Of needed softness

The first time Reisen awoke, she didn’t even manage to fully open her eyes, but she was comfortable and everything around her was calm, so she went back to sleep.

The second time she awoke, it was to a nice futon and a distantly familiar room that smelled faintly of fresh laundry and lavender, illuminated by the few orangey rays of sunlight that seeped through the curtains: when she went past the haze of post-sleep, she recognised it as granny Miyako’s place, where she had spent so much time playing when she was a child. Why was she there, though? Her memories were fuzzy.

She tried to sit up at last, but was forced to do so slowly due to the fatigue she felt weight down her body, that was covered by bandages and plasters under a two-piece pyjamas too big for her.

“Oh! Dear, you awoke, please take your time-”

Granny Miyako’s soft voice wafted from the door of the room, and Reisen looked at her. She remembered the outskirts of Narai-juku and a familiar figure under the thundering rain, but not much more; the details escaped her.

She must have had a particularly lost look on her face, because the old woman began to answer her unasked questions without prompting. “Reisen, Yoshihiro found you unconscious and wounded some hours ago and brought you here. Oh, imagine my fear when I saw you, thinking the worst…” She shook her head, the wrinkles already present on her face furrowing even more with worry. Saying that Reisen felt guilty was a euphemism. “That nice kid was unconscious too, but at least was unharmed.”

And just like that, all of a sudden, Reisen remembered everything from what seemed like a lifetime before. Her first instinct was to feverishly start searching for Tsuchifuji, but was placated right away by seeing them wrapped in an oversized pyjamas similar to hers and sleeping peacefully in a futon distant just a few metres from her. She took a deep breath, happy for the simple fact she could, and let herself relax. She looked at granny Miyako again. “Thank you a lot for helping us, granny. I’m really sorry for worrying you.”

“Oh, pish posh. The most important thing is that you are both okay.” She smiled in a motherly way, full of relief and affection. “Now, Yoshihiro is downstairs, he was waiting for one of you to wake up. Do you feel like talking to him?”

Reisen let herself ponder on the answer for a moment, but then she nodded. She was fine – what was a little tiredness after the living nightmare that had been that beast, after all? –, and she needed to talk to him too. Besides, he must’ve been worried.

“Do you want him to come here?”

“No, it’s fine, I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

“Okay, dear, just be careful not to exert yourself too much.”

Reisen slowly got up, grabbing and putting on the glasses that had been placed next to her pillow, but then she stopped, looking anxiously at the kid.

“Do not worry, dear, I will stay here just in case” granny Miyako said, sensing the reason behind her distress.

And it was stupid, really, because why was Reisen uneasy at the idea of leaving the kid alone? Was it the shared nightmarish experience? Nevertheless, she was grateful to the old woman. “Thank you.”

Granny Miyako smiled, waving her worries away. “Do not mention it, it gives me an excuse to continue the scarf I was working on, after all.” From a drawer she grabbed a pair of knitting needles, around which was looped some colourful yarn. “We might need it, anyway, with this funny weather.”

Reisen smiled back, and slowly started heading down the stairs and into the living room, trying to be as silent as possible not to risk waking the kid – even though, considering how well they continued to sleep while the old woman and Reisen were talking, there probably wasn’t anything to worry about –.

Downstairs, Nagai was waiting at the low table, on the shadowy side of course, a cup of something hot in his hands – there was a teapot on the table, though, so it wasn’t difficult to guess what the drink was –, but when he noticed her he got up so quickly that he nearly spilled it. “Hagane!” Despite the warm light that filled the room, he seemed paler than usual. “Thank everything that’s holy, how are you feeling?”

“Hey, Nagai. I’m tired, but I’m fine.” In any other situation she would’ve made a joke, but that really wasn’t the time. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

He shook his head. “I swear you’ll give me grey strands because of this.”

She eyed his pitch black hair. “I thought that wasn’t possible with you.”

“Exactly, do you understand the gravity of the situation?” Before she could make a smart quip, however, his gaze dropped to the side and his shoulders slumped, as if the strings that kept him upright had suddenly been cut. “… actually, Hagane, I’m… I’m sorry.”

Reisen was taken aback. “Why would you be sorry? I’m pretty sure that if you hadn’t found us we would be in a much worse state.”

“Yes, but I didn’t do anything apart from that. At the sight of blood I nearly fainted, so Miyako had to do all the work with patching you up.” He lightly hugged himself. “And if that wasn’t enough, even though I faintly sensed an approaching elemental presence I chose not to do anything. I’m ashamed of myself.”

Reisen had sincerely no idea how to respond to that. The poor vampire seemed to have aged more that day than during all of his numerous decades of existence. In the end she sighed, shaking her head. “Nagai, this isn’t your fault. Rather, it’s whoever’s created and sent that chimaera out here.”

The vampire’s perpetually bloodshot eyes, as dark as his hair, widened at that. “A chimaera, you say? Was that what attacked you?”

“Yes, Tsuchifuji called it like that; an ‘elemental chimaera’ to be more precise, made of wood, rocks and metal.” Only thinking about it made her shudder, and the fact that they had actually managed to cut it down and not die felt like a miracle.

“An elemental chimaera…” His gaze sharpened, but there was a trace of fear in it. “That’s not something a simple mage could create, it requires a level of comprehension of magic that goes beyond what the grand majority of witches and wizards could imagine.”

Reisen grimaced. “Do you think this could be the same mage who sent that serpent to my house?”

“That’s the most likely explanation.” His demeanour darkened, and it seemed like his gloominess was luring in all the shadows of the room. “… And, Reisen, I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but after what happened I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay on your own anymore. Neither is for Tsuchifuji-”

“Miss Hagane!”

Speak of the devil, as they said…

After their exclamation, the kid ran down the stairs and into the living room, but, when they stopped to a halt in front of her, their eyes filled with tears that travelled down their cheeks in a matter of instants. “Miss Hagane” they repeated, ten times more brokenly. Without being prompted, they launched themselves at her and hugged her – in a surprisingly gentle manner, mindful of her still recovering condition – as if they feared she could shatter or disappear at any moment, their hands clenching the fabric of the back of her pyjamas. “I’m sorry, Miss Hagane, I’m so sorry” they said between one sob and another, their voice muffled since their face was squished against the crook of her neck. “Because of me you had to fight, and you got hurt, and you nearly-” A sob stronger than the others wracked their entire body. “I’m so sorry, Miss Hagane.”

Reisen was surprised to say the least, and stayed frozen for a second, but then she sighed and circled their figure with her arms, ignoring all the tears that were soaking the front of her pyjamas. The kid was tall for a fifteen-year-old, but they were still a bit shorter than her, so with them curled up like that she managed to put her cheek on the top of their head. “It’s fine, you silly kid, I forgive you” she said simply. There was no use scolding them, after all, when they were in such a state; besides, they probably already knew very well where they had gone wrong. “Please promise me you won’t be that careless again, though.”

The kid nodded, continuing to cry. “I promise.”

Afterwards, Reisen put her hand on the back of their head and held them while their body was shaken by sobs and wails. One or two tears escaped her eyes too, even though she didn’t quite want to admit that, but it was to be expected: the fact that they were both alive despite that terrible encounter, with everything that that entailed, was beginning to settle in only in that moment.

When they both calmed down, some time later, they sat at the low table with Nagai and granny Miyako, who had fetched three more cups and filled them with warm tea after joining them in the living room.

“… what are we going to do now?” asked Tsuchifuji, after that the vampire and Reisen had gotten the old woman up to date with everything that had happened. The kid still had tear tracks on their face and their eyes were puffy, but their voice was way steadier, albeit soft and a bit lost.

“Now we’re going to call the Mages Association, that’s what” Reisen replied, stirring the sugar in her drink with the teaspoon, under Nagai’s disconcerted and judgemental gaze. “I’m not dealing with this alone.”

Granny Miyako nodded. “You are right, dear, I will alert them. The other residents too, they have to know.”

“Until someone from the Association arrives, though, you’ll have to be careful. Whoever is behind this is probably after you two, for whatever reason” added Nagai, looking at Reisen and the kid. “For you in particular, Tsuchifuji, it would be better if you didn’t stay alone for the time being.”

“Naturally, Yoshihiro and I would be happy to house you-”

“No!” the kid exclaimed, promptly going crimson from embarrassment after noticing their outburst. The teacups on the table rattled. “I-I mean, that would be very kind of you, but I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

A small part of Reisen kind of wished to snicker at the fact that they were more red than a tomato, but she chose to be the bigger person. While she was at it, she also decided to offer the kid another option, which was also a way to kill two birds with one stone. “If you prefer, you can stay at my place. There’s a whole empty room, after all.”

The kid’s head turned to her so fast that it nearly gave her whiplash. “What? Really? But-”

She shrugged. “Sure, why not. It could be like a… an extended pyjama party of sorts, I don’t know.”

They looked at her with their big bright eyes for a few seconds, but then they smiled softly. “… I do like pyjama parties. Are you sure it wouldn’t be a problem, though?”

“Yeah, don’t worry.”

“I see, in that case… thank you, Miss Hagane.” They accepted way faster than expected, but whatever.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Call me Reisen, kid, I think we’ve gone through too much already for you to call me ‘Miss Hagane’.”

“Okay, Miss Reisen.”

“Just Reisen.”

At that point, the kid made the sweetest and most innocent expression she had ever seen on their face. “I will if you do the same for me.”

Oh, that cheeky brat. Suddenly, she laughed. “I guess that’s fair…” She smiled. “… Yukiya.”

She resisted the urge to shield her eyes when they brightened up, shining more than the sun.