Ise was tired.
He had just got done with his dancing lessons from Venelena Gremory. And it. Was. Hell.
Literally.
Venelena Gremory was fair in looks only, as he had discovered. He hadn't had a break all day under the strict gaze of his King's mom. Fortunately, with Ddraig's help, Ise quickly memorized the steps, a feat that did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Gremory.
It didn't help that he couldn't get his mind off of Koneko.
Koneko had been hospitalized after a training incident, and Ise had only been able to see her once, that morning before he had to go to his lessons. Even then, it had only been a second, just to see that she was okay and just sleeping.
He had been told that Koneko's problem was she had overworked herself. She just needed time to recover. He had been told that in a few days she could go back to training as usual.
That was what he was told. That didn't mean that that would be what happened
When he first met Koneko, he thought she was different. He never put his thumb on it, but something about her felt different. Her agility, her strength, and that supernatural stealth were too much to be human or even that of a devil. At first, he thought he was crazy, but as time grew on, he became less and less certain. He never asked about it or mentioned it because it always felt like too personal a question and because if he was wrong, he thought everyone might call him crazy. So, he bit his tongue and kept quiet.
Now, today, he had a feeling that that thing he couldn't put his finger on was about to come out. And normally, when he had a gut feeling, he knew he was right. After all, his gut feeling never lied, a truth he knew too well. Soon, he found himself at her door.
He knocked softly once. When her voice weakly called out "who is it?", he spoke softly. "It's Ise. Can I come in?"
It was quiet for a second, and then, softly: "Yeah."
He opened the door softly, almost unintentionally quiet, and sighed with a soft smile when he saw Koneko. She was sitting up on the bed, with her back to him, staring at the wall. Quite strangely, he noticed, she had cat ears and a tail. What was even more strange, was the fact he could instantly tell they were real. Quickly, he refocused his attention. The tails and ears were currently, probably, unimportant. The only thing that mattered Koneko's health.
He was surprised at how alert she was, especially in her weakened state.
'Koneko can't even relax when she's supposed to be resting. Not that I'm much better. Heh, I'm probably worse' he mentally chuckled and then frowned. He knew that he could be complicated and stubborn, even, and most especially, when he was supposed to be bedridden. He remembered one time, quite a few years ago, he had fallen off of a tree, and his at the time best friend…
'... No, I can't think about her now. Besides, I'm here for Koneko.' He thought, shaking himself metally. He proceeded to go sit down on the chair next to the bed.
"Hey Koneko, how are you doing?" He asked softly, worried. "I've been really worried, are you gonna be okay?"
"I'm fine," Koneko said, but it didn't take a genius to tell that she was lying. And when it came to lying, Ise was a genius.
"Koneko" Ise started then stopped. Koneko had turned around, and he instantly saw she was holding back tears behind a pained expression.
Ise knew that expression well. It was one he had worn himself not too long ago. One that he still wore sometimes, when no one was around. It was a mixture of a whole bunch of painful feelings compressed inside of one person. Sadness, grief, and agony. But that wasn't the worst of it. Those eyes were the eyes of someone who had lost something dear to them. The eyes of someone who had lost their reason to live.
"Koneko," Ise paused again, hoping to gather himself. This time, he cleared his throat and started again. "Koneko, you know you have to tell someone if something's wrong. If you don't do that, then how can we help you?" Ise spoke. He knew this wasn't going to be an easy conversation, and he mentally began to prepare himself.
Little did he know that nothing could have prepared him for the conversation he was about to have.
Koneko just looked away. "Koneko, what's wrong?" Ise spoke softly, yet firmly. He wanted to help her. No. He needed to help her. Even if Koneko wasn't always nice to him, she was still one of the people most important to him, and he protected those he cared about. 'Not her, you didn't protect her' said a voice in his head, one he knew quite well, but Ise ignored it. He knew that voice only brought pain and destruction.
"You wouldn't understand" came the reply. Despite the coldness of her words, her tone spoke of a different story. One full of loneliness and sadness
"Try me," Ise said, trying to act calm, while inside, he was in turmoil. He didn't know what was going on in Koneko's head, but he knew whatever it was, it wasn't good.
"Just go away." her reply was cold, but he could see the tears in her eyes.
"Koneko…" he was abruptly cut off.
"HOW COULD YOU KNOW WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH?! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, TO LOSE EVERYTHING! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, TO BE THE ONLY ONE LEFT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, TO BE THE ONE STUCK CRYING! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE… you don't know what it's like…" She trailed off, before bursting into tears. She fell on his chest, crying. "You don't know… YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ALONE!" she finally screamed, and the fight left her eyes. She didn't have the energy to fight anymore.
"Are you done?" Came his reply, his tone hollow. When Koneko looked up, she noticed he was crying, too. "You know, if you're gonna say something so harsh, you should at least make sure it's true."