xxx

He didn't beat them…

Sharrkan woke up after some time of being unconcious. Shit, there were more than five. He was just about to finish the last one when someone knocked him up from behind. Then they really started attacking.

Damn it, his chest hurt so badly. He wondered if they damaged his ribs. He sat up and checked the situation. He was alone in the dark street and his clothes were coloured by the blood coming from his nose. There was surprisingly lot of it. It was still night and he could be unconscious for an hour at max. His head hurt so much that he felt like it will explode any second. But otherwise, it was fine. He was fine.

"Well then.. time to get back home.." he mumbled to himself, trying to stand up. After a few tries, he made it. He walked to the palace, very slowly, wishing nothing more than falling to bed and sleep. And possibly never wake up.

After a long walk, he finally passed the training grounds, he started feeling very nauseous. He felt like he will pass out any minu-

"Sharrkan?"

Oh no.. there she was, again. Like she didn't cause him many problems that evening already. Well, it wasn't her fault, but still. He didn't feel like talking, but he had no chance of sending her away. He continued walking with his head down, hoping she would let him be or get him some help.

"Hey, Sharrkan. Are you okay? You don't look well." She said as she approached him slowly, getting in his way and stopping him by it. "What the... is that blood? What happened?"

He tried to answer, but his vision was getting more and more blurry. "I.. got into a.. fight.." His legs suddenly felt like jelly. He heard her voice from distance, calling him desperately as he fell.

He felt her hands grabbing his falling body and quite quickly putting him on the ground, since he was much heavier than her. And then her crying out for help and also her pleading voice to hang in there. She had such a nice, comforting voice. He listened to it while he slowly allowed himself to drove into the darkness that felt somewhat inviting.

xxx

He woke up from the sudden pain on his chest, when he repositioned himself to lie on the side. He literally jumped at the pain and regretted it the next second. He groaned. Anything rib related sucks... Whenever it was broken or just bumped, it hurt like hell.

"You stupid swordsman, be more careful. " She spoke again.

"What… what happened? And what are you doing here?" Even though he asked, he knew well what happened. He punched a guy that talked badly about the woman that was currently taking care of him. Or at least it seemed like she did.

"Well, you told me you got into a fight. I found you two hours ago. Whoever fought with you bumped your ribs and you have many bruises. But otherwise, you should be fine."

"And what are you doing here?"

"Sinbad told me to."

"Sinbad knows?"

"Everyone does. Hinahoho helped me get you here and Ja'far looked after the doctors who took care of you."

Great… he groaned again and lied back down.

"Hey, I couldn't throw you over my shoulder and bring you to your bed. I needed help."

"Yeah, I don't care. You can go now."

He looked at her slightly, waiting for her to get up and leave. He didn't expect tears in her blue eyes. He sighed and waited for her to say what's on her mind, but she didn't. She glanced away and sat more into the chair next to his bed.

"Okay, say it."

"Why are you acting like this? Look, I know that-"

„You're not going to give me this kind of speech right now, are you?"

She sighed in defeat. "You know what? If you want me to leave so much, then tell me what got you into fighting. Fighting while you were drunk. Like a fifteen year old." She rolled her eyes. "Then I will leave."

He groaned in annoyance. This woman was such a pain in the ass. Why did he like her again?

"Someone was just saying some shit that got me angry, so I punched him. And when I left, they followed me and gave me a payback. That's all."

There was silence afterwards and then a few quiet chuckles coming from her way. And then, she broke into a loud laugh. His eye twitched in annoyance.

"What the fuck are you laughing about?" He shouted, but when he saw laughing face for the first time in weeks, he cracked a smile, too. An honest one.

"I don't know, it just sound like kindergarten, that's all."

"Yeah, well.. they were drunk."

"What will you do about them?"

"I don't think I can do anything. I don't remember their faces."

She hummed in response. "What made you so angry?"

He sighed. This wasn't something he wanted to tell her. "Didn't you say you will leave after I tell you?"

"Right. But you still didn't answer that."

"Hey, I don't want to tell you, so just leave already."

She seemed so offended again. He just knew they will argue again.

"Why are you acting like this? I know that you lost Alibaba and I'm sorry, Sharrkan, I really am! But you can't-"

"Why can't you just shut up and leave me be, for once? Once in our damn lives!"

"I just can't watch you become a bitter grumpy person!"

"Why would you even care?"

He got her.

She blinked in surprise, but recovered quickly. "Why wouldn't I care? We basically grew up together. Can't I just treat you like a friend for once?"

"I don't want your friendship out of pity."

"It's not out of pity."

"Can't you just fucking leave?"

"Can't you just fucking say what shit did you do to get into a fight?"

"What shit did I do?!" He straightened. "I punched that idiot for your fucking sake, you stupid magician! He was talking about you, what kind of things he'd do to you!"

Silence came once again. Until she stammered. "W-W-What?"

"You've heard me." He lied down again.

Once minute passed, then two and then three. He checked her once in a while before looking at the ceiling again.

"W-well.. you didn't need to do that.."

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" He said in a much calmer voice. "Yamuraiha, look. I know that you were avoiding me since the… announcement. I know that I said nasty things and hurt you. And I said them even now. I want you to know, that I don't mean to be like that, but you can just.. irritate me to this extent. I know that you want to help me, and trust me, I appreciate it, somewhere deep down there." He looked at her reaction. She didn't smile, she looked at him carefully.
"But I don't want your help. Or anyone else's, if that makes you feel better. This is just something that I must process alone. So please, just.. leave me that way. I promise I will try to get better, but now… it's too early for that."

He said in a pleading voice. Tiredness fell upon him.

"I.. understand. But I need you to know that… he didn't mean so much only to you. He was someone very kind and inspiring. Someone very young and hopeful… He was a friend for all of us."

"Yeah, I know." Sharrkan said. For a second, he remembered his disappointed look after every training, when he suddenly ended it and went to a bar. The happy smile when they watched some comedies together. His manly tears, when he admitted that he wasn't with any girl thorough the year. Damn it all..

He did die without spending time with a girl? He chuckled at that, while tears started filling his eyes again. Yamuraiha looked concerned at that.

"He died without getting a girlfriend." He chuckled again.

Yamuraiha shook her head at that. But she laughed slightly anyway. "Yeah.. he was so young after all…"

She sat a little bit closer to where he was lying, just to see him a little bit better. They looked at each other, tears in their eyes.

"Look, Sharrkan.. I know that you suffer. And I hate seeing you so upset… I know you just... try to close off... to not let anyone see how much it hurts. But you're not alone. And maybe... just maybe... being upset together with someone will help you a bit better that being upset alone." She reached for his hand that was so much bigger that hers.

He was confused. He didn't speak with anyone about it. Right now, he felt so low… In so much pain, physical and mental, that he felt like he will explode if he doesn't tell anyone. But he didn't even know how to start. There wasn't much new to say anyway. He opened his mouth to tell something, but nothing came out. The slight grasp and her thumb stroking his hand was comforting though, so he started.

"I.. never met anyone so similar to me. He was a prince who was forced to leave his country behind. But he never stopped loving it. He was willing to help his country at all cost... even leaving Sindria behind.. I hoped that maybe one day.. he will be able get Balbadd back.. And even if he didn't, I just hoped that this kid will have a happy life."
He gulped, trying to keep the tears back.

"I wasn't prepared for that. I thought it would be just a regular meeting.. and then he said that. I swear, even if he told us that we need to go to a battle that will cost us our lives, I would 've been prepared for that. But this.." he shut his eyes. "We didn't even had a chance to say goodbye.." his voice cracked as he remembered that blonde kid. "Damn it all.." His free hand began to ruffle his eyes to remove the tears that started falling down his face.

Sadness overtook him as he couldn't hold back anymore. Suddenly, he felt a warm body pressed onto him, as she repositioned herself to hug him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her petite figure and brought her closer to him, despite the pain he felt because of his ribs, making her lie down onto him as he buried his head into the crook of her neck. His shoulder was soon wet from her tears, as well as hers was from his.

They stayed like that, both burying sobs into the others shoulder for a few minutes, before silence overcame them once again. Sharrkan felt his eyes getting heavier and he felt like falling asleep in a few minutes.

"Yamu?"

No response. He looked up a bit to see her breathing steadily.

Was she asleep?
He addressed her again, but his only response was her hum. She was very hard to wake up, he remembered.

Oh well.

Usually, he would have freaked out, carry her to her room and stay there, sleeping on the floor, rather than letting her sleep in his room… in his bed.

This time around, it was different. He was hurt, tired and sad. Having her close to him like this felt like a dream. But he knew that they shouldn't get into situation like this if it wasn't for a reason. Not that he would get her to be in the same bed with him without a reason, anyway. Still, now it kind of felt like a good reason to not wake her up.

Sharrkan tried to pull the covers around her too, so she wouldn't catch a cold. Sindria was mostly sunny, with hot climate, but nights were still cold. In the end, he succeeded, despite the horrible pain that was coming from his ribs as well as other places. But well, at least they weren't broken. Since he moved quite a bit, her body was now lying next to him and her head rested between his shoulder and neck.
That seemed to be a bit uncomfortable for her, so she repositioned herself and rested her head on his shoulder while muttering something quietly.

That was better for him, too, since the only weight he got from her rested on his right shoulder, which didn't hurt in any way. And he still felt her warmth on his skin. He wished he could turn and sleep face to face with her, but he had to sleep on his back to let his ribs rest. Still, he shifted his right arm to put it around her waist and brought her a bit closer.

When he finally felt comfortable, he started falling asleep again. The thoughts that haunted him every night stroked again, but he was so tired that he leaped into the darkness before they could get him anxious.

xxx