Obi messed up. And he had to do it in front of Miss Kiki of all people. She didn't say much, but her sharp eyes said it all. You're an idiot. He would never be able to redeem himself after this. How could he make such a stupid mistake?
Man, did his head hurt. He covered it the best he could with his headband, which fell perfectly over it. But it didn't stop the blood from seeping through.
Gah…So. Much. Blood.
It couldn't have been that deep, he thought. It was just a flesh wound. Hell, he barely felt it…But why was it currently bleeding out pints and pints?
His only salvation was that Little Ryuu was the only one in the pharmacy today. Perhaps he wasn't as unlucky as he thought. At least Mistress wouldn't have to see this. To see how uncool he looked and that he went and got himself hurt again. After all, he didn't want to hurt himself anymore for her sake.
"Little Ryuu," said Obi, "mind helping me out?"
Ryuu paused, pen still in mid stroke as he looked over at Obi. He stared for a moment, probably taking in the copious amounts of blood that was now pouring into Obi's eyes.
"Pass." He went back to writing in the journal.
Obi choked. "Now's not the time to be telling jokes—"
"Shirayuki can handle it."
Obi gulped. No, no. He didn't want Mistress to see this. If Miss Kiki thought him to be an idiot, Shirayuki would have no mercy.
Not good.
Not good at all.
But before Obi could try to convince Little Ryuu to help him, Shirayuki stumbled through the door, carrying a huge potted plant. Obi bit back a laugh, watching her head pop out between the huge stems, as if she were a blooming flower. Always buried in her work, just like Little Ryuu, thought Obi.
"Hello, Mistress," said Obi and only when Mistress's soft smile grew into a look of utter horror, did Obi remember that he wanted to avoid her.
She ran over, nearly knocking her plant over. "Obi!" she fretted.
"Mistress, it's just a scratch."
"You're dripping everywhere!" Her eyes grew fierce in a way he knew was best to comply with her commands. He scrambled onto the desk Ryuu had been working on. Shirayuki leaned close with a wash cloth on hand. Seeing her this close and knowing all her attention on him was something he wasn't comfortable with. No, that wasn't quite it. He was very comfortable around her, but as her shadow. Not as someone to focus on. He didn't deserve this kind of attention from her.
He found it difficult to breathe as she gently washed the blood off his face.
"It's probably not that deep," said Shirayuki. Her hands were so light and feathery, it gave Obi the chills. "It's just that our faces have a lot of blood vessels and make it look like it's a bad injury."
"Is that so?" Obi said, trying to focus on the thoughts of blood and not on the faint dotting of freckles on her nose.
"I think…"
"Eh?"
She backed up a bit and her pale cheeks turned a paler shade of her apple hair. "I read it in passing…So, how exactly did you do this?"
Obi's shoulder's sagged. He went to go squeeze his right one. "Uh well…you see…" He bit his lip. Why was it so hard to think when she's this close to him? "Branch," he said at last.
"Branch?" She looked incredulous, halting her work.
"I," he looked away, squeezing harder on his shoulder, "walked right into a branch."
And to his amazement, Shirayuki laughed. It was a full on belly laugh. And it was like musical chimes to his ears.
A smile, wistful, graced his lips.
"I'm sorry," she said, still giggling. "It's just that, you're usually good at avoiding accidents!"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, wanting to hide his face in his muffler as Shirayuki went back to work. Again, she leaned in close enough to make Obi's breath catch. She smelled like tea tree oil, such an odious scent and yet, he couldn't get enough of it. His heart skipped.
He was consciously aware of all his actions. How much he blinked, how little he blinked. He tried to blink more—He blinked and blinked again—no wait, was he blinking too much now?
Shirayuki jumped back. "Sorry, am I hurting you?"
"Eh?" The blinking! Of course—she would assume they were winces. "No, no I'm good."
"I wouldn't say you're good," she said dryly.
"You're one to talk, Mistress," said Obi, unable to help the grin that danced upon his injured face. "You have a scratch right here." He didn't know what compelled him to do so, but he grabbed her hand and drew his thumb up the small, angry red line on her wrist. "Doing too much work with thorny plants, Mistress?"
"Perhaps…" said Shirayuki, her voice sounded distant and Obi spotted a small trail of goosebumps dancing over the spot he'd just touched. He swallowed. There was no way he had that kind of effect on her, right?
"And," said Obi, wanting to continue teasing her, and to do so, he did something he said he'd never do. He touched her cheek gently as if it were a delicate rose petal. "Right here."
No, he shouldn't have done that. He didn't want to know how soft her skin was under his very own finger tips. He'd seen Master cup her face enough times to envy it. To watch Zen splay his finger's on her pale cheek and to have her eyes full focus on him. But they looked good together. Shirayuki fit Zen in every way. Obi, on the other hand, he could tell it didn't match. The amount of blood on his hands, figuratively and literally, he could never deserve her.
Just as he was about to pull away and apologize, Shirayuki leaned into it.
Obi froze. He didn't know what to do next.
And Shirayuki stiffened in his hold, her own eyes grew in horror. Ah yes, Obi thought. She's realized it, too, that his dirty hands were on her.
"Ah, Obi! Sorry, I shouldn't have—" In a split second, Obi realized Shirayuki was apologizing for her letting him touch her? He needed to break the tension quickly.
"Oof," he said. "Looks like you have some cuts, too, Mistress!"
"What?" Shirayuki gasped. Obi jumped off the table and without missing a beat, he picked Shirayuki up by her thin waist and placed her where he'd been sitting.
"Now," he said, "Mistress, let me treat you properly."
She didn't speak, but her forest green eyes looked bright. The eyes that initially drew her to him. He remembered that day he stood right into them and ripped her mask off. A forest is where he felt at home. Her eyes were home.
He took a cloth and gently patted the corner of her full lips. It was just dirt, he noticed. Rubbed off quickly, without much pressure. He dropped the cloth. And splayed his ungloved hand against her face. Skin so soft and smooth, he couldn't breathe. Why was he doing this again? Why was his hand acting on its own? He had no right to touch her. And yet, and yet…
Shirayuki's hand landed on top of his. His stomach came up to his throat as he waited for her to push his hand away, but she didn't. She held it in place, and once more, titled her face into his hold. And Obi couldn't breathe. Nope. Because if he'd breathe, this would all vanish. He was sure of it. But his thoughts were muddling like a puddle in the rain. Or perhaps his brain had melted into goo.
And he leaned in close.
XOXOX
Ryuu crept soundlessly back into the room like a sleek cat. Face buried into a book, he barely noticed the scene before him—barely. But oh, he did see. And maybe Ryuu wasn't the best at reading the mood of a room, but the certainly read something.
Obi cupping Shirayuki's face, her tiny hand over his, their intense eye contact. As if nothing else existed besides each other.
And the slight lean in.
The book slipped from Ryuu's hand and bang. They broke apart so fast, Ryuu wondered if he'd imagined the whole thing.
"Ryuu!" Shirayuki called. "Are you okay?" She jumped off the table to help and Obi was already there, book in his hand.
"A bit klutzy, huh, Little Ryuu?" Obi beamed. "Karma for not helping me before."
Maybe Ryuu really did see nothing, or at least, that's what he would have thought if he hadn't noticed the slight tremble in Obi's hand as he handed back Ryuu's book. Or the ever-blossoming blush on Shirayuki's cheeks. And the fact that they were no longer looking at each other.
"Well, I better go. I'm on night patrol," said Obi, stretching out his back.
"Yeah, and I have…" said Shirayuki, glanced around in a flurry, "work to do."
"Right," said Ryuu, scratching the back of his head, watching Obi flea the room. Were they acting weird? Or was he imagining that, too? "Let's get on it." He decided that whatever he witnessed, it was better not to press about it. But…
"Shirayuki," said Ryuu, staring intently at his book, "you and Obi look good together."
"Wha—what?!" she stammered and the sound of glass breaking echoed around the room.
Ryuu cringed, watching Shirayuki frantically try to clean up the pot she broke. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut…
Oh well.
XOXOX
Hope you all enjoyed this! I've been slowly working on this and trying to find the motivation to get fully back into writing. And today my hopes and dreams had been completely crushed and I guess I just hope this story brings any kind of happiness to someone.