Another fluff fic.

Log Horizon and all it's characters belong to Touno Mamare, who is clearly not me.

R+R please!

Chapter 1: Just give Marielle what she wants, it'll be quieter in the long run

It was nearing the end of March, Winter had ended, along with all that it brought with it. Namely, Valentine's Day, Shiroe sighed, I'm so very glad that ordeal is over.

He sat at his desk; piles of official looking scrolls made him barely visible to anyone entering from the door. But he was glad for that too; he looked so busy that no one would dare interrupt his silence. He placed down his quill.

"Are you tired, my lord?" asked a quiet voice from the rafters.

"Hm? Ah no." Shiroe said, stretching his arms, "I do, however, need a break I think." He shifted his gaze upwards,

"Akatsuki, what about you? You've been up there all day."

"It is a ninja's duty to protect her lord." Came the well-versed reply, but she lept down nonetheless.

A petite girl of 20 years stood in front of him. Her clothing; flexible and easy to move in, it gave the impression that she was a real ninja. It suited her to a T, Shiroe thought.

"… my lord…?"

Shiroe shook his head vigorously and stood up. He had been caught staring at her for an uncomfortably long time.

"You look a little dazed, my lord," said Akatsuki, leaping lightly onto the overladen desk to stand directly before Shiroe.

"Perhaps you have a fever." she wondered and placed a delicate hand on his forehead.

Shiroe could see his own reflection in those large violet eyes.

He jumped back, promptly knocking his chair over; letting it crash into a pile of neatly stacked rolls of parchment.

"No, no, no! I feel fine!" Shiroe rambled, "Perhaps just a little tired-!"

"But my lord, you just said before that you were not…" Akatsuki reminded him; still kneeling on his desk and eyes staring straight into his.

"Tea!" Shiroe declared loudly, "I would like tea!"

"O-ok," said Akatsuki and she jumped off her lord's desk, "I'll go make some."

Without turning around, she promptly disappeared.

"Ah! Thank… you." He turned to the fallen chair and the scattered rolls of parchment on the floor and began tidying.

He sighed; placing a hand to his forehead where Akatsuki had touched him.

A sudden flashback recalled just how close her face had been to his mere moments ago; his face began to feel quite warm.

Suddenly his door opened.

"Ah, Akatsuki! Sorry about earlier-!" Shiroe began, turning to the door, but instead of the willowy figure in black, a much younger girl, dressed in the garb of a shrine maiden stood in his doorway.

"Minori!"

"I-I'm sorry to disturb you Shiroe-san," she cried, "But Marielle-san is looking for you."

Shiroe thanked her and told her that he'd be there as soon as he'd finished cleaning up.

Minori nodded, excused herself, and closed the door.

Shiroe-san was red in the face, Minori thought, his office was in disarray; he had been trying to apologise to Akatsuki-san for "earlier"… What happened "earlier"? What's going on…?!

When Shiroe finally entered the guild room of the Crescent Moon Alliance, a 'meeting' was in full swing. By 'meeting', of course, it meant that there was a lot of Marielle crying and carrying on about something that she 'really, really wanted! I would never ask for anything more! We have to do it!' while Henrietta and Naotsugu tried to pacify her.

Shiroe tried to as quietly as possible shut the door and escape the scene without being noticed. However, this was impossible, as Naotsugu had been waiting for his friend to open the door.

"Marielle!" he cried, "Shiroe's here! Ask him!"

Marielle immediately stopped crying at Henrietta's feet sobbing, "Umekoooo…. You're so meeeaaaannnn!" and rushed over to a cornered Shiroe exclaiming;

"Hanami! Let's do Hanami!"

"Hanami?" Shiroe repeated.

Henrietta adjusted her glasses.

"Marielle, you just can't ask to hold every single festival on the face of the earth…" she scolded.

"B-but I want to do Hanamiiii!" came the sobbing reply, "You can, no, will, give permission, right Shiroe?"

"You can't keep running to Shiroe-sama ever time you want something that only the Round Table can give permission for. Ask them yourself; you're a member after all!" chided Henrietta.

"But-but-but," stuttered Marielle, "What if they say no?!"

Naotsugu sighed and looked to Shiroe; eyes pleading for some peace.

Shiroe pushed his glasses higher up his nose.

"Marielle-san, I will talk to the Round Table about doing Hanami. I'm not opposed to the plan myself."

Marielle gasped in happy surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes, and I'll leave the plans to you. But, be warned, there'll be a strict budget…"

Shiroe was cut off by Marielle's cries of delight and it could be well assumed that she did not hear anything about the limitations on spending.

Indeed she began rattling off a list of items required for a Hanami ceremony fit for perhaps someone of royalty; not for a band of Adventurers.

There was a collective sigh around the room, and Henrietta muttered; "I wish Shiroe-sama hadn't said that…"

Shiroe himself was smiling to himself with relief that Marielle was now distracted with planning and had let him be, when Akatsuki approached him.

"My lord," she began, "I apologise for not bringing you your tea…"

"Ah! No! I'm sorry for demanding things of you!" Shiroe said sheepishly, unconsciously reaching down and patting Akatsuki on her head.

Akatsuki froze; a pink tinge tinting her face.

A little way off, Minori observed the pair with close scrutiny. Due to the surrounding chaos in the room, she could not hear their conversation, but she see their expressions and read their body language.

She watched as Akatsuki inclined her head as if to apologise, and observed Shiroe do the same. She flinched when he placed a hand on Akatsuki's head and watched carefully for her reaction. There wasn't much, but she could perceive that perhaps Akatsuki's face was a little redder than it previously had been.

She continued to watch as Shiroe started, removed his hand and laugh in an embarrassed sort of way; before Akatsuki took her leave.

Minori kept staring at Shiroe as he stared after the retreating figure, he then raised the hand that had touched Akatsuki's head and looked at it; his expression as if he were in deep thought.

"Hey Minori! We're leaving!" a voice broke through her reverie. It was her brother Tohya.

"Ah! Tohya!" she exclaimed, looking from her brother to the spot where Shiroe has just stood, to find that he had moved off somewhere else out of sight.

"… Shiroe-san…"

"Hm? What about Shiroe-nii?"

Mirori grabbed her brother and pulled him into a quieter spot.

"Has Shiroe-san been acting strange to you at all?" asked Minori.

Tohya considered his sister's question for a moment,

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Ah, no reason." She replied, placing her hand in the air.

"You're the one who's acting weird…" Tohya added, "Now, c'mon. It's training time."

He then began to walk away.

So it's only Akatsuki-san that Shiroe-san is being strange about… she thought, and ran to catch up to her brother.

Back in the Crescent Moon Alliance guild, it was still in noisy chaos.

Marielle had just been informed by Henrietta that it would be impossible for her and Naotsugu to have a 'private' cherry tree to themselves as there were only limited spaces under a limited number of blossoming trees, was throwing another tantrum.

Naotsugu sought his friend.

"Oi, Shiroe. Why'd you accept Marielle's idea?" Naotsugu asked under his breath, so that Marielle wouldn't hear him.

"Because it'll make her and others in Akiba happy. Besides, isn't that what you're after, Naotsugu? Marielle's happiness?"

"Well yeah," Naotsugu conceded, "but first, you have to go through all this."

Naotsugu then indicated to Marielle sobbing loudly, throwing teddy bears at Henrietta.

Shiroe laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Good luck." He said, before making a hasty retreat from the room, citing Round Table business.

Despite all the noise and insanity, Shiroe found himself looking forward to the ceremony.

Seeing Shiroe gone, Henrietta stood firm in front of her friend.

"If you keep carrying on like this, I'll just go and convince Shiroe-sama not to hold this Hanami ceremony, and you can do without!"

"You wouldn't do that" Marielle sulked.

"And why not?"

"Because this is your chance to dress Akatsuki in a furisode kimono isn't it?"

Henrietta gasped. Akatsuki-chan in a furisode?! That would be so cute!

As Henrietta began to think of which colour would make her 'darling little Akatsuki-chan' the cutest; somewhere hidden, Akatsuki herself gave an involuntary shudder.