Stirring with a slight flinch, Tora opened her eyes to find herself being watched over by Souji, who had his arms folded and was leaning against the wall casually. "Hm…what…? Souji-kun, what are you doing here?" Tora questioned in confusion before wincing, hissing sharply as she gripped her head which was hammering painfully as if she'd drank an entire gallon of sake to herself. "Why does my head hurt so much?"
"Beats me, everyone's all in a frenzy with the stunt you pulled the other night." Souji answered, opening his eyes to look at her blankly. "You sure know how to make a spectacle of yourself, don't you?"
"What do you mean? What did I do?" Tora asked in confusion, trying to think back but to her knowledge, she did not know of anything she might have done which could have caused any kind of commotion. The last thing she could remember was that man choking her, Shiranui. "Oh! Chizuru, is Chi alright? What happened after I passed out? Those jerks, they didn't take her did they? Tell me Souji!" Tora demanded desperately, gripping onto Souji who looked a little paler than usual, reduced to simple guard duty whilst the others were out on patrol.
"Calm down you crazy lady, Chizuru-chan is fine." Souji reassured her though he was frowning deeply at her. "You don't remember anything after you passed out? Jeez, this just makes things far more complicated than it needs to be." Exhaling Souji pulled Tora's hands off of him, making her sit back and calm down a little. "Now I didn't see it, but according to Harada, Chizuru and the others, you went totally insane after that guy almost choked you to death. You turned into something like the Rasetsu, with white hair and everything and totally nailed those three boneheads." Souji explained, Tora staring in shock as she listened however when Souji began to cough, she immediately placed her arms around him, supporting his back and hurriedly drawing out her handkerchief which she held over his mouth, catching the blood which he coughed up. "I'm fine…"
"You are not fine, Souji, you are an idiot." Tora answered simply, her tender fingers rubbing his back as he took the handkerchief from her, continuing to cough. "I'll go fetch some water for you, just hang on a moment." Before she could even rise to her feet, Souji snatched her wrist and pulled her back down towards him, keeping her by his side.
"Don't bother, just stay here for a moment." He spluttered through his fit, pressing his eyes shut until finally, it passed. He looked at the blood stained cloth in his hand and sighed, tasting the blood in his mouth still however before he could go to use his sleeve to wipe away the excess that was at the corner of his mouth, Tora had already started to dab it away with a fresh handkerchief, concern pooling in her eyes as her other hand remained at his back. Her hand was warm and comforting and Souji, for once, wanted nothing more than to sink into her embrace and hide himself away. He was tired. Tired of feeling sick, tired of being useless. In some ways, he wished he could die sooner so that it was all over, however he couldn't help but want Tora to remain there with him until the very end.
"Do you need anything Souji?" Tora spoke softly and for a moment, Souji replayed the sound in his head, eyes closed to immerse himself in it before exhaling.
"I need to get better, that's what I need." He responded harshly however Tora hardly minded, giving him a gently reprimanding smile. He glanced her way, eyeing her expression before he decided to simply throw caution to the wind, not caring anymore. He shifted his weight and lay down whilst resting his head in Tora's lap, making her blink in surprise.
"Souji, what on earth do you think you're doing?" She questioned, looking down at him and lifting up her hands, uncertain of what to do with them however Souji suddenly grabbed one and pulled it down to his head, inclining what it was that he wanted as he closed his eyes.
"Just shut up and sit there. I said I was tired, didn't I?"
"Well yes but I hardly think…oh never mind." Seeing that it was pointless to argue, Tora began to stroke back Souji's hair, running his longish tresses through her fingers as he relaxed, feeling comforted by her strong presence. If anyone found them now, Souji would never hear the end of it but he didn't care. He'd been ordered to guard Tora until she woke up, but they didn't say that he had to report to them immediately when she did so. For now, he just wanted some peace and quiet alone with her, something that he very rarely got being cooped up in his room most of the time. Although Tora would usually bring his meals to him, she was never able to stay for long, but he appreciated how she always made the effort to try, asking him questions and trying to make conversation with him unless she saw that he was too tired for talking, whereby she would just sit with him for a minute, ensuring he was comfortable before leaving him alone.
"Tora-chan, you're going to make a very poor wife someday." Souji said, making her hand stop and she gave him a little smack for being rude.
"I don't see how that's any of your concern! Perhaps I don't ever want to get married, then it's not a problem." Tora argued simply, giving him a proud look before she returned to stroking back his hair. Souji smirked to himself, amused by how easily it was to irritate her. He grasped her wrist, making her start once more as his wolfish gaze fixed on her, grinning darkly and Tora froze in place, uncertain of how to respond.
"You're too masculine and you're not very refined, plus your cooking is very basic, Chizuru is much better at that sort of thing than you are." Souji began to list, making Tora pout and arch an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Besides, you're too obstinate and arrogant, you'd make a lousy wife for most guys since they wouldn't know how to manage you." With the hand he had trapped, Souji suddenly tugged on it sharply, shifting Tora with a lift of his other arm to roll her onto her back, her cry of alarm being silenced as his other hand covered her mouth. "But for a guy like me, I think I'd be able to handle you. Besides, I don't mind you too masculine. It's all the more fun when I get to tame you like this."
"Souji…" Tora spoke in a warning voice, her eyes narrowing dangerously and that look was what gave Souji his thrill, pinning her down whilst she stared up at him defiantly, threatening to tear out his throat with her bare teeth if she had to.
"I'm just messing with you." He laughed, pulling back and sitting down once more. "You're way too easy to tease, you're so gullible." Tora shook herself off, shooting him a look as she righted herself, ensuring that she was still presentable. She was concerned with how strangely Souji was behaving, even more so by the way his condition looked worse. No one knew how much time he had left, it could be days, weeks, months, there was just no way of telling so Tora allowed him his fun, knowing that when someone had a small amount of time left with the people that they loved, they tended to do strange things in their own way of expressing their feelings.
"Souji-kun, I know that you care really." Tora said to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he faced his back to her. "I have known you long enough to understand that much, so you don't have to try and hide what you want to say when you're with me like this. You can tell me what you're thinking, or what you're feeling and I won't tell another soul. In front of me, you can scream, threaten, cry, laugh, rage or anything that you want and I'll accept it all. You can release your frustrations on me, Souji-kun, and I'll take it all if it will make you feel any bit better." Her tenderness made Souji's heart contract, his face flinching slightly at her words and he was glad that she couldn't see, however he took her words to heart, locking them away there to carry them with him always as he forced a smirk to his face, turning his head to look at her.
"So that means if I ask, you'll sleep with me?" Tora blinked.
"Of course not! I am still a lady with a reputation you know, you idiot!" She retorted, giving him a punch to his shoulder at his cheek. "Honestly, I try to say something nice to you and this is how you answer? You're incorrigible, Souji!" Pouting heavily as she rose to her feet and made towards her door, Tora felt an iron like grasp enclose around her wrist and yank her back down into Souji's arms which locked around her as she jumped to grasp onto his arm, glancing to the side where he buried his head into her shoulder.
"Thank you Tora-chan. I mean that." He said to her quietly in a voice that she had never heard him use before. He exhaled, sinking further into her and Tora allowed him to let his weight rest against her, supporting him with her hands resting against his arms. The morning was beginning to creep towards noon, however Souji remained like that a while longer, basking in the softness of a female's body which he had not felt in a long time. Eventually Tora had to pull away as she was hungry and she could tell that Souji was too as his stomach had been rumbling for a while now, so with her hands held out towards him, Tora smilingly helped him to his feet until he was steady before together, they ventured out into the open in search of food.
