*Click*
The only warmth I felt was Samui's hand clutching mine as if I could disappear at any instant.
‘3 days…’
3 days unconscious weighed on my mind, but it wasn’t like I could do anything. The out-of-body experience brought a sense of ease even if it was temporary. Trudging through the snow and entering the comfort of our heated abode.
I took off my boots and placed them next to the entrance. I sat down in the living room with Yugito who Yuuma took a liking to. The little pup kept still in her arms; it was like he was telling me she was alright.
That didn’t do very much to help the choked-up words I had lodged in my throat. As much as I wanted to steel my nerves and ask, it didn’t seem like the right time.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It was unreal.
Losing my hearing….
Samui returned with a small tray of snacks from the kitchen. She wrote to me about everyone made it out with only minor wounds, nothing too serious…
Never telling me anything Atsui though. I didn’t push on that, the solemness she wore on her face told me enough.
When the reality of my situation was seeping in, Aoi kept translating to me what was being said. Samui prevented Atsui from taking missions for the time being. Now an investigation was underway to find out what was out there. There were similar mentions of something being out there but not to the gravity of my state.
It would’ve been much worse if I didn’t heal them. Luckily, the families' anger wasn't extreme, from what she said, any heat died down once they visited me.
I tittered before letting my voice become less than a memory.
I’ve kept most of my jutsus between me, Rinko, and Hiko. I was fine taking care of a few wounds. Not to say that I was well-practiced enough to call myself a medic-nin.
Taking care of sprains, cuts and burns were the most I did here and there. It wasn’t too surprising that Samui questioned me about the length of the injuries I could heal. It’s not exactly easy to hide the amount I needed to do. I remained honest in her questioning, although she had Yugito burn that one.
Samui decided to get some takeout, leaving me alone with the blue flame lady, herself.
She was stiff at first, like at dinner. Seeing that I didn’t hear anything, I don’t think it was that.
“Hmph! How dare she look at milord like that!” (Aoi)
‘...’
Not that the bird was taking any liking to her.
A small creak of the front door alerted us to our visitor. Yugito crouched I raise a hand and shook my head before making a single-hand seal and placing my palm on the floor.
[Frost Trap [Lvl 2] → Ice Release: Frozen Capturing Patch]
The blue sheen across the hallway was all I needed, with the lights off there. After all the torment I’ve been through this was one thing I had to see through.
I sat down while Yugito was at the ready with a kunai out of nowhere by the time I looked back at her.
‘3…, 2…, And…, now!’
“GAH!”
*Shup*
*Thud*
‘FUCK YEAH!’ I fist-pumped before pulling open a bag of chips.
“Samui would’ve seen that a mile away. Welcome home, Atsui.” (Makoto)
I have to be honest, seeing Yugito try to keep it together while covering her mouth already made my day.
“The mop of blonde hair got up with a start, assuming he was yelling from how big his mouth movement was. He pauses while looking at me. I haven’t seen myself in a hot minute I chose to disregard it and toss a snowball in his face.”
That seemed to reignite something. I took that instead of worrying about the dark bags under his eyes. Mouthing my appreciation to Aoi because I wouldn’t have known when to start running.
Unlike a normal person, Rinko showed his affection through traps he set up. Having [Detect] back then would’ve been a blessing. Now I was ducking and weaving, moving side tables to block his way.
Our game of cat and mouse got to a standstill the minute a pillow Atsui tossed Yugito straight in the face. When I thought it was over, she struck back with a pillow she took off the couch knocking Atsui off his feet.
The two have gone mad and before they could unleash hellfire, I heard the door click open once more.
'Begin Code G.'
Thawing my ice in record time, I made my way up the stairwell with Yuuma making his way to me from the couch.
‘Sounds like it’s about time I take a nice bath….’ I said a silent prayer for them before making my escape.
No matter the situation, I knew Yuuma was a smart boy. He didn’t make a peep until we were in my room hearing some weakened conversation with the hot water running.
I didn’t think anything those two could say would hold in the slightest. What could I say?
I threw a little prank here and there but that was one of my greatest pieces yet. I’d make them proud.
(I didn’t think you had it in you.) The fond voice of my first friend here whispered.
(What are you-) (Makoto)
(Get used to that feeling, I’m sure it’s something you’ll be feeling often.) (Riri)
[Make the most of what you can do now, dammit!]
The haze around the room all converged at one point without a beat, I reached out my hand. Getting a firm grip on the bladeless hilt.
I wiped the tears from my face to get a better look. The diamond-shaped hilt split into four quadrants with two being particularly larger than the others.
Before meeting at the hollow rectangle for the blade, marking each corner is a V-shaped indent at its corners surrounded by a solid border.
‘Sheer white...’
I furrowed my brows as a memory came to the surface, one of those moments of my travel guardians' nonsense.
***
“Don’t make this harder for me, Hiko. Our little lad is growing up.” Rinko blew his nose through the tears.
“...” (Hiko)
“Okay, okay. Geez, lighten up a little. Mako-kun~!” (Rinko)
“IT’S-” (Makoto)
“A bub, bub, don’t ruin this…. Everything’s coming together. Look out at all this snow. White as a canvas, right?” (Rinko)
“...Yeah.” (Makoto)
“I want to see what you could do with that if you got the colors. What do you think you’d draw?” (Rinko)
****
With that in mind, I took note of marking my first experience with people in a similar situation to me. The solid border changed color into the same sky blue we fell out of together.
“So, this is ‘it’, huh?” (Makoto)
I couldn’t put a finger on what the feeling was, a level of familiarity I lost was something I found in the hilt.
I couldn’t figure out what it did. What it meant. I guessed there were still many surprises awaiting me and got out of the bathtub.
Changed into a t-shirt and shorts, grabbed my book and pencil, and made my way back downstairs. I hugged Samui and looked back at the two cleaning up with a cheeky grin on my face.
‘Hold on to this feeling…, I didn’t know how long I can, but I was going to try.’
[Trial of the Blade: Complete]
*Click*
