8

“We won’t be able to return ‘til morning…”

Miki was looking at the clear sky through a little crack at the ceiling of the improvised refuge. It was early night and they had to wait there until the sunrise. Maybe, Miki on her own could reach home safely but, with her companion hurt, it would be a suicide. Then, she turned to the girl seating on the ground and complaining while looking at the wound on her leg.

“Let me see”

Seeing Miki kneeling in front of her, Aya moved back ‘til lean against the wall to keep herself away from any touch.

“Stop acting as if you were some superior being, princess” said Miki a bit angry “You’re not made of steel, you know?”

Fujimoto took the younger’s leg and Aya couldn’t help but let her do. It hurt too much to fight against it. Taking a knife from her belt, Miki tore the fabric to have a better view of the wound.

“It doesn’t look good…” she took off her belt and tied up over the cut to stop the bleeding “What were you thinking about? They almost kill you…”

“Why do you care?” asked Aya still with her cutting tone.

“If you didn’t notice, we’re running out of people lately. We can’t afford the luxury to lose someone strong” Miki ripped one of the sleeves on Aya’s shirt, with the consequent complaints, and bandaged the wound with it “Besides, I’m not the kind of girl that leaves someone behind…”

“You left Hitomi that day”

“That was different” Miki knew that Aya was trying to start another fight but she wasn’t really in the mood to any verbal attack so, she kept herself down and answered as serenely as she could “It was too late… And I had to take Rika out of there”

“Never it’s too late”

Having the wound finally covered, Miki stood up and moved away from the younger.

“Look, if you wanna blame someone, blame me. Rika’d preferred to stay there and die with her…”

“I don’t wanna hear your lame excuses!”

“Good! Then hear something else!” this time Miki was really pissed of and, tired of the younger’s stubbornness, she shouted at her “Wanna know why you hate Rika so much? Because the princess couldn’t stand that there’d be someone else in Hitomi’s heart…”

“Shut up!”

“She took you’re place and it felt like a kick in your guts, right?” Miki continued her attack kneeling again in front of the other girl and placing her hands on the wall, leaving just a few inches between them to make sure that Aya heard what she had to say “You felt betrayed…”

“You don’t know anything!” fought back Matsuura with a tear menacing to drop “You can’t know how I feel!”

“I know more than you imagine…”

***

After the running to reach a safe place, the six girls were trying to recover their breaths, hidden from the monsters in a basement under the bamboo floor. Nono told them that there was an underground corridor at the other side of the building that connected the shrine with their place, but they decided that it was better to wait a few minutes, just to be sure that it was safe.

Laying on the basement floor, with her back against the wall and studying carefully the katana that Eri gave her, Yossi caught someone staring at her.

“What?”

“I don’t even know how to call you…”

“Yossi it’s ok”

The taller answered Rika’s question with a sweet smile and Ishikawa took that as a signal of agreement to sit next to her.

“You’re so real…” she said looking at Yossi’s eyes “It seems impossible”

“Yeah, I know. This situation is surrealist” the younger scratched her head and looked at the others in the room “Yesterday I was watching lions on TV with the girls and five minutes later I’m in an unknown world in the midst of a war. After that, I even miss Miki’s silly ideas to improve the group…”

“Our Miki?” asked Nozomi who went closer to take part in the conversation “She’s in your world, too?”

“All of you”

Nono had a surprised expression on her face and was going to ask again when Maki stood up and look at them seriously.

“Don’t you think we could leave this conversation to another moment and try to find Aya and Miki? They may be in trouble…”

“Don’t worry” replied Nozomi careless “She can handle those beasts on her own”

“It’s not them what really worries me…”

***

Even if she tried hard, Miki couldn’t help but fall sleep. When she woke up a few hours later, being still at dark night, she found a head leant on her chest and a pair of arms surrounding her waist. Something that made her wonder how restless must be Aya while sleeping to end like this.

This will be really fun if she wakes up now…

But Aya remain asleep and Miki found herself caressing the younger’s hair and removing a lock from her face. She looked so different from the haughty and stubborn girl that she’s being awake… Then, somehow, with Aya in her arms, Fujimoto felt something warm growing inside her, as if she realized the real reason of her existence.

This is crazy… It has to be the high of the moment or something. I’ve risked my life to save her.., I’ve carried her here.., I’ve took care of her wound.., all that to have a fight as a reward… And even so, I’ll do it again…What’s happening to me?

Trying to not wake up the sleepy, she leant to place a soft kiss on Aya’s forehead and found something that worried her.

God, she's burning...

To be continued...

Labels: Traveler