri’s back for some time. By her breathing, he can see she’s not sleeping. He doesn’t want to bother her, but he can sense she’s in pain, and that hurts his heart.

He doesn’t see her with mating interest, he just wants to protect her because he can see she needs this help, and he could sense that his hug helped her calm down before.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asks softly.

"Can you.. Just hold my hand?" She asks.

He takes his bed and puts it next to hers. He takes her hand in his and stays silent. She smiles, looking at him.

"When I was a baby, my father sent me away to protect me from being killed. A male found me. Now I know why I feel nostalgic when I see you and feel your energy... You’re just like him. He was the image of a father to me for a long time." She says.

He’s impressed to hear that.

"I’m sorry to tell you this.. It’s weird, right? We just met.." She softly says, looking away and starting to let go of his hand, but he holds her hand in his.

"I’m happy you feel this way.. Others would think I’m crazy, but I don’t see you with the interest of becoming your spouse. I just want to protect you. Maybe we share feelings. I always wanted a daughter." He says, passing his hand on her head softly.

She chuckles and then closes her eyes to sleep. His presence next to her made her feel safe to sleep.

In the morning, Astri wakes up slowly and yawns widely as she scratches her arms up, then she fixes her messed-up hair and washes her face. Kenzou was already up, and he had already opened the door of the shrine. It has only one room, so at the door, Shinkou was watching her sleeping and waking up.

He didn’t leave and couldn’t sleep properly after what happened. He can’t erase the fact that he met by chance a Goddess and even disrespected her several times. She says good morning as she walks out.

"Good morning.." He answers back.

"Yes. Yes, it is a good morning." She says, looking to the weather.

She goes to Kenzou, who was watching the rice cook.

"Good morning, teddy bear." She says.

"Teddy bear? Good morning." He asks.

"It’s something we use to help us sleep." She answers.

"I’m glad I could help."

"It’s a toy, too. My daughter has some and plays as if she were their mother."

He looks at her with a divided look, of someone who liked and disliked being called a teddy bear, making Astri laugh.

"All right, sorry. Thank you either way. If you weren’t there, I wouldn’t sleep soon." She says, tapping his shoulder.

He smiles and nods. She takes the pot he made and puts the azuki beans to boil, covering the top with wood. They have fruits as breakfast, and then Kenzou keeps building what she asked him to build.

After boiling the beans several times, Astri drains them and starts to smash them with a fork she made. Shinkou was watching her all the time, and then he went to her, after gathering the courage to talk to her again.

"Lady Astri..."

"Take this." She says, giving him another bowl of beans to smash and another fork. "Do this and smash until it’s on this texture." She says, showing him.

He started to do what she asked, a bit confused, but he didn’t question.

"I apologize for the way I treated you.. You don’t look like a Goddess.. Well, you’re beautiful like a Goddess, but I couldn’t imagine you could really be one." He says.

"Thank you. I guess. It’s all right. Unfortunately, you have grown up being judged by your look and for being an Ookitsune. You just mimic what people did to you." She says, as she keeps smashing the beans.

He looks at her while he smashes the beans, too.

"No, I don’t know about the details of your past. My soul is not complete and my ability of reading minds is not working, but I never needed it before learning I had this ability. Believe me when I tell you that I understand you, because I was raised in a similar way."

"How so.. Weren’t you raised in a castle or something bigger?"

Kenzou brought the pieces of wood that he will tie together to create a box, and sits on a nearby rock, and hears Astri telling her story about being taken to another world and being raised as a slave, then being brought back to the Beastmen World by Claud and learning about who she is few years ago.

"When I arrived here, I never judged anyone by their kind. Some thought I was crazy for having a Snake as a spouse, but he’s the kindest of my spouses. His heart is the kindest, at least to me and my children." Astri says.

"I understand, now... So you don’t think Ookitsunes are tricky creatures? Even if I have the ability to trick people, indeed.." Shinkou asks.

"You just embraced what people believed you were. It was the easiest way. And I don’t judge you for that. I can feel you’re not a bad beastman, you just want to live the best you can and without people bothering you, and you found the way using what people already believe that you are. I did the same for several years. And I think I still use it when people call me Goddess. In the beginning, I didn’t like being called this way, it’s too much responsibility, but later I embraced it because at least it makes people not question certain attitudes of mine of seeing someone by what they really are and not their kind."

He smiles and nods.

"It makes sense."

"Totally. Now let’s make the magic happen!" She says, and then she pours the honey on the paste of beans and mixes it.

She tastes it and sighs, enjoying the flavor.

"Kenzou! You will love this!" She calls Kenzou.

He goes to her with a curious face.

"Open your mouth." She says, and then puts some in his mouth when he opens it.

His eyes were wide in amazement.

"It’s so good! I would never imagine we could do that with beans."

Astri shows the fork to Shinkou, waiting for him to open his mouth. He slowly opened his mouth and trusted her to put it in his mouth. He is also impressed with the taste.

"It’s good. It’s sweet, but not so sweet like honey." He says.

"Yes. Perfect couple, honey and beans. If we had flour, I could make some pancakes to eat with it. I didn’t see people selling flour or wheat. Maybe in another city?" She says.

Without even noticing, Shinkou simply stayed there with them, spending time with Astri and Kenzou, and slowly deciding to help Astri achieve what she wants.