"So.... You are telling me to treat her and not tell anyone about her? That you don't even know who she is? Tell me you guys are messing around." Mitsuki rolls her dull eyes and crosses her arms on her chest.
"We're serious, Mitsuki-san. We need you to treat her. Aren't you healers like 'it is our duty to heal people irrespective of who they are'?" Jirou squares his shoulders and mimics the girl's stance as he raises his eyebrows from several inches above hers.
"Nice try Yamato-san but I must say the effort was a failure because I'm not a least bit convinced. Besides, I have not taken the oath so I should be least bit concerned about her." Her face is stoic as she pushes her thick braided hair off her shoulder only to fall long at her back.
Jirou lets out a frustrating huff and makes eye contact with Daisuke as if signalling to help him before he lashes off at the girl before him. He does not have anger issues but just slightly short when it comes to patience. But damn the fate because Mitsuki always manages to push his buttons only by opening her mouth.
"Why do you have to be like this, onee-san? It's not that hard for you..." Niki tries to convince his elder sister as he felt bad for Jirou struggling.
"You do not need to know. Besides, I do believe you should be attending your classes at the moment. You surely roam around with the wrong crowd." Niki visibly flinches, though the slightest, but it was surely harsh for him even if this is the most normal type of conversation he has with his sister. No wonder he felt ashamed that she had to be summoned as someone who has to help them.
Daisuke pushes himself off the door frame and walks towards her. "Please, Nishimura-san. We need your help. Can you atleast tell us what has happened to her like did a venomous creature bit her or she has some chronic condition or maybe she has been having some illness since childhood that has managed to act up? Or maybe something else we can not wrap out mind around?" She averts her eyes the slightest as the said man approaches her but still manages no change in her expression despite the funny feeling in the left side of her chest.
"She is not really suffering from anything, if I'm being honest. Her pulse is lower and so are her energy levels, that is all." She uncrosses her arms and proceeds to Aiko who seems to be asleep now. "All I need to do is to infuse the energy tonic in her body which would help her regain consciousness. I am estimating she would wake up in approximately one rotation."
With a small blade, she cuts a small incision on her forearm. Somewhere in a pocket beneath her robe, she reveals a small glass bottle, about the size of her pinky finger, filled with a bright blue colour liquid. She breaks the tip of the bottle with her fingers and drops the liquid drop by drop in the incision.
Everyone stands and watch in an awe as they see the liquid blend with her blood, leaving some amount of vapours as it disappears inside her body. Taki dares to come closer to her, trying to peek over her shoulder in order to take in a better view of the process. The little guy has always been interested in the duty of healers which explains why he and Niki always spend time together at Niki and Mitsuki's uncle and guardian, Nakamoto Yuta's clinic.
Once the last drop oozes inside Aiko's body, Mitsuki extends her hand towards her and stops just above the incision she previously created. A silver spark of light escapes her palms and whirls around the small cut which eventually gets sealed.
"Uwahh onee-san! This is so good! I am very impressed!!" A wide grin curves upon Taki's face, revealing his cute dimples. Despite his bright compliment, Mitsuki only takes a glance at him and says nothing.
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"Okaa-san... Otou-san... I'm sorry..." A murmur is heard in a female's voice. Kei, who is the only person awake, goes near the bed where the girl from woods was unconscious.
The sleeping stranger again whispers the same words, in a voice lower than before and a drop of tear slides down her cheek. A slight pang is felt in Kei's chest. He extends his hand towards her and wipes away the stray tear with his thumb.
Apologizing to parents. Something Kei has done a lot. Having a father with ungodly expectations and a mother who is unsupportive of his interests as well as someone who degrades him of whatever he does. He always wished he had a sibling or maybe a best friend who can value his worth and accept him for who he is. He even used to cry about it till late nights whenever he saw other children having such companions. He wanted to be loved, that's all.
But when he was sent to school, a boy approached him with a bright smile on his face, as if a sunflower approached him. Usually, sunflower moves according to the direction of the sun but the way that boy, Mikan Ichiro, his best friend of now, made him feel good, as if he's a person who deserves happiness and contentment. Ichiro is the reason Kei feels relieved that he has friends and sibling-like friends because the sunflower boy invited him to the league of seven guys and one girl among whom one distanced himself but later they got close to Taki and Niki along with which Yoshiko came along. Overall, it is messy but the best group of friends Kei could ever ask for. He can even kill or maybe sacrifice his own life just to keep them safe.
Another tear slides the girl's face when Kei lets it flow this time. Instead, he holds her hand after looking around him to check if anyone is seeing this or not and whispers to her, "It's okay. Let it all out... Don't worry. It is alright to feel bad about something and cry. Allow yourself to be weak." He doesn't know this person even though he felt like he has an idea what she is going through. Like their problems are just the same but written by the Goddess in a different letter case.
Aiko is dreaming. That she's running towards something. That one mark on the sky she has to reach without taking anyone's help. She can't fall apart, even if she's tired. She wants to take a break and catch her breathing. But she can't afford it or she will falter. She can't let that happen. All of a sudden, she feels warm. Like the good warm, the one she is embraced completely by. Her steps slow down and she comes to a stop. A voice is heard, comforting her. She lets out a sob and digs her nails in her forearms. Her grip loosens, legs gives up on balance and she falls to her knees. Balled fists of hers near her knees are loosened by a pair translucent hands, bigger than hers. She finally breaks down and the mark in the sky comes closer to her. It's a sparkling red quadrilateral. Similar to the yellow one she always wears.
Aiko jerks herself to wake up. With a force too much that a whine escapes out of her.
"Girl, chill. Nobody is taking anything from you. You okay?", Aiko silently watched as a girl pours a cup of water from a lot at the corner of the room and strides towards her.
"Here. What's your name? Where are you from? The kids said you were almost dead so like, what really happened to you? Wait- you're not a burglar, right?" She retracts her hand as she notices Aiko not trying to take it from her.
"Give her a moment, Yuki. You are scaring her. No wonder sensei does not let you do interrogations. You're so bad at this." The guy who speaks this takes the cup from the said girl and places it in front of Aiko.
"You can take time, not too much though. But feel comfortable here. Nobody is going to hurt you. Don't mind my cousin there." He pointed his chin towards Yuki who raises an eyebrow and turns back to her and continues,"She is just overly intrigued." His smile is cute. A bright, cute smile which is quite contradictory to the calloused arms of his, similar to Yuki's and Aiko's.
"He also collapsed but no signs of anything worrisome so just let him rest and he will be up in about five to seven wheel rotations." Another voice perks up Aiko's ears as she glances a girl near the bed where an extremely tall man seems to be sleeping. The girl had a grim expression, her mouth blank and her sharp eyes were accompanied by vision rim embedded with stones, a device for people with impaired vision.
She tries to see the face of the unconscious man but unfortunately, it was partly covered by his hair which is why she couldn't get a perfect glance at it. Then she slides her eyes from person to person present in the room, which means a group of five guys standing at the base of a bed where three kids are sleeping with their heads against the wall, one of the younger boys with his one side of the body sprawled on the other while the girl is almost curled up in a ball. Those must be kids.... Taki, Niki and Yoshiko, I suppose. I wonder which one is the guy who carried me....
Wait... Does this mean I have to kill them now? Since they know about me... but how can I? They've saved my life... I am guessing that I must forge my identity otherwise there is a chance I might be reported back to motherland... So I will have to lie.
Now that Aiko had no orders and rules to follow, her mind seems to wander and consider all the possibilities she can stall with minimum killing or approaching to any sort of violence.
"Hey... Sorry about earlier. I did not mean to freak you out or scare you. I was just excited that I can finally have another female join this little group of ours." The girl from before, Yuki, approaches her and sits at the edge of the bed occupied by Aiko. "I will save that for later, considering you have not spoken a word since you've woken up. Let's start with introductions, shall we? I'm Yuki, Minamoto Yuki. The guy who offered you this glass? He is my cousin Mikan Ichiro, just call him Ichiro. All of us go by calling each other by their first names since we all have been classmates. Except that healer girl though," She points her chin towards the girl who has now got up from the bed and standing near a corner with her arms crossed, her face blank as ever. "She has never been really interested even though I have offered her quite a lot of times... Maybe she just likes to be alone. And those kids, they just... Joined us? Somehow they did. I don't really remember it but I think it's their first time here at this small hideout of ours. We use it whenever we want to get away from something. Feel free to use this!" Her smile bright, just like her cousin's. Somehow, that also made Aiko smile a bit.
First female who is not recoiling back because of my presence... I'm sorry I would have to lie to you...
"T-th-thanks....", Aiko's voice hoarse which Yuki barely catches and smiles even wider, if that is possible with her small face. She motions her to drink water and eventually, Aiko does.
"Oh you can talk! For a moment I almost thought you were vocally impaired. Thank Goddess you are not. What is your name?"
"Yuri..." She lies.
"Oh like the flower? Your parents named you well because it goes well with your pretty face." Aiko smiles, another lie.
"So where are you from?" Yuki perches her head on her balled fist supported by her elbow which rests on her knees.
"I- uh- I... I can't remember..." Third lie.
"What? How can you not know that? Are you lying?" Yuki raises her brow with her voice at a slightly higher octave, grabbing attention of everyone.
"Why would I lie to you..." Aiko's voice meagre, her fingers winding up into each other involuntarily.
"I don't know, you tell me. Do you even remember how old are you?"
She pretends to think and shakes her head sideways. Another lie.
"Are you sure you don't remember or... You don't want to?" Yuki hovers dangerously close to her, maintaining a strong eye contact. Aiko does not give in, concealing the truth in her eyes well enough. She has been trained for such moments as well, being a royal comes with the risk of being kidnapped and interrogated heavily or even worse, physically tortured. Her, being the best student, has been trained for every possible situation her trainer could assume of.
"I think we should not pressure her too much, Yuki. She clearly seems to have forgotten her memories." Chikao speaks up as he approaches them with the other four trailing behind him.
They take Yuki to the side and talk on hushed tones with her, clearly discussing about Aiko. She takes another quick look around the room, spotting the healer girl from before, as Yuki described her, standing at the same corner of the room and looking at her rotator wheel. Rotator wheel is a small circular device in which there is a wheel with twelve spokes fixed above a plain circle with twelve markings on the inside we well as the edges of it. It rotates at a certain speed which is helpful for indication of time if the person is away from the time dial at the middle of the city. Plus point of using this is that the said device does not need sunlight to run so it can be used at the night time as well.
Ichiro seems to be sitting beside his friend who seems to still have not woken up from his slumber.
Where is the Kei guy? I wonder who he is... Is he one among these five or he is the guy who is unconscious or maybe he left? I hope I get to hear him soon....
"Then where will she stay if she doesn't even remember who she lives with or who are her parents. We only know her name. Not even her family name." Hideo sounded annoyed. As if he's still suspicious of Aiko and her words are lies. It is obvious you might not like someone and would rethink every thing they do at first because you don't even know what is their original behaviour and if their body language is just an act or the real one.
"Yeah but like we haven't even let her speak." Daisuke tries to argue in favour of her since he was the one who spotted her with the kids before and it was his idea to bring her here in the care of him and his friends.
"It's not like she will tell the truth. She might---"
"I think I should also have a say if you all are talking about me." Now energetic, Aiko thought about interrupting.
"If I would have remembered where I am from, who are my parents, what is my family name, why and how did I end up here, I would have surely told everyone. It makes no sense for me to lie. In fact, I would have volunteered to give you information about myself... If I could remember. Right now, all I can remember is I am Yuri, I am a female and you all are nice people who saved me. Any other way I can prove this?" She ends her short speech with everyone intently listening and absorbing every word she spoke.
"Convincing." Mitsuki adds in.
"I agree." That voice...
Aiko and the others whip their heads in the direction of the man who had apparently, woken up a few moments ago but had signalled his friend to pretend like he hadn't.
Others stall their way towards him in the tiny room. To everyone's surprise, Aiko joins too. Unlike their expectations, she's a confident person who does not back off from justifying herself.
They all form a cahoot around them as Aiko stands directly in front of Kei and looks at him in the eye.
She feels her pulse race, her pupils dilate, her senses numbing to the surroundings, as if she can see and feel nothing but the man in front of her. Kei. She repeats. Kei. In her mind. Kei. Through her lips this time. Kei. Her voice disperses around her.
Get a grip on yourself! She hears her sensei's voice echoing in her head which only takes her a blink to come back to the present.
He stands up, almost about forty five big steps taller than her. She had to crane her neck up in order to meet his eyes now.
"Yuri-san, it is?" He runs a hand through his long hair and lets them fall behind his back as he continues to smoothen his robes.
"Indeed. And you are?"
"Kei. Only Kei. I won't introduce my last name to you if you can't remember yours." He perks his head sideways as he goes on, "Mitsuki-san, I request you to not refer me with my family name for transparency of my friendship with yours as you helped me regain my consciousness from that quirky dream." There was something assertive in his tone which made Aiko wonder about the aura he radiates.
"I personally, think I did nothing but if you wish so." Mitsuki takes a brief glance as Niki and catches him staring at her but averts his eyes as quickly as he can. She muffles a smirk.
"Um- now that it's all settled.... Can you talk about what dream you had?" Jasuke seemed curious.
"Nothing intricate to be truthful, but it was something about the red stone I wear mixing with yellow stone and they somehow merged together to form a big stone or something like that."
Aiko stiffens. Thankfully it was not noticed by anyone else that Kei also had the same dream she had but from other point of view. What does this signify? Why is he the only one seeing that dream besides me? Does he know about this and he is hinting something to me? No way. I don't think he can because I got to know that he had similar dream only after he told me. If I don't speak about it, nobody would know.
"It had a pretty design, though." He finishes off with a smile as he spots the kids sleeping peacefully on the bed opposite to his'
Aiko's eyes follow his and she understands why he is smiling.
He truly has the prettiest smile I have ever seen. I think I would do anything in my power to make him smile. It's like he has been blessed immensely by the Goddess to be carved into a living symbol of perfection. He is just so...
"Great. It sounds great. Tell me more about it." Yuki sounded entranced by the topic.
"Do you still wear the stone? Maybe you do have it on you, right? I'm curious, too." Hideo asked.
Kei agrees to the latter and fishes out something in his fist connected to a black thread which runs around his neck. He opens his palms to reveal a stone locket with yellow and red design. Before, he only used to wear a red one but this one had yellow pattern in it, too. It's quite surprising that this kind of gem is not even sold.
"Woah. This is not what you used to wear. Is this the design from the dream? So now you can like... Design things in your imagination? That's a great power! Do make me a customized robe." Ichiro couldn't stop himself from babbling out a string of words.
"It's not that. Besides, this stone is not even similar to how it used to feel in the dream.... It's like...
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