Chapter Text
— The Protagonist —
I didn't get much sleep last night. I got home, climbed into bed and cried. I'd hoped to cry myself to sleep, but all it's left me with today is a sore throat. The lack of sleep has left me dizzy too.
I'm slowly making my way between classes, it's about midday and I just keep feeling worse, my nose is runny and this sore throat keeps making me cough. I just want the day to end, but unfortunately, I have to run into you, one of the two people I want to see the least today, Brad Fou Field.
I try to walk past him silently until he greets me. "Olivia, hello. I'd like to talk to you for just a moment. Chris told me what happened last night and— Olivia, are you well?"
"I'm fine." I choke out, I try to speed up to walk past him, but stumble over my on feet and fall to my knees. Ugh, what is wrong with me today? I look up at Brad and see obvious concern on his face. He removes a glove and places his bare hand to my forehead.
"Olivia! You have a fever!" Brad says, panic filling his voice. Oh, that would explain things. He picks me up by the elbow and starts escorting me. "Allow me to take you to your room, we can talk when you're feeling better." He assures me.
I groan, I'd hoped to use my time after classes today tracking down Leon to sort things out as swiftly as possible.
— Tutorial NPC —
"How the hell did it come to this?" I wonder, quietly. Standing in Olivia's room carrying various items in hopes of helping in her recovery. The window is currently open as I climbed my way in to ensure no one would know I was here.
"Well, Master, the moment you heard Miss Olivia was unwell, you requested a more detailed explanation. Then you screamed 'that moron is just going to make things worse!' When I explained that Brad had begun panicking, grabbing any medicine he could find without any knowledge of what to use. So, you had me trip him before he could get here to make him drop it all and now he's off moping somewhere." Luxion reminds me.
"I was complaining, not actually asking. Jackass." I moan in response. I look down at Olivia's sleeping face, pink and strained with fever. She's clutching my old blazer to her chest like her life depends on it. "I'm sorry, Olivia." I whisper in hopes of not waking her. She only got sick because she was chasing me. If I was more mature and knew how to explain why I couldn't be by her side any longer, she probably would be perfectly healthy right now.
I crouch down next to her bed and drench a cloth strip I'd brought with me in a bucket of water. I wring it out and then place it on her forehead. It doesn't take long for her expression to relax. I make a mental note to rinse the cloth again to cool it down in a while as I look around the room. It's almost barren, it seems that she hasn't been able to replace a lot of the things that were broken when those personal servants broke into her room yet.
I look back at Olivia's sleeping face and feel guilt once again claw at my chest, not just for this situation, but for everything she's had to go through. I sigh and continue to do what I can to help her for now at least, mixing some powdered medicine Luxion prepared in to a glass of water and starting to make soup on a hot plate. I'm so engrossed in the task that I almost jump out of my skin when I hear Olivia's voice.
"Mr Leon…" She groans, I slowly glance behind me, only to see that she's still lying there asleep. "Mr Leon… it's so beautiful…" She's talking in her sleep, probably having some kind of vivid fever dream. Her smile at whatever she's dreaming about is gorgeous.
"Not as beautiful as you…" I whisper, desperate not to wake her.
"That line would be a lot more effective if she were able to hear it. Should I attempt to wake her so you can try again?" Luxion mocks me, near inaudibly. I glare at his terminal silently and continue to listen to Olivia sleep-talk.
"You really think so Mr Leon?" She says, almost like a reply to something I said. For a moment, I worry that she is awake and heard me, but then she continues responding to the version of my in her dream. "I didn't know such a place existed, and without you I never would have. Thank you for showing it to me Mr Leon…"
I slowly walk back to Olivia's bedside, having finished preparing her soup. Kneeling down at her side, wanting to drink in as much of her as possible before I'll need to leave and possibly never see her from so close ever again.
"…Mr Leon… I love you…" Olivia says as I remove the cloth from her forehead to cool it back down, having seen her face starting to redden again.
I smile at her exclamation, silencing the part of me that knows that this is wrong. It'll get its wish tomorrow, when I allow my time with Olivia to become simply a memory. For right now, just for today, I get to be honest with myself. "I love you too, Olivia. Get well soon." I whisper, and then I press my lips against her forehead as a final goodbye.
— The Protagonist —
"Mr Leon… Mr Leon, it's so beautiful." I say, looking around at the field of wildflowers on the small, floating island that the two of us are arriving on. Walking down the ramp from Leon's ship, it's wooden like the ones from the stories I read as a child.
Leon smiles at me and moves faster down the ramp to get a better look at my face. "Not as beautiful as you." He whispers to me, his voice hushed like he's embarrassed to say it. A slight pink tint taking hold across his nose as he says it.
I feel my heart race at the uncharacteristic directness from Leon. "You really think so, Mr Leon?" I say, trying to milk further affection out of him. He scratches the back of his head for a moment and looks away sheepishly.
"I… Uh, yeah… I…" Leon fumbles for the words awkwardly for a moment before I let him off the hook.
"I didn't know such a place existed, and without you I never would have. Thank you for showing it to me Mr Leon." I say, smiling even more than I had been before. Leon looks into my eyes, and I can feel the affection pouring out of him, he walks partially back up the ramp and I walk down to meet him.
Leon grabs me gently by the chin, stroking my face softly as he does so. He's so forward that I feel my face begin to warm in response. "…Mr Leon…" I say, struggling to get the words out, scared that if I say what I want to, he'll disappear. "I love you." I finally manage to say.
Leon smiles at me, love and affection clear on his face as he starts to lean forward, gently guiding me towards him by my chin as well, not that he needs to. I want this just as much as he does. "I love you too, Olivia. Get well soon." He whispers, his voice sweet as honey. What's he talking about, I'm not sick am I? The thought is banished from my mind when the distance between us is closed fully and he places his lips on my forehead like a gentleman.
I shoot up in my bed, a damp cloth falling from my forehead onto my lap and I look around the room. On my desk is a glass of water, a note and a hot plate with some delicious smelling soup kept warm on top of it. I get out of my bed to investigate the note.
It reads: Sorry, I needed to leave Olivia. Please eat to get your energy up and take the medicine in the glass. Then go right back to bed. - Brad.
I feel my heart warm. That's not Brad's handwriting at all.
— Tutorial NPC —
"Ah-choo!" I sneeze, guess I'm missing class today. My entire body feels like it's falling apart. "Luxionnnnn!" I complain. "I need more medicine!"
Luxion's ball shaped terminal shakes like a head in front of me. "I don't know what else you were expecting Master, kissing someone while they're still contagious. Don't expect me to kiss you on the forehead to make you feel better."
"It's awful to make fun of the sick!" I protest.