Chapter 13

Something pressed against my cheek. I clenched my jaw, and shifted my head away. A sharp pain ran through it, and I hissed, raising a hand to my forehead. The pressure on my cheek returned and poked twice. My eyes flew open, and I flinched from the light of the morning. Feliciano's face was inches from mine, and his finger poked my face again. I growled and swatted his hand away.

Feliciano stuck his lower lip out, and rose to his feet. I grabbed the couch I was laying on, and pulled myself into a sitting position. The room was spinning, and I swallowed, feeling deathly nauseous. Ludwig walked into the living room with a towel wrapped around a square container.

He offered me it. "Have an ice pack."

I eagerly grabbed it, and pressed it against my forehead. The wobbling room seemed to calm down, and any sharp thoughts quelled to focus on the cold against my skin. I sighed, easing against the cushions.

Feliciano inquired, "Are we still going to the movies Thursday?"

"Feli, I do not think that this is the time-"

"No," I grumbled. They fell silent and stared at me. "I am not well."

"You may feel better by tomorrow!"

"Try to get some rest," Ludwig urged. "Feliciano made pasta, so if you are hungry..."

"What else is new?" I rasped.

He cleared his throat. "I should go to work now, before I am late."

Feliciano leaped to his feet. "We don't want that! Ve, Luddy, would you like me to pack up some pasta for you to eat at work?"

I closed my eyes and murmured, "We should stay home."

They turned around. Ludwig scoffed lightly. "I do not think I should suddenly call off just before my shift starts-"

"I mean on Thursday. Let us stay home instead of going out. We can cook something together."

"I already made the reservation," Ludwig dissented.

"Then cancel them!" I snapped, my eyes flying open. My friends gawked at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, peeling the ice pack from my head. "Sorry," I began.

Feliciano tipped his head. "I-I would be fine staying home, as long as it means my friends are with me."

"If both of you are all right with it, then I suppose it is not a bad idea," Ludwig shrugged. "Very well. I'll give the restaurant a call now before it is too late."

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

I opened up the sliding door and stepped outside from the kitchen. It was unusually warm as I walked across the deck, and leaned over the railing. I stared into the lush forest, listening to the birds twitter and fly between the trees.

The door squeaked as it opened behind me. "Kiku! Kiku!"

I turned around to see Feliciano bounce toward me. I opened my mouth to call a greeting, but instead of words coming out, blood sputtered from my lips instead. My friend's happy face melted into one of horror.

The red liquid came out thicker every time I tried to comfort him. I reached my hands out, but he backed away shaking his head. I gagged and struggled to catch a breath. My head whirled as I grasped at my throat, more blood splattering on the wood deck.

"Kiku! Kiku!" He cried out.

"Kiku!" His voice screamed in my ear. I lashed out and hit a body. "Kiku! It's me! Are you all right?!"

I lurched up from my bed, taking a deep breath. Feliciano knelt down next to me and whimpered.

"Your phone was ringing. Luddy and I heard it from the kitchen, but you wouldn't pick it up!"

"I was sleeping," I growled. If you call that sleeping. If the constant rewinding did not make me mad, then the constant nightmares would.

"I know, but it was so loud, I thought it would wake you up. We were going to come in here, and wake you up anyway; the food is almost ready," he stood up and wrapped his arms around me. "You take more naps than I do!"

I stiffened, and harshly pushed him away. "I don't need you worry about me."

He sighed dejectedly, and jumped when my cellular device rung again. I slipped off the bed to stumble toward the dresser it was resting on. I put it up to my ear, and grumbled into it.

"Kiku, are you alright? I called you how many times now, but you never picked up!" Elizaveta's voice was like a bullet to my head.

"I was sleeping," I repeated, massaging the bridge of my nose.

"Did you forget something?" She sang.

"Did I?" I echoed.

"Our plans! You were supposed to be here an hour ago. Did you cancel one of the tickets to the movies?"

"Why would I do that?"

There was a moment of silence before she scoffed. "We were going to make Ludwig and Feliciano believe the Thursday outing was still a thing, but then you were going to pull out after it was too late for them to stop it, and make them hook up! You really did forget!"

"So I did," I sighed. "We decided to stay home and spend time with all three of us instead." Ludwig called for us from the kitchen. "I need to go now. Our food is ready," I told her, but my stomach twisted at the thought.

"O-okay, but you'll come over some day soon, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, of course." I hung up and tossed the phone on my bed recklessly. Feliciano was already sitting down and shoveling some kind of sausage in his mouth when I entered the kitchen.

Ludwig turned around with a plate in his arms. "How was your nap?"

I snorted and reached for my own plate that already had food on it. The smell made me gag slightly, but I settled in a seat across from my friends. I stared at them as they tucked into their meal. Feliciano's mouth and arms were moving unnaturally fast as he babbled away. Ludwig dragged his fork across his plate, and the sound drilled into my head. I groaned, my throat feeling thick as the dinner wafted into my nostrils.

"You look sick!" Feliciano exclaimed, his movements slowing down for once.

I squinted at him. "What?"

"You're pale. Would you like to go back to bed?" Ludwig looked worried.

"Do I have to? I waited for this moment for too long. I do not want to spend my time cooped up in the guest room."

They glanced at one another.

"Eat something, Kiku!" Feliciano offered. "Good food and a good nap will make you feel better, but not necessary in that order!"

I looked down at my plate and pricked the wurst with my fork. Grease leaked out of the puncture, and I inwardly gagged.

Ludwig took a breath and opened his mouth as if to say something, but the house phone rung. We collectively jumped. Feliciano shot up from the chair, and grabbed the phone.

"Feliciano!" Ludwig shouted at him.

"Si, who is it?" He sang. My friend stopped dancing around to appear crestfallen.

Ludwig snatched the phone away, and lifted it to his ear. "This is Ludwig. May I ask who is calling?" He, too, looked confused. "Kiku? If you say so," he held out the phone. "The caller wants to speak with you."

I grimaced as I grasped the telephone. "Hello?"

"Kiku," the voice growled from the other end. "What have you done?"

My eyebrows furrowed together. Feliciano leaned forward to listen, but Ludwig grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him back to the table. "Have I done what?"

"This is the second time now!"

I flinched. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop acting stupid. You know very well what I am talking about!"

I remained silent. My gaze flickered from my friends staring at me with anxious expressions to my feet.

"The spell, Kiku. Do you remember that much?"

"Of course, Arthur-san."

"Do you know how dangerous it is? Did I not tell you to be careful with it?"

"What are you talking about? I am careful. If it is what you make it out to be, then why did you give me it in the first place?"

"I could not stand by and let that happen again! I was trying to help you, yet you abused the spell!"

"Why are you accusing me of things I did not do?" I spat. "I only used it twice!"

"Once more than necessary!" Arthur retorted. "Do you know what would happen if you keep using it?"

I did not reply.

"I knew this was a bad idea. Dammit!" Something clattered on the other line. I flinched. "Don't use it again!"

"But if I need it-"

"If you do not do anything stupid, then you will not need it! It will hurt you more so than it already has!"

"Arthur-san-"

"I thought of all people...argh!" The dial tone droned on as I took the phone away from my ear. I hung it back on the wall and turned to my friends. They were staring at me wide eyed.

"That was something," I mused, settling back down. My stomach grumbled as I skewered a sausage, but I had to eat.

Ludwig glanced back at the telephone. "Was that Arthur? Why was he calling for you?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps he had one too many to drink."