Bonds

“Yusato?” Tears pricked at the corner of Azumi’s eyes.

“Don’t say anything. Just grab my hand!”

Azumi hesitantly reached out, but her fingers stopped just short of reaching Yusato’s. “I can’t…” Her chin trembled as her bangs hid her eyes. “Not from you.”

“Azumi.” Yusato’s lips curled and he shook his head. He leaned forward and grabbed onto her hand. A purple glow emanated from their hands. Yusato made a light gasp at that. But he didn’t have time to think about it right now. Right now his top priority was getting Azumi to safety.

“You’re coming.” He pulled Azumi up onto the wood and waved over to Saria. Immediately, the wood flew back over to the other side of the water.

The wood carefully set Yusato and Azumi down onto the ice. “Come on!” Azalea shouted. “There’s only a few seconds left!” Azalea ran through the door, the others following shortly behind.

Once they were on the other side, they arrived at the six floor. Another city full of a lot of the same things as Beveous City. Though this one didn’t seem quite as big as Beveous City did. There were quite a few less people running around too.

“Who is this?” Azalea asked, giving Azumi a scrutinizing look.

“This is Azumi. You saw her for a bit before we entered the tower,” Yusato said. “She was drowning so I went back to help her.”

“Hmm.” Azalea rubbed her chin and circled around her. “Azumi, huh?” Resting a hand on her chin, Azalea asked, “How did you end up like that? Did you just fall in?”

Azumi shook her head. “No, I was pushed in.”

“Pushed in?” Yusato raised his eyebrows. “By Tomoki?”

Azumi didn’t respond, keeping her eyes glued to the floor. That was all the confirmation Yusato needed.

“Why did he do that?”

With hitching breaths, Azumi slouched down. “I don’t know. He just pushed me off right in the middle of it all.” She peeked at Yusato before quickly averting her glance away. “But if I had to guess…it might have been because of you.”

“Because of me?”

Azumi nodded. “During dinner the other day, we were talking about you. I tired to defend you, but he got really mad about it.” Azumi’s fingers clenched and unclenched as she tapped them against her legs.

Yusato bit his lower lip. Heat rose at the back of his head. “You defended me?”

Raising her hands, Azumi brought her fists to her chest. “I never wanted to leave you! I tried to tell him how wrong it was and that we should go back for you.”

“You never wanted to leave me?” Yusato’s voice cracked.

The hustle and bustle of the people in the city seemed louder than ever in his ears. He watched Azumi’s teary eyes. Knots formed in his stomach.

“Yeah…” Azumi held her hands against her chest. And then slowly she reached her arm out.

Yusato stepped back. It was painfully hot as the breeze blew his hair and clothes around. He shook his head. “But you did.”

Azumi jerked back and her arm fell to her side. She shielded her body and angled herself away from Yusato. “I didn’t…mean to.”

“Azumi.” Yusato’s voice grew firm as her shoulders grew stiff. “I was on the verge of death. And you looked me in the eyes…and ran away.”

She held her arm, running her fingers up and down her skin. “I’m sorry, Yusato. I miss you.”

“Yeah,” he uttered in a quiet voice. “I missed you too.”

“I guess you don’t want me to come along with you then.”

His heart sunk into his chest as Azumi asked him that. “What do you think?”

“Well, you saved me, so I just thought…”

“I saved you because I couldn’t turn away. It doesn’t change anything.” Yusato glared at her through the corners of his eyes. “I still can’t trust you any more than Tomoki.”

He walked past Azumi, not sparing her another glance. She shivered and her shoulders tensed while he passed her.

Mira’s eyes fluttered open. “So, that was one of your childhood friends, right, Yusato?”

“Go back to sleep, Mira.”

***

Mira slept peacefully in the inn’s bed while Azumi wiped some sweat from her forehead. She wring out a tissue into a bucket next to her and groaned. “She’s still so exhausted. You definitely put up a fight this time, Little Piggy.”

“Don’t call me Little Piggy,” Mira said through panted breaths.

“You’re up, huh?” Azumi set the tissue down onto the bedside table and rested her hands in her laps. “Took you long enough.”

Mira puffed out her cheeks. “You’re such a jerk…”

Azalea chuckled and leaned back in her chair. “You make it too easy.” She looked out the window and saw some people dueling with swords. Most likely other adventuring groups training or something. This was the sixth floor after all, so it would only get more difficult from here on out.

“Honestly though, Mira. That minotaur was tough. If I was more like you, I’d probably be just as exhausted.” Azumi ran her fingers across her pendant and then let it fall from her hand.

“More like me?” Mira pursed her lips. “I feel like that’s supposed to be another insult.”

“It isn’t,” Azalea said, meeting Mira’s eyes with sincerity.

The bed creaked as Mira sat up. “By the way, why are you the one taking care of me?”

“It just ended up that way.” Azalea rubbed the back of her neck, deciding to look out the window again. Then, she let out a light sigh. “No, that’s not true. I offered.”

Mira raised an eyebrow at Azalea. “You offered. Are you sick or something?”

She patted her knees, contemplating if she should tell Mira. It was the right thing to do, but it was hard, especially in Azalea’s case. She was never good at being open with her emotions. However, as she thought back to her conversation with Mira on the moonlit night and the fight with the minotaur, she decided it was for the best.

They couldn’t keep hiding things from each other. One day, she would tell them everything. But she would have to work up to that. After all, she was sworn to secrecy due to her affiliation with the Black Moon. That was something else she would have to figure out. But at least this…would be a start.

“I heard about it,” Azalea said in a quiet tone. “About your past.”

Mira’s shoulders jumped. She squeezed the sheets and her lips quivered. “How much did you hear?”

“All of it. From start to finish. I was about to come into the room to tell you that Saria had recovered, but then I listened in on your conversation since it was about the spellbook.” She lifted her head and faced Mira directly. “I’m sorry, Mira. I had no idea. Just how important that was to you.”

“It’s okay, Azalea.” Mira hugged her knees as she brought them up onto the bed. “I was keeping it hidden after all.”

“Oh, by the way. I also saw you and Yusato about to kiss.”

Mira’s face went bright pink at that declaration. “WHAT?!”

“I did say from start to finish.”

Mira thew a pillow at Azalea while she started to laugh. “You are a jerk!”

Azalea’s laughter stopped abruptly as she shot a glance towards the door. She bit her lips and felt a pounding in her chest.

“Mira! Get down!”

Azalea leaped over to the bed, pushing Mira down, just as a sharp bullet of magic energy pierced through the bed’s headboard. “Why?” Azalea growled at the door. “What are you doing here?” In front of the door stood a man in a black cloak, the hood obscuring his face. “Second in Command, Travos?”