Summary: Gray and Yuko never got along; ever. Really, they seemed to hate each other with a passion, but will that change when Gray find's out Yuko's secret?
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"Trent!" Yuko yelled, heaving as she kicked open the clinic door, the blacksmith's right arm over her small shoulder as he hunched over, panting and sweating, wincing every time his left arm moved the slightest bit. The girl looked at the man, actual worry on her face for the man; a miracle it could happen wouldn't you say? "Trent, you have to help him!" she called out, dragging the man farther into the clinic as the black haired doctor came in with a jog to his step, eyes slightly widening as his eyes skimmed Gray's body.
Trent quickened his pace the, taking Gray from Yuko and allowing the man to use his own shoulder for support. The doctor led him to the blue medical curtains, stopping only to give the girl a look that somewhat said "Stay here so I know what the hell happened" then disappearing with the boy behind the curtains.
The Jeweler sighed, pushing her charcoal bangs back, walking over to one of the green medical chairs and sitting with her legs wide, elbows resting on either thigh, her head sitting in her palms. "This is all my fault…" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, the whole event of only a few minutes ago replaying through her mind.
Gray stood there as he stared at the glowing red eyes in the dark, subconsciously pushing Yuko behind him. His body was tense, jaw set in a straight line as he contemplated what to do. He turned his head a fraction of an inch to whisper to Yuko, "We can still get out," he had said, "I memorized where all the staircases were."
The girl nodded, body shivering as she gripped onto the boy's jacket more than she thought was possible. But staring at those eyes… She couldn't help but drop any fear that she held, shoulders slumping as she moved to the side of Gray who scowled at her actions. "What are you doing?" he hissed, grabbing her bruised wrist, causing the girl to wince but allowed him to hold onto her arm as she crouched down.
"Don't let go of me," she whispered, "I need to know where you are." The blacksmith just looked at Yuko like she was insane, but, though his desperate want to let go then and there just because she had told him to keep holding on, kept his grip; tightened it even, just to reassure her that he had heard and wasn't planning on letting go. Not yet at least. He stared in the direction of the girl, though he already knew he would only see blackness; really, if you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, how could you expect to see someone who was crouching by your legs? "Tch, tch, tch," Yuko cooed, holding her hand out and rubbing her fingers together toward the creature. "We won't hurt you; we're friendly."
The glowing eyes moved closer, up to the girl's hand, and she began laughing slightly as she felt a tongue against her skin, licking over and over as if she were an exotic food. She hadn't realized that's exactly what she was at the time. The Jeweler ran her hand down the thing's fur, the feeling of silk under her hand as she moved it along the thing's side. As he hand went to the base of its neck, she stopped cold, pulling her hand away slowly and standing, cupping her hand around the nape of Gray's neck, pushing it down so his ear was beside her mouth. Just as he was about to complain, the girl's whispers cut him off, "We have to get out as here now," she said, voice barely audible.
She could feel the boy nod before straightening, causing her hand to fall away from his neck. The girl allowed the man to tighten his iron grasp on her wrist, wincing as it applied pressure to the bruise he had given her earlier. For now, she wouldn't complain, but only because she wanted to get out of this place alive, and had to count on Gray to do so.
Their feet were silent as they quickly walked towards the multiple stair cases, each level they rose getting them closer and closer to keeping there own lives. "I see light!" Gray exclaimed, pointing at the entrance of the mine, only to have Yuko's hand clamp over the boy's mouth. There was finally enough light in the cave that they could see, and the panic in the girl's sapphire eyes completely confused him.
"Shit, it's too late…" she whispered, turning slowly as something cut off half the light in the cave. Its body was clad in black fur, slick against any surface. Glowing red eyes were perched on the dog-like creature. Though, it didn't have four legs in all; it had four legs on their side of its body. Ears and a tail were also on the creature, both thin and lengthy; almost whip like. The thing growled, baring incisors, tinted red with blood from what must have been its most recent meal.
"What… The hell is that?" Gray asked, his blue eyes practically popping out of their sockets for all the look was worth. Yuko glared at him to shut up, clenching her fists; they were so close too! Honestly, if they got out of the predicament alive, he so owed her. Looking back at the thing, it started charging towards the pair. Yuko pushed Gray over out of the path of the thing, falling back as it skimmed her pant leg.
"Run!" she yelled, watching for a moment which way Gray was going as she headed the opposite way. "And don't say anything whatever you do!" she called, jumping over stones and boulders in silence, grinning in smug amusement as the thing started running head first into what she hid behind. Once the girl was sure the blacksmith had gotten out of the cave, she raw towards it, another one of the strange creatures jumping in front of her path. It was almost identical to the other one, but had glowing golden eyes, its coat a chocolate brown and it was a good bit smaller. Probably one of the females, Yuko assumed. The Jeweler continued her run to the entrance, putting a hand on the things back and basically doing a round-off.
As she got into the clearing, the girl sighed, though grimaced as the sky grew dark. "Shit…" she mumbled, looking around for the familiar blue and red cap she had to see ever day, no matter how much she detested it and the one who wore it.
"Over here!" a voice called out, causing Yuko to clench her teeth as she whirled around to see Gray by the Goddess Pond. Though she knew she should have told him to run, she had to make sure it was really him. The girl ran over and grabbed onto the boy's collar.
"Listen to me! You can't say anything until we're out of here!" she hissed, eyes widening as the last of the sun fell behind the mountains. The girl whirled around, arms spread wide as if she were protecting the boy. The brown thing Yuko had jumped over came out, the corners of its mouth curved in a grin as if it were laughing at the pair of stupid humans that stood there, not knowing what to do.
The thing started charging with incredible speed, so it was only a blur, its ears and tail whipping around in the air. Though everything went so fast, it played in slow motion in Yuko's mind. First, she stood bracing herself and mentally willing Gray to get out of the clearing, and before she knew it, a blob of beige moved it front of her. The blacksmith stood there and yelled in pain as the thing clamped it's jaws on his arm, swinging his arm, causing the thing to fly off and fall into the spring where it screeched in pain and howled, it's body starting to bubble and slowly dissolve.
Everything after that was a blur to Yuko.
"Can I get you some tea?" a voice asked from above, making Yuko's heart skip a beat as she jumped, looking around frantically for a moment before realizing it was only the kind nurse, Elli. She young woman was older than Yuko by about three years, which made her about twenty-two; same age as Gray. The nurse's hair was a chocolate brown, cropped short, her eyes the same colour as her hair. The woman who was usually clad in a long dress and apron had a calming effect on many people, Yuko included. The girl finally just nodded, sighing as she looked at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. "Well, if you want some, follow me already," the nurse said with a small laugh, taking the dark haired girl's hand in her own, tugging on it slightly until the jeweler finally stood, smiling slightly at Elli's kindness.
The girl followed the woman, holding the reassuring hand that had helped her up. Elli led the girl upstairs where she and Trent lived, having been married a year ago. Really, they were such a cute couple in most of the villagers' minds, the jeweler's included. They were the first of their generation in Mineral Town to be married. Currently, Rick the chicken freak and Karen, one of the prettiest (and alcohol addicted) girl she had ever met were engaged; though, it remained a mystery in Yuko's mind how those two could have ended up together. Maybe the whole opposites attract thing? Kai, the tanned and very flirtatious summer-time owner of a beachside restaurant was sort of on-and-off dating Popuri, Rick's cute and cheerful sister, whose hair was so pink that anyone would have assumed it unnatural if they hadn't seen Popuri's mother and grandmother's hair. Cliff and Ann, the poor traveler and Yuko's best friend had huge crushes on one another, but both were completely oblivious to the other's feelings. Go figure right? The only people who were of age and still single in the small town were her, Gray and Mary, the dark haired librarian whom people tended to call Yuko's "sister" due to the fact they were both glasses-wearing, black haired females only a year apart in age.
"Now Yuko," Elli started, her voice cutting through the girl's thoughts once more as she walked over to the stove to put a kettle of water on the stove, motioning for the girl to sit somewhere. "Why are you so worried about Gray? I thought you two hated each other," she asked, a look of pure curiosity on her face as she walked over to the table and sat across from the jeweler, waiting for the water to heat up.
Yuko sighed and pushed her glasses up before shaking her head. She too was confused as to why she was so worried; honestly, it was only a few hours ago that she was threatening to knock him unconscious in the mines… Then again, he threatened her with that first, so really, she had an excuse. "I don't know," she replied truthfully, curling a strand of her hair around her finger subconsciously. "I guess… I guess it's because that thing that attacked him was trying to get me… And he protected me," she admitted with another small sigh, concluding that was the reason she felt so bad.
The nurse nodded in understanding, placing a small hand over one of Yuko's, "Well, that makes sense," she said with a nod, giving her hand a small squeeze. "You feel guilty, but really, the guilt will make it seem as if his efforts to keep you safe were for no reason. Rather than feel guilty, go down and thank him when he wakes up." Yuko listened to Elli in silence, nodding in silent agreement. Yeah, that was what she should do; thank the boy for helping her. Really, in the back of her mind, she honestly thought he would have just left her there to take on the charging thing. "What was the thing that attacked him anyways? A coyote?"
Yuko shook her head, bringing her long hair over her shoulder. "No… Something weirder; I've never seen something like that before it my life," she said, using her hands as she chose the right words as she spoke. "I don't really know how to describe it… Here, give me paper and something to write with; I'll draw it." The brunette woman nodded and fetched the things Yuko asked, watching the girl as she quickly sketched a side view of the dog-like animal. Finally, she finished, sitting back and looking at Elli who just sighed and shook her head.
"Yuko, you must have seen a coyote and your imagination made it look like this in your mind," she said, taking the paper away, leaving a frowning jeweler sitting as the kettle screamed. Elli walked over to the stove and turned off the heat, pouring the water into two tea cups, both with small tea bags. Carefully, the nurse brought them to the table, placing one in front of her own seat, holding the other one out for the jeweler who frowned due to the fact Elli hadn't believed that the creature she saw was real.
"If it was a coyote, it wouldn't have started to bubble and dissolve when it fell in the Goddess Spring. And if it was a coyote, then why was there poison in the bite on Gray's arm?" questioned Yuko as she picked up the tea cup, sipping the hot liquid slightly, wincing as it touched her oh-so-sensitive tongue. She set the cup back on it's saucer to allow it to cool for a while, placing it on the table in front of her as she looked up at the nurse who just sighed and shook her head.
"I'm just trying to be realistic," Elli replied, putting a small bit of her short hair behind her ear, only for it to fall back in place beside her cheek. "Really, Yuko, it's hard to believe that there's anything like that… And how do you know Gray got poisoned?"
The jeweler nodded in slight agreement; really, it was kind of hard to believe such a thing existed without seeing it with your own two eyes. She was about to reply to the last question just as the door behind opened, a dark haired man stepping through. "Yuko," Trent said, causing the girl to turn her head slightly to look at him. "What the attacked you? I've never seen anything like that bite and the poison that was in it…"
"I told you he was poisoned," the girl grinned as she glanced to Elli who sighed and shook her head before looking at the doctor with a blank look. "I drew a picture of thing; it's on the counter. Maybe you'll believe it's real, but I doubt it…" The girl watched as he walked towards the kitchen counter, picking up the illustration of the thing that attacked her and Gray only a short time before. She looked at Trent with a blank look as he seemed to examine every small line in it, and attempted to arch an eyebrow when he sighed, but failed. Really, she would have to find someone who could do that and get them to teach her.
"Are you sure this is what it looked like? It looks like a monster that would be in some kind of story," he said, only to receive a nod from Yuko who stood, and grabbed Gray's rucksack that she had been holding since she started helping Gray to the clinic.
"That's it. My eyes don't lie, not with these glasses. And why would a fib about something like this?" she asked, starting towards the door, the bag hanging over her shoulder. Both the clinic workers gave her a look that basically said "Because it's you", only to receive Yuko rolling her eyes. "I'm sure that's what it was. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see how Gray is feeling." With that, the black haired girl opened the door, letting it hang open after her as she trotted down the steps of the pale coloured building.
Finally, she reached the ground level, glancing at the curtains that Gray had gone to earlier. The girl hesitated for a few moments, but forced her feet to walk towards the curtained area, pushing aside the pale green material that divided a few spaces into rooms who the patients. She sighed slightly, noticing the boy sleeping peacefully on the bed, his breathing slow and normal, unlike how it was a while ago. Yuko walked silently to the bed, falling to her knees as she looked at the boy, smiling slightly as she actually saw his hair, his cap on the bedside table along with his jacket and tie, his boots on the floor right beside the table. The girl swept the boy's bangs over, smiling as she folded her hands on the edge of the bed, resting her chin on her arms. "He's actually kind of cute when he isn't scowling," she though, blushing and mentally smacking herself. "No! What am I thinking? This jerk cute? Not possible!"
Yuko went back to looking at the sleeping figure for a few minutes longer, finally setting his rucksack by his boots, leaning over to peck his forehead. "Thanks for saving me." She whispered, blushing slightly as she walked back through the curtains, making her way back to the Inn in utter silence, ignoring the thoughts that raged in her mind.
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A/n: Isn't that a miracle? I'm actually updating two days in a row! Sorta; if you count uploading the first chapter as updatingxD I think it's pretty amazing considering it's… Well, me. In case you haven't noticed from my old stories, I'm kind of one to get distracted very easily…
Well, in case it isn't obvious, that just chuck of italicized writing is what happened before Yuko brought Gray to the clinic. Hmmm… Not too much else to say about this chapter really… The ending wasn't great, but whateverxD I think it was still a cute fluff scene~