Chapter 22:

Christmas!?

The Wind Calls the Flowers


We slowly walked back to the home, taking our time getting there due to everything that had happened. Neither of us wanted to face Cordelia’s parents after what had happened tonight. We finally reached the front of the store. Before going in, Cordelia took a moment to take in a deep breath to calm down. I followed her lead and did the same.

I limped through the store, still leaning on the little girl. We got to the part which served as the home for Flint. As we walked through the door which led to the room, we saw a giant tree with ornaments on it.

“Merry Christmas!” Both Flint and Allirea celebrated aloud at our return, not seeing the shape we were in.

After they had yelled at us, their pep rapidly turned to concern. Before I could get a word out, Cordelia had already begun explaining the whole situation. Her tone made her sound like a wounded animal. She was explaining it for me, feeling as if this was the only thing she could do after watching that guard beat on me.

While she was explaining, the word of the demihumans echoed in my mind. “You should be thanking us for doing this!” “Yeah, you should show us some gratitude, slave!” Yeah right, like I’d be grateful to you worms. The only one I was grateful for in that situation was Cordelia.

After Cordelia had finished explaining, I apologized for my inability to do the task Flint had asked me to do. Seeing my sincerity, Flint accepted everything, but was still angry that the guard had decided to give me a limp. He looked like he was ready to get up and find the guard. The look on his face made it look like he wanted to use one of his rustiest blades to kill.

“What’s this Christmas thing?” I attempted to divert his attention.

Of course I knew what Christmas was, but what had gotten me curious was why they were celebrating it in this world.

“Oh, you’ve never heard of it? I can’t tell you when it started or where it came from as no one is too sure, but it’s a day where people who are friends or family celebrate being together.” Allirea explained.

“Not to mention Claws comes and gives gifts!” Flint added.

Claws? Does he mean Claus like Santa Claus? While not exactly the reason why we Christmas is celebrated, I couldn’t help but find some comfort in their explanation of the holiday.

“Look, he even got you something. Here.” Flint showed me a wrapped up item.

“I can’t possibly accept this. I’m just a slave.” I responded, trying to politely decline.

“Nonsense. We all think of you as family.” Allirea answered my concerns before Flint could.

“Uhh, but I don’t have anything to give you.”

“That’s fine. We didn’t expect anything. After all, Claws brought this, not us.”

“Uhh, b-b-but, I…”

“Just shut up and take it.” Flint stepped in.

Seeing no way out of this, I accepted the kind gesture and began walking over to accept the present. I stumbled my way over, exhausted and in pain. I tried to hide all these feelings from the family which had been showing me such overwhelming kindness. The heat of their kindness almost felt as though it was melting right through me. God, I feel sick.

Ah, this feeling. A feeling I longed to feel for so long. This is the place I belong to. This overwhelming emotion had wriggled it’s way through the complex knots of my veins and heart, and had thoroughly made itself a nest inside the confines of my vessel. I didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening, not after the class I was stuck with. But I couldn’t stop what had already been set in motion.

The warmth spread throughout my whole body, heating it up entirely from the cold it had felt from outside. The lack of control I had caused a wide smile to bring itself across my face and tears to start streaming down my eyes. The sight had even started to shock the family due to how unusual it was.

“Are you okay…..Hibiki?” Cordelia asked, worried and slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah, I’m great.” I responded, wiping the tears from my eyes, and giving an even wider smile to her.

After I had said that, Flint and Allirea gave a look to each other and then returned a gentle look to me. It seemed as though they realized that my tears weren’t caused out of pain or discomfort. Instead, they noticed it was out of a happiness they had not seen from me before.

“Come take your gift, Hibiki.” Allirea motioned for me to come with a smile and had slight tears of her own.

“Right!” I responded, making sure not to leave their feelings unanswered.

I grabbed the gift from Flint's hot hands. It was as if I was taking something from the sun itself. I gently pulled apart the paper that had surrounded my gift, making sure not to rip it as it could be used later on. The paper was probably expensive. As I unraveled the object surrounded in paper, its soft fur was revealed to me.

The softness of the item had felt as though it would have cost a fortune to purchase and needed extensive work to create. The craftsmen would have to be not only well versed in creation of blankets, but also in artistry. The sheer skill of the creation further contributed to its soft appearance.

Taking the blanket and wrapping it around myself, I could feel an immense heat build in me. My skin, which was already warmed from this feeling, had only heated up even more than it had just moments ago. This definitely isn’t good. I have to be sick.

Suddenly, a memory flashed to me. The view of a familiar blank ceiling caused a great nostalgia to start building in me. I couldn’t move my hands or even get up. The heat I was feeling was unbearable and the sweating only served to make me feel hot and sticky. I couldn’t feel any hunger at all. A familiar woman came into view, standing above me with a tray. She gently sat next to me, not making a sound.

“It’s time to eat.” The familiar voice told me.

“I’m not hungry.” I autonomously responded.

“You have to eat to regain your strength. Let me help you up, I know you can do it.” She encouraged me.

The woman began helping me sit up. The sudden position change had caused my eyesight to start spinning around. Before I could fall back down, she tightened her grip and increased the strength she was holding me up with.

“Phew. That was almost bad.” She spoke, letting out a sigh of relief.

“T-thank you.” I once again spoke without thinking.

“Don’t focus on thanking me right now. You can do that once you’re all better.”

“O-okay.”

“Open wide.” She brought the hot spoon of porridge to me, blowing on it so as not to scald my mouth.

“Ahh.” I opened my mouth.

Chewing on it a little before swallowing it down, this warmth felt far kinder than the unbearable heat I had just been feeling.

“Is it good?” She questioned.

“Is it good?” The voice of Flint came to me, bringing me back to my senses.

This isn’t good at all! I have to be sick. To have this kind of treatment and this kind of care, I know I wouldn’t be having it unless I was sick.

“Yeah, it’s amazing.” I responded to Flint’s question.

“Ah, good. It looked like you were spacing out there for a second.”

“Yeah, I think I was.”

“Let me try!” Cordelia had interrupted.

“Okay.” I reply gently, wrapping the extra length of the blanket around her.

We both melted in the joyous heat. Cordelia had been cold from playing in all that snow, but now it felt as though she had never even gone outside.

“Are you both warm?” Allirea asked.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeesssss.” We both answered relaxedly.

The sight caused Allirea to let out a laugh, which only further caused Flint to laugh. Allirea stepped away from where we were to tend to the kitchen. I hadn’t realized it until now, but the scent of her cooking had travelled through the whole room and filled it with a great smell. It was as if I was getting ready to eat a gourmet course and the chef was only teasing us with the smell.

“I hope you’re all prepared to eat.” She talked aloud, making sure everyone could hear.

“GRR!” My stomach couldn’t help but growl loudly in response.

This caused everyone to begin laughing hard. The laughing had caused me to wrap my face with the blanket out of embarrassment. However, underneath the blanket I too was laughing at what had just happened.

“I am!” I gave Allirea a proper response.

She stepped out with a large, hot plate at the response. On the plate was a mid-sized creature which lacked feet, hands, or hooves. Its legs tapered off without feet, leaving only bone at the ends. Its arms were pointed at the tips and bent in three separate joints. There was a cavity directly in the middle of the beast that revealed its ribcage. Its chest was large and its skin was a golden brown. This was something I could only recognize to be chicken. It couldn’t be anything but. For it not to be chicken would cause me great discomfort at the difference of naming.

“MEAT!” Coredelia cried aloud at the rare sight and quickly sat at the table.

“What is that?” I asked Flint.

“Oh you’ve never tried wings before? Well you’re in for a treat.” He replied.

“Yeah but the wings of what bird?” I further pressed, hoping to have my thoughts confirmed.

“What do you mean? This bird’s just called wings. Actually, now that I think about it, I guess it is weird to call this bird wings. We still call wings ‘wings’ after all.”

“I-I-I see.” The answer had thoroughly disappointed me.

“Hurry and take a seat.”

“R-right!” I responded, still stunned from the shocking revelation.

Seating myself quickly, Allirea had already placed a piece of the meat on a plate and handed it to me. The crisp exterior. The white meat inside. The shape. How could this not be chicken?

I waited until Allirea had handed out a piece to everyone. She seated herself and carved out a piece of the “wings” for herself. We all prepared to start eating, the joy on everyone's faces as they were about to try a rare delicacy was tangible. That’s right, this is the first time I’ve seen meat in this world. I guess it’s most likely a little expensive. Allirea had allowed everyone to start eating, and Cordelia and Flint instantly stuffed the piece of wings into their mouth.

Taking a bite of the wings, I confirmed it with myself. This tastes exactly like chicken. Well, I guess they say everything tastes like chicken, but this was no imposter. Why was it named wings? The complexity of this unmistakable piece of chicken being referred to as wings had started to cause me to get a headache. Finishing up the piece, I felt as though I had eaten a full feast. After trying meat for the first time in so long, it filled every inch of my stomach, not leaving room for anything else.

I got up from my chair and collected everyone's plate as they had also started finishing up eating. The motion of getting up caused my vision to start blurring and spinning a little. I brought the plates over to the sink where I cleaned them thoroughly, making sure no germs could touch the plate.

Coming back into the main room, my eyesight was starting to get worse and worse, almost being unable to see anything but colours. My breaths were also getting faster and faster in pace. It was getting harder and harder to control my breathing. My body was also starting to feel numb all over.

“Hey are you okay?” Cordelia had asked me again.

As I went to respond to her caring question, I found myself falling to the ground, my legs crumbling under the strain. As I hit the ground, my vision started to become more and more black. My ears were also starting to deafen, unable to properly take in anymore sound from around me. The last thing I could hear were the concerned cries from Cordelia, Flint, and Allirea. I guess I really am sick.