“What happened?” I asked Ryuu as Nino walked back to the base, probably more worried about Matsu than himself. My throat hurt like no other, and the slash on my back was still a little sore, but I pushed the pain away. I was not what mattered right now.
“Can we talk about this later, like when we’re not half dead?” Ryuu muttered. He looked so worn out; he probably just wanted to sleep. He touched my throat where Aeirin had choked me. “What about you?”
Instinctively, my hand went to my throat, which felt a little raw. My hand grazed Ryuu's, and I quickly retracted my hand. “I’m just fine. There’s just red marks they’ll go away in a few hours.” I dismissed them.
He dropped his hands. “I know you want to ask me why I kissed you.” He sighed looking up at the ceiling. “The truth is I just wanted to, we’ve been such close friends and I don’t know…” he shrugged, seemingly unable to find the words he wanted. “But you didn’t resist when I did it and that’s what surprised me.”
Crap! So, he had noticed! I had hoped he had been too caught up in the moment to notice. “You’re delusional, I should get you back to the home base as well,” I laughed lightly, hoping he wouldn't hear the denial in my voice or notice how nervous I had become. I just wanted the subject dropped.
I put Ryuu's right arm over my shoulder, and I helped support him as we made our way back to base. He noticed me wince when we were halfway there. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head, "My back is a little sore is all," I told him, shaking it off. I didn't want to tell him about the near death experience; I didn't want him to worry. He had enough on his plate, as we all did. I forced myself to ignore the pain as we entered the base.
I helped Ryuu over by the wall where he could sit up against it to support himself. I knelt at his side. "Tell me where everything hurts so I can help make it better," I told him gently.
As Ryuu pointed out what hurt and where, I made quick work. I looked around at everyone. They all seemed a little worn out, wanting to get a good rest. We all could, so much had happened in such a short amount of time. I was running low on energy as well. It had been awhile since I had slept, but there wasn't any time. There was too much to do.
But, I could sit here next to Ryuu for awhile, which is exactly what I did.
Continue?
