Nashi- Heeeeello! Sorry it's been a while since I updated. School work and papers and exams and friends keep getting in the way of my writing time!
Sumono (School mate of Nashi) - Nashi! You're in the library again!? God! What's wrong with you!? Come outside with the rest of us!
Nashi (being dragged away from the computer) – Noooo! I must write! I wanna updaaaate!
Sumono- I swear! It's not healthy for a girl to be skipping lunch just to type some story! You need to eat!
Nashi (Kicking and screaming) – Nooo! I need to updaaaate!
Chapter 19:
He felt incredibly warm… so warm his flesh seemed to be burning underneath… How many blankets were on the bed? Feeling around he found that there were five blankets covering his already feverish body. Five thick, heat enclosing blankets…
Groaning he pushed them off and sat up, running a hand through his loose hair. The cool air felt comforting against the sweat that lightly covered his body. How long had he been asleep? The rain had stopped and now a faint orange light was beginning to make its way through the window.
It's evening…
Standing he made his way towards his bedroom door, but he only made it half way before nausea took over. "You're going to catch a cold like that…" Hayates words came back to him. "I've been though worse…" He remembered saying.
Right now I'd prefer facing another Tengu to this cold…oh, my head…
He felt clogged, as if someone had shoved cotton in his ears and nose. It was aggravating to have his senses so dim. He could barley hear the running water in the kitchen.
Wait, why is there running water?
Suddenly, the memory of Ayane coming over returned to him. Was she still here? Forgetting about being nauseous, he continued on his way to the door. His hair made a slight tickling sensation along his shoulder blades as he walked to the kitchen.
Ayane cursed as she hurried to turn the stove off. She didn't like cooking back in Home Economics and she didn't like it now… But she didn't think that making soup would be so hard… The chicken and noodles kept sticking to the bottom of the pot and then it wouldn't stop boiling over… It was aggravating but at least it wasn't burned…
You can't burn soup…Can you?
Ayane grabbed a bowl from the shelf and dished a reasonable amount of soup into it. Hayabusa had been sleeping for so long he must've been starving by now… "Well, it's ready…" Ayane said as she set the bowl on a try.
"What's ready?" Ayane jumped slightly at the voice. Turning she found Hayabusa standing in the kitchens doorway.
"Hayabusa! What are you doing out of bed? If you pass out I'm not going to drag you back to your room! Your sick butt can just stay on the floor!" Hayabusa shook his head and walked in front of her, standing there for a few moments, "Um… Hayabusa?" Reaching over her shoulder he turned off the stovetop.
"You shouldn't leave the stove on if you're not cooking…" Ayane didn't know why she did it, maybe it was just instinct, but she sent her fist into his stomach, not hard enough to hurt him though, just enough to get her point across.
"Jerk, I was cooking so you wouldn't starve to death!" She removed her fist from his stomach, 'Now back off! Between you and the stove I'm practically cooking myself!" Hayabusa gave her a confused look as he rubbed the new sore spot.
She's cooking?
Ayane gave an agitated sigh and grabbed his hand, positioning it before his face she said, "Now do you see? You're emitting heat like a furnace! I don't even know how you could be out of bed!"
"I feel fine…" Hayabusa took note that Ayane hesitated before she let go of his hand, "How are you…"
"Oh for Christ's sake, what did I tell you about worrying about me when you're the one who's sick? Now eat you're soup!" Ayane pushed him aside and headed downstairs to the shop.
As she descended the stairs she mumbled to herself, "My name's Hayabusa, I'm on the verge of death from a fever, but that's ok, I want to know how you're feeling." She continued to mock Hayabusa as she locked the front door and checked to make sure the 'Closed' sign was still in place.
The dim light of the setting sun seemed to make the room glow faintly. Ayane walked about and looked at the exotic collection Hayabusa had arranged. Once again her attention was drawn by the glass case that held the dolls. Her eyes made their way from one doll to the next.
Out of all of them she spotted one that took her breath away. A Japanese doll in a spring kimono of green. Dark hair hung loosely from its shoulders and went to its waist. Small hair clips held the hair away from the dolls face, which held a gentle expression. It reminded her of…
"Mother…" Ayane ran her finger tips across the glass and stopped at the dolls face.
Yes… the expression is just like hers…
It was as if someone had made a little copy of her mother and placed her in a glass coffin for all to see. But something else about the doll caught her attention. The way the doll was sitting, its legs folded beneath it, its little hands in front of her, how the head was tilting inwards. Like how a grieving mother would sit before the body of her dead child…
Ayane's depression was slowly rising from the depths of her heart. Her mother couldn't have been happy with a child of her lineage… She had been through so much pain because she had been born…
"Mother… I'm sorry…" Silent tears made their way to her dark eyes, "I'm so sorry…" She let herself slide to her knees, her hands balled into fists and her head hung to her chest, "You didn't deserve to go through what you did…" She said between sobs, "And no one had the right to treat you as they did… But… you would always smile…" Ayane banged her fist on the floor, "Why did you always smile? Why didn't you ever cry?"
"She didn't cry because she didn't want you to be sad…" Two warm arms encircled her, she must have been to upset to have noticed the silent footfalls that had approached her, "You were her happiness and joy, even if she was hurting, she didn't want to see you hurt too." Hayabusa pulled her up from the floor and brought her to lean against his chest, "Go ahead and cry Ayane… You have all the right to…"
"Ha… Hayabusa… You're sick…" She sniffled, trying her best to calm down.
"The illness of the body can't compare to the pain of the heart…" Hayabusa said as he stroked her hair, "This fever is nothing compared to the pain I feel watching you cry…" Hayabusa's words and meaning went straight to her core. Ayane looked up at him with her tear streaked face and he met her with his green orbs. These eyes couldn't lie… They were honest and forgiving… They may have seemed so cold and dark before, but now they held only warmth…
He does care… He really does…
"Why Hayabusa… Why do you care? No one would think twice about me dieing and yet you… I mean, not even my own brother…" She looked away from his face and spoke, almost murmured against his chest, her thoughts. All the ideals she thought the world had held against her, everything just came flowing out, "And what if I killed Kasumi? Would you still care about me then? Could you be as easily swayed as everyone else?"
Silence surrounded them and only small sniffles from Ayane rippled the silent surface as Hayabusa contemplated. Finally, Hayabusa took Ayanes chin in his hand and raised her face to his.
"I care…" He started; looking deep into her tear filled eyes, "Because I love you, Ayane… No matter what you have done or will do, I can't, and would never, change that fact…" Ayane was too shocked to say anything.
He loved her? After how she had treated him… after all the times she had rudely brushed him aside and cursed at him and… and… she wanted him to love her… After how she could feel the idea of him loving Kasumi rip her heart?
"Hayabusa…" She said, scared that if she made any sudden movements she would wake up from this dream.
"Please Ayane… Call me Ryu…" The back of his hand brushed away the stray hairs that had fallen in her face.
"Ryu…" It was a dream… It had to be… But, Hayabusa… Ryu… Was standing here in front of her, brushing away her tears and saying he loved her… It had to be real… She could feel the heat from his body against hers and his green eyes were too soft to be only a dream. She knew what would happen next, she felt that it was inevitable, but if you had asked her long ago if she would ever kiss Hayabusa she would have said 'no'.
Their lips gently brushed against each other and then held themselves together in a deep kiss that they had both longed for. Everything Ayane thought she had hidden away rose to the surface and tears started to flow freely again. Hayabusa gently whipped theses new tears away, kissed her brow, and held her close, allowing her to free all of the pain that had built up for so long.
End Chapter