Tears Beneath the Moonlight

The old man was completely burned by the flames.

Hijoto fell unconscious in the forest. His disciples searched for him and finally found him lying on the forest floor. They lifted him and took him to Wahido's house.

The doctor came, checked him, and gave treatment.

“He is severely injured, and there is are high chance of him going into a coma. Proper care must be given to him,” he said to Nohari and then left the house.

Nohari took care of him for two days. She cleaned his body with wet cloths, changed his clothes, and spent hours keeping watch over him.

On the third day, when Nohari was in the kitchen, Anota, Dilaa, and Mecho were playing hide-and-seek. Mecho hid in Hijoto's room, and Anota and Dilaa came shouting, “Where are you, Mecho-chan?”

They entered Hijoto's room and began shouting, “We found you! We found you!”

Mecho started running, and by mistake, the glass of water kept on the table fell onto Hijoto's bed, making it wet.

Nohari came shouting in anger, “You mischievous girls, get out of the room!”

Suddenly, Hijoto opened his eyes and regained consciousness. Nohari saw him and hugged him.

Hijoto said, “Please leave me, I am alright.”

She felt hurt by Hijoto's words and went to the kitchen to boil water for him.

Hijoto stood up, opened the cupboard, took out the magical book, and placed it on the table.

Elitta fluttered over it. “You should not talk to Nohari in this way.”

Hijoto said, “I didn’t feel comfortable when she hugged me.”

“She was the one who took care of you while you were bedridden,” appeared on the pages.

He felt a bit guilty and thought of apologizing to her.

At night, he went to the rooftop to charge his bangle and saw Nohari sitting under the moonlight.

She saw Hijoto and stood up, saying, “I think I must leave now,” and began to walk past him.

Hijoto held her hand to stop her. “Wait, Nohari,” he said.

“I am sorry for the way I behaved, Nohari… but actually, I don’t feel comfortable around any other girl except Itiwah,” he added.

Nohari released her hand from Hijoto’s grip and said, “It’s okay, Hijoto. I can understand.” She went downstairs with tears in her eyes.