Chapter Text
TW: blood
"I want you to go there." The general pointed at the East. "There's only a small amount of the enemy's army, it should be easy to get rid of it. As such, only your division should be enough." Shinonome's words echoed in Tsukasa's mind. Easy to get rid of, huh? He's been fighting for five days, barely getting any rest. He already sent a message to the kingdom, asking for reinforcement, what was taking so long? He'd been stabbed multiple times over the several days, with little to no treatment. He had no time for this, he had to be on the battlefield. Even he didn't know how he could keep going.
Tsukasa wasn't stupid. He knew the battle was already lost. He had no reason to keep fighting, more than half of his division was dead or heavily wounded, giving up would be the better option. Yet, he refused to do it. Surely, reinforcement would arrive soon. The messenger sent was very capable, more soldiers should come soon. He just had to continue the bloodhell for just a few hours, and then it'll be alright. He was pulled off his thoughts by a vivid pain.
Looking down, a sword was, once again, piercing through his stomach. He couldn't count how many times he'd been stabbed there, but this time it hurt more than the other.
"Argh—" Tsukasa groaned in pain, one arm wrapped tightly around his stomach as he sliced yet another enemy's torso. He felt the hot blood covering his hands and go through his sleeves, enveloping him even more in the metallic scent, making him feel dizzy. His head hurt like crazy, his whole body ached and he felt weak, extremely weak. He could feel his legs give up and soon, he was one knee on the ground, trying his best not to pass out.
Yet, pure will wasn't enough. When your body decides that it's too much, you can't do anything about it. He was quick to lose consciousness, his body falling limp to the ground.
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Tsukasa tried to open his eyes, but even doing this hurt. He tried to move any part of his body, it wouldn't budge. After a few moments of struggling, he suddenly became aware of someone next to him, hearing the ruffling of clothes. "A-are you awake..?" A feminine voice asked him, sounding hesitant.
All he could do was stay silent. He felt soft hands wrapping around his wrist, checking for his pulse. He wanted to answer but he couldn't, it was like even talking was too much of an effort.
"You're in a bad state.. I stopped the bleeding but your wounds are too deep for me to treat them with what I have on me.." she paused. Then, the knight heard shuffling and the sound of a liquid being shaken.
"Don't worry, I'm not doing anything dangerous.. it may sting a little, that's all." Tsukasa didn't understand what she was talking about. What was she gonna do to him? He panicked, wanted to resist, but his body wasn't responding. A few seconds later, he felt a little sting in his arm and then, black out.
He woke up once again, this time in a different place. The atmosphere felt warm and cozy, he was definitely indoors. This time, he could open his eyes and, when he did so, he was immediately blinded by the light emanating from the window beside him. Safe to say, his eyes were closed again just a second after he opened them. Instead, he tried to think about his situation, but nothing came. He had no idea of where he was or what happened, everything was a blur.
He tried to move and immediately felt pain course through his members, a great, agonizing pain. He couldn't move any muscles and couldn't think either. All he could do was pray that whoever brought him here would come soon. It seemed like his prayers were heard since a second later, he heard footsteps come in his way and soon, he felt a human presence beside him.
"I know you must be asking yourself a lot of questions but can you let me treat you first, please?" The stranger, that he recognized to be the one from earlier, said, a hint of worry in her tone. "straight to the point, I see.." Tsukasa thought. He slightly nodded, thing that he regretted doing a second later when he felt the muscle of his neck screaming in pain.
"This is something made from fresh herbs I picked not too long ago. Please, trust me, it's totally safe." The stranger continued. Tsukasa had no idea of what she was talking about, and there was no way in hell he would drink something he hadn't seen beforehand.
Seeing his refusal to let her feed him, the woman frowned. She was nice enough to help him, why would he make it difficult? "Hey, I'm nice enough to help you out. Don't start being annoying." She said in a passive-aggressive tone.
It took her a minute to realise that the knight's eyes had been closed the entire time, leading her to finally understand that maybe he wanted to see what he was going to drink beforehand. She noticed the light hitting his face and figured that it should be the reason for his refusal to open his eyes. She leaned in and closed the curtains, now shameful for the way she spoke to him when it was her fault.
"Y-you can open your eyes.. the curtains are closed.." She said, quickly getting out of his vision.
Tsukasa opened his eyes, choosing not to comment on how she talked to him— not like he could talk, anyway. A glass was presented above him, filled with a clear liquid. It just looked like regular water, nothing dangerous, right?
Tsukasa slightly opened his mouth, just enough for him to be able to drink from the glass. The stranger who brought the glass to his lips and let the liquid flow, occasionally stopping to let him swallow. It actually didn't taste like anything special. It seemed like it was regular water with a hint of something Tsukasa couldn't put his finger on— the herbs, maybe.
Instantly, he felt his body relax. He still felt like every part of him was getting shot but his muscles weren't as tense. He could even move a bit— with the price of an unbearable pain, but still less painful than before. "I hope it makes you feel a bit better.." the stranger said, seeming unsure. Tsukasa smiled slightly as a way of saying that, indeed, he felt better.
"I treated your wounds as best I could but I'm not a professional doctor so please, tell me if your wounds hurt too much. For now, I suppose that you're in pain everywhere. It should get better in a week or two." She said, yet there was still an uncertainty in her voice, which worried Tsukasa— it meant that there was a possibility that he didn't feel better in a week or two.
He preferred not to think about such a possibility and instead closed his eyes. He was exhausted for some reason and only wished for sleep. "Umh.. I'll leave you alone, now. I'm gonna check up on you every hour in case there's something wrong." He was glad that she understood and soon, he was all alone once again. His head was filled with questions, but sleep was too strong and soon, he dozed off once again.
He woke up to a weird smell— it didn't smell like anything actually, but still he could feel an unknown odor fill his nostrils. It was weird, really. Whatever, maybe his savior was making food. His savior.. it sounded nice, to call her that. As long as he was unable to speak and ask for her name, he would call her his savior.
He quickly started to get bored. Laying there with the inability to move, speak or even think straight was certainly the worst thing ever. For him, who always needs to be busy with something and can't stay still, it was hell.
He considered moving through his pain, but he knew it would do more bad than good. So, once again, he simply stared at the ceiling. It was, quite literally, the only thing he could do. He considered making a tiny effort to call for his savior to keep him company, but he ultimately chose not to do it. She certainly was busy, he'd just have to wait until she came to check up on him.
He could hear the fire crackling, glass clicking, footsteps running around and all sorts of other things. "She must be preparing dinner." Tsukasa guessed. For once, he wasn't hungry. His stomach was empty and he felt it, but he did not want to eat. The endless stabs certainly did irreversible damage to his intestine and stomach, could he even eat again?
Another ten minutes later, he finally heard the footsteps get closer and his room's door opening. A second later he felt a presence next to him, once again.
"I hope you feel a bit better after sleeping. The po—" she paused and cleared her throat. "Uh— the.. drink I gave you should've made effect by now."
Now that she pointed it out, he didn't feel as much pain. It must've been reduced by ten since he woke up. His body felt numb, but at least he could still move and, best of all, speak. "Yeah, thanks" he said gratefully, a smile on his face. His throat was burning, but at least it was bearable.
"Can you sit up?" his savior asked, to which he replied "I can try" after thinking about it. His back and abdomen hurt like hell but he still managed to sit against the bedframe with the woman's help.
"Here, take this, it's your dinner." He was presented a bowl with a sort of soup of a greenish color in it. It looked a bit weird, it wasn't exactly liquid, but it wasn't outright munchable either. "Not that I doubt your cooking abilities, but are you sure this is.. edible?" Tsukasa pointed at the soup, worried that it might give him food poisoning.
"Yes, I am. Don't stop at the appearances" she replied in a slightly irritated tone. He nodded and took a trembling spoonful of the soup (can it even be called a soup at this point?) and brought it to his lips.
"Wait.. this is delicious!" The knight exclaimed, eyes sparkling. He then proceeded to eat the whole thing, completely forgetting the look and texture of it. At least, he could eat. Swallowing kind of hurt, but the price was reasonable with how good it was. The woman stayed by his side, silent, watching him eat. She seemed glad that he enjoyed it.
The dinner was rather silent. It was just the green haired woman watching the blonde eat, and him trying to make conversation, but it seemed like she wasn't receptive to his attempts as she didn't answer any of his questions. He gave up at some point and fell into silence too, finishing the soup.
Once dinner was finished, the green haired girl collected his plate and fork. She stood up, ready to leave, but the blonde suddenly took a hold of her wrist, preventing her from leaving. "Can you stay for a while?" He asked, tugging a bit on her wrist." It's so boring alone!" he whined.
The girl froze and looked at him intensely, seemingly pondering the idea. "Uh..no, I'm sorry." she ultimately replied, her tone rather dry. Tsukasa let go of her sleeve and sighed in defeat, watching her leave with the empty trail. 'It's akay, she must be busy' he told himself as he sank back into the cushions.
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Nene leaned against the closed door and sighed, looking at the bowl in her hands. She shouldn't have brought him home. It was a mistake. She always lived alone and promised herself that no one should ever know of her place, what was she thinking when she took him with her?
She just should have brought him back to the kingdom he belonged to.
But traveling so far with an injured man wouldn't only be unpleasant, it would be dangerous. What if he died on the road? What if she got attacked by a bunch of hoarders? And if she gets inspected? They would think it's her work. And worst of all, even if the trip went smoothly, she'd have to make her way in the street filled with people talking loudly, bumping into her, judging her every move. Just thinking about it made her shiver.
No, definitely, she couldn't bring him back to his kingdom. She'd just have to be careful. She looked up and gazed at the mess she made earlier.
She had, in fact, she completely messed up the soup. She usually was a good cook but not today, apparently. She just added a little something to make it taste better.
Sighing a last time, she pushed her body off the door and walked up to her desk sitting against the wall, starting to tidy everything up.