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Hikari feels a lot of things right now.
For one, he feels warm. He had never really thought of Agnea in that sense, though he was not surprised either. She is Agnea, after all. Two, he feels confused. How could anyone view him the same way? He is the slandered prince of a country of war. He is everything children are told ghost stories about at night. And Agnea just… kissed him? It doesn’t make sense.
She’s made it clear that she’s there for me unconditionally. And she has no idea how grateful I am for her. Hikari loses himself in his thoughts, walking with Agnea in silence as they make the trek through the forest back to Wellgrove in silence. There are so many things I want to say…
Hikari opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and then decides to keep it shut. I’m tired. And flustered. How the hell am I going to talk to her without making an even bigger fool of myself than I already have? I can’t just keep silent. I need to think of something-
“Is everything alright, Hikari?”
Hikari nearly jumps. “Er, yes. I’m fine. Why do you ask?” He lies. She gives him some side-eye. “...are you really?” … she’s not putting up with my mask anymore, is she. “...what gave me away?”
“There’s a darkness in your eyes, and your brow is furrowed. Papa does the same thing when he thinks about Mama.” Hikari winced. He knows how much she still misses her. “...sorry to bring up painful memories.” Her head shot up. “No, no! You didn’t do anything wrong!” She pauses for a moment. “...although if you did want to make me feel better I wouldn’t mind another kiss…”
Hikari’s head raises to look at her, then looks away in a vain attempt to hide his face. “Er, of course. Ah, well, maybe a little later.” She giggles, and he takes the moment to steal a look at her.
She was beautiful. There was no other way to describe her. The way the light hit her, the way her smile brightened everything around them… but at the same time, he felt guilty.
“...why did you stop me?”
She cocks her head. “What do you mean?” she asks. Hikari purses his lips. “...I still believe that my mere presence is a danger to you. The only difference is that I don’t have the resolve to leave anymore.” He looks to the sky. “I am a clock, constantly ticking down to the end. Why would you want to keep me around?”
He looks at her, and he stiffens. Her eyes are sad. Her mouth is hanging open ever so slightly. Shit. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He sighs. Don’t talk anymore. You’ll just upset her.
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How could he say that about himself?
Hikari was the most selfless person Agnea had ever met. Everything he had done had been for two things: His country, and the Octopath Travelers. Right off the bat, she could think of something selfless he had done for her, regardless of how obscure it might have been to him…
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“Ah…Ah…ATCHOO!”
“Oh, dear…”
The travelers had assisted Ochette in capturing Glacis. It pained all of them, and Osvald seemed especially shaken. The battle took a toll on everyone, but most of them recovered within a few hours.
With the exception of Agnea.
“ATCHOO!” Agnea had caught a bad cold, no doubt the result of her running around dancing on the mountaintop. It was an indisputable fact that they all likely would have died if not for her, but even if that wasn’t the case it would not have changed their response to this new development: Take a few days, and rest up at the Stormhail Inn.
“Thank you for taking the time to treat me, Castti.” She gratefully accepted a handkerchief from the apothecary. Castti raised an eyebrow. “What did you think I would do, Agnea? Leave you here to wallow in your misery?” She let out a low chuckle as she rummaged through her bag. “You know what time it is, Agnea~” Castti spoke in a sing-songy voice, holding up a small vial. Agnea’s expression soured immediately. “Blech.” She faked disgust.
“Agnea…”
“I know, I know.” She took the vial from Castti, opened it, and downed it all in one swig.
Ugh,
she thought.
I hate this stuff.
Her displeasure must have been evident because Castti was now presenting her with a glass of water, which she downed with a ferocity that rivaled the Lion Dance.
“That bad, eh?” Agnea looked up to see Temenos standing in the doorway. “I must say, I’ve never seen you dislike something. In comparison to your usual demeanor, it truly is a sight to behold- ow!” Temenos’s teasing was cut short by an empty vial thrown in her direction, courtesy of Castti. “Leave her alone, Temenos. In her position, you wouldn’t react any differently.”
“Heheh, duly noted. HIKARI?” He shouted across the inn. “What?” A muffled reply sounded from downstairs. “REMIND ME NOT TO GET SICK!” “...do I get any context?”
Hikari would not get a reply, as Temenos shifted his focus back to the Apothecary and her patient. “Well, as much as I’d like to stick around, I need to think about what to do once we eventually arrive at Canalbrine. Toodaloo!” He gave a cheerful wave as he wandered into the hall.
Agnea looked at the doorway curiously. “I thought his room was the other way… did he forget?”
Castti gave her a look. “Oh, I’m sure he’s perfectly aware. I very much doubt he’s going to do any sort of planning.” She sighed. “Sometimes I wish that he would, er, ‘tone it down’ a bit in town. His reckless approach to information has cost us more gold than I wish to remember.”
Agnea gave an exasperated smile. “I know what you mean. He means well, but… he doesn’t seem to care about his methods all that much. I know how much it bothers Crick.”
“I’m not so sure it does.”
Agnea and Castti nearly jumped 6 feet in the air. Throné had slipped inside at some point and neither one of them had noticed. She was sitting on the nightstand, taking a bite out of an apple.
“...I didn’t realize we had apples in supply,” Castti mentioned. Throné looked her dead in the eye. “We didn’t.” “Ah.” Agnea always got a little uncomfortable discussing Throné’s… ‘profession.’ She was raised to believe that honest work was the only way to go, but she tried her best to keep an open mind. After all, Throné had a much different upbringing than Agnea.
“Back to the topic at hand… I believe Crick actually has a bit of a soft spot for Temenos.” Agnea raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What makes you say that?” She asked. Castti’s curiosity had peaked as well, and her chair was turned to face Throné.
“Well, he always acts infuriated when Temenos calls him Little Lamb-” Castti snorts. “You have to admit, it is kind of funny.” “I’m not refuting that fact. But what I do have to add is that Crick always looks away when he complains about it. Care to guess why?”
Agnea wasn’t all that much of a romantic, but she knew how to tease and she could definitely put some pieces together. “How red is the blush?” Throné leans in to whisper. Agnea and Castti lean in to listen.
“...if I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone threw a tomato at him.”
Agnea began howling with laughter. Castti was giggling hysterically. Even Throné was laughing. “Oh… oh my… pfffhehehe! Oh oh!” She hushes her voice. “What about Temenos?” Throné chuckles. “Well, I saw-”
“Is everyone okay!?!”
The women looked in the doorway. Hikari was standing there, a frantic look in his eye. “I heard shouting! Is anyone hurt?” The women stared at him. Then they turned their gazes to one another. Then they burst out laughing again. Agnea felt bad for laughing at him like this, but he was so clueless sometimes it was adorable. “Hehe… yes we’re fine, Hikari. Thank you for checking in on us.” He exhaled. “...as long as everyone is fine. I was on my way here anyways. I brought you some dinner.”
“Thank you, Hikari.” She was still laughing a little bit. Then her eyes widened. “This… this is beef and gravy!?!” She looks at him. Is he serious!?! This must have been so expensive! She thought to herself. Hikari smiles at her. “When I was younger, I would get sick quite often. My mother would bring me my favorite foods while I was recovering. When I asked her why, she always told me that ‘Misery doesn’t last long when you’re eating something good.’ Needless to say, she was right.”
“So I figured that as long as my friend is sick, I’ll bring her a delicious meal.” Hikari summarized. Throné got up. “Well, I know you’ve been away for a while, so I’ll leave you guys to chat amongst yourselves.” Hikari noted a mischievous glint in her eye and was immediately worried. Castti got up as well. On her way out, Hikari murmured to Throné. “What are you about to do?” “Oh, nothing…” Throné chuckled as she disappeared into the corridor. Castti followed suit.
Agnea looked at Hikari, and suddenly felt sheepish. She blushed and looked away. “...this must have been so expensive…” She murmured. Hikari had gone and spent a good chunk of his money on her. All because she got sick. “Agnea, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I care about you, and I want to make this as easy for you as possible.” Her eyes widened and she blushed even harder. “I… I see. Thank you, Hikari.” Please don’t see my face… she prayed internally. He began to step into the room. Oh no…
“HIKARI!” He whipped his head around and walked outside of the room. “Partitio? Is everything- Ah! What on earth is that!?!” He ran over to assist Partito in carrying whatever it was Partitio had brought in now. Agnea exhaled. Hikari cared about everyone. He wouldn’t hesitate to drop everything to help his companions. And that flowery speech of his… She sighed. It’s part of his charm, I suppose… she thought. She began to eat. It was delicious, but she was distracted by her daydreams of the former prince. “Ugh…” She groaned. She was definitely going to lose sleep over this.
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Agnea would not let this self-depreciation stand. She sped up to grab Hikari, kissed him again, and pulled him into another hug, which he reciprocated (albeit reluctantly). They remained like that for a few moments before Agnea led Hikari to a tree. “... Let's talk for a bit.”
Hikari seemed nervous, but he nodded nonetheless. They sat down, letting the cool shade wash over them. Agnea glanced at the prince. He seemed to bask in it, which was understandable. He probably wasn’t used to any sort of ‘coolin’ off,’ as Agnea referred to it. Still, he was cute when he relaxed. She let out a little giggle, which did not go unnoticed. “...what is it?” Hikari asks. Agnea looked at him and smiles. “Just you.” He looked at the ground. “...I honestly don’t know what it is you see in me.”
Pang.
Sadness rang like a bell in her heart. It hurt her every time he did this, though he only started expressing his feelings openly a couple of hours ago. “Stop doing that.” It’s not a complaint. It’s a command. It’s not aggressive. But it is firm. He looked at Agnea. She almost loses herself in his eyes. But she needs to make him understand. She shifted her body towards him, leaned forward, and cupped his cheek in her hand. “You are precious.” She kept eye contact. She saw that it moved something in his heart, to what degree she wasn’t sure. “You are loved.” Hikari stared at her for a moment. He suddenly found the grass very interesting. He closed his eyes and mutters something. She cocked her head. “What was that?” She says with a grin. He looked up at her and the grin fell right off her face.
Silent tears were falling down his face.
“I’m not worth your love.”
Pang.
“I’m sorry. I know you told me to stop doing that, but… I can’t restrain my thoughts anymore. I just- mmmph!”
She was kissing him again. “You’re not worth my love? The man who fights to bring peace to his country is not worth my love? The man who puts his companion’s needs above his own is not worth my love?” She looked at him incredulously. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
She bridged the gap between their foreheads. Their noses were touching, too. “You are the most selfless person I know. One of the kindest. So please stop saying those things, because I will sit you down and have this talk with you as many times as I need to.” He stared at her for a moment. So long that she begins to worry that she has offended him somehow. That is until he rushed forward and pressed his lips to hers.
They stay like that for what feels like a long time. Hikari was still crying, but he lookd up at her. “...thank you.” It’s barely a whisper.
All Agnea can do is smile.
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The sun was beginning to set by the time they got back to the Wellgrove Inn. They walked in the door, and Partitio was immediately asking questions. Ochette was there too, listening intently. Temenos was watching from the corner, and if Hikari had been paying attention he would have seen a look of shock on his face that no one in the group had ever seen before. But Hikari didn’t care. Hikari didn’t have the energy to care right then. He gave Partitio a pat on the shoulder, shuffled to a bed, and collapsed, putting up no resistance as sleep claimed him.