Vines and Flowers

Akira fell down into Ayano’s arms.

“Hey there Rin-san, how’s it going?” Ayano asked nonchalantly.

“Ayano! You’re okay!”

She smiled, “Glad to see you too.”

Tears began welling up in my eyes. “Yeah…really glad.”

Though it was actually pretty recent, it felt like it had been a long while since I’d seen Ayano look healthy. 

Like it was a long time since I wasn’t worrying that she was dead or dying. 

Seeing her with a genuine smile felt nice.

I gestured towards Akira, “Sh-she’s okay right?”

“She’s just sleepy. Saving lives takes a lot out of you, but you probably already know that.” She patted Akira’s head. “You can check if you want.”

“That’s good,” I breathed a sigh of relief.

Wait a minute.

“Ayano? Or, uh Fujiwara-san,” I corrected myself.

“You can call me Ayano if you want.”

“Well, uh, weren’t we just in a fight?”

“Oh, we still are.”

“What?”

For a second her eyes glowed purple. “I’ve been covering things, mostly. Look over there.” She shifted her head over to the side.

The landscape had changed. It was a tangle of black vines? I think. Along with bits of purple scattered around. I squinted.

“Oh! Right, you still don’t have your glasses. I’ll bring one of them over so you can get a closer look.”

As she extended her hand, a black vine covered in purple flowers and thorns lifted itself up to meet us. I looked back at the scenery again. That’s a lot.

“It’s not as strong as either of them,” she said.

“You mean Evi and the monster, right?”

“Correct. Each vine isn’t strong enough to hold them for long. Your swords were much stronger, for example. But I can make a lot of them, and they’re pretty fast. Also, I think the thorns are poisonous? So you might want to be careful around that.”

I backed off a little bit.

“If they’re poisonous, are you sure it’s okay to use against Evi?”

“I’ve been careful about keeping the ones with thorns away from her. Honestly, I’ve just been tying her up over and over again. I was able to separate us for a while but they’re both going to get here eventually.”

“Wow.”

“AOE spells are rather nice.”

“AOE?”

“Area-of-effect.”

I scanned her up and down. Particularly the side of her torso.

“So… no glass in you anymore?”

She exhaled, “Yeah magic’s pretty great when it’s on your side, isn’t it?”

We both looked at Akira.

“You heard her right, Rin-san? Back when we were on our last legs... Before she figured out the healing?” 

I nodded.

“She said that she takes so much. But she really doesn’t give herself enough credit. Even before this... She’s given me a lot,” Ayano spoke wistfully.

“Yeah. She’s pretty great,” I agreed. “Y’know, we should probably tell her that when she wakes up.”

She chuckled, “Yeah.”

“Should we like, put her on a patch of grass or flowers or something? So she gets more energy?”

“Rin-san, this is fine.”

“Ah.”

She paused. “Hey... Thanks for not leaving me behind.”

“Of course we wouldn’t do that.”

“I know, I know. I just. I felt guilty. For slowing you both down…”

“You were hurt. We’re friends. It’s fine.”

“… But I also felt guilty that you’d go out of your way to help me when before I never helped you.”

“I mean, we’ve been over that already. It’s a fresh start. You’re good.”

“I know… Thanks. Almost dying makes you reevaluate some things, that’s all. I just wanted to get that out there. I don’t want to be a bystander anymore.”

"Sounds good."

Her voice hardened, “Get ready.”

“They’re here?”

“Almost.”