For Me, Try A Little Harder

Mizuki wakes up to a splitting headache. The top of her head throbs and so does the rest of her body, like an infinite weight is crushing her. Her eyes flutter open, but only barely, enough for her to recognise that she's passed out in the comfort of her room. She attempts to lift herself, only to feel a stinging pain in her core. She succumbs to it, falling again.

"Good morning, Ms. Hirashi," a voice croaks beside her. She turns her head weakly, attempting to shift her rock-heavy arms around into a more comfortable position. She's lucky she's in leather armour, else she'd be crushed even with nothing atop her. Mizuki nods in acknowledgement at the blonde next to her, his hair gelled back in a formal manner.

Eyelashes hide his gentle features as he organises a couple things in his bag, then looking up. "I don't think we've met before," he smiles, one enough to melt Mizuki's heart. A faint blush dusts her cheeks in surprise, managing a small but pained grin.

"I'm Feodor, the Ocantis' medic and also part of the Wanderer's Union," he introduces, sliding his chair forward, resting a palm against Mizuki's forehead. It's warm, he notes, then sitting back with his arms folded. "Since this is a first, I won't be taking any charges but of course, you must be wary of where you pass out in the future."

Mizuki listens obediently, mentally chiding herself for her foolishness. She should've run, or even put more effort into it. She could've done it, there's nothing she couldn't do if she only tried hard enough. "I know you're in a lot of stress because of the situation you're in but do make sure to take care of yourself. You'll only be able to walk in crutches for at least the next few days until the black magic wears off," he explains expertly.

Dejectedness weighs heavy on Mizuki's heart, her gaze falling on the wooden crutches leaned against the wall. 'I couldn't finish my last commission.'

"Also, someone is waiting for you outside," the doctor reaches a hand, hoping for Mizuki to take it so she can sit up. She accepts his help, requiring an awful amount of willpower to get herself up. She clutches onto her stomach, slowly and quite unsteadily, balancing herself before relying on the crutches to keep her up. In her hazy mind, she wonders who possibly could've come to see her - Ingrid? Mocha? Maybe the twins who've come to see her. She fears it's the blacksmith she promised ore to, at her door, demanding for his items.

Her eyelid twitching in dismay, she refuses to accept the only common factor in all her expectations is Hinata - that the red-haired dumbass is the only one she wants to see again.

"I'll be taking my leave," the doctor states in farewell. Mizuki hears shuffling on the ground next to her, her head snapping towards the noise. Hinata's head shoots up in surprise at the sound of Mizuki's voice, arms shifting from his knee caps to his sides. Mizuki winces as the world around her gradually darkens till it's only him and her, her and him and nothing else in the world. He jumps onto his feet, grappling onto Mizuki's shoulders.

"Hirashi," he states breathlessly, panic in his eyes.

"Yasui," Mizuki lowers her gaze to his feet. She realises it's the first time she has ever called him by his name. Hinata shifts her shoulders to face him, grabbing her cheeks roughly and forcing her gaze onto him.

"Where have you been for the past week?" Hinata questions. Mizuki can't read his expression, especially with the thousand emotions that he's carrying. He's either devoid of feelings or carries too many for her to know - Is it guilt? Is it agony? Is it affection?

Mizuki forces him away with a knock of her crutch. Her eyes are narrowed in suspicion and as hard as she tries to hide her feelings, the anticipation of seeing him bubbling up inside her is too much for her to hide it from herself.

"Is that any of your business after you shunned me?" Mizuki blinks.

"I'm sorry, that was the worst thing I could have done as a person," Hinata claps his hands against his knees and bows. "Please forgive me."

Mizuki cannot believe anything she's looking at. To her, it's nothing more than a dream. When she closes her eyes, all she's suddenly reminded of is the fateful incident where he hit her and she'd gotten hurt pretty bad in her back, not enough to immobilise her but surely bad enough, morally. Or is forgiveness right for the stone-cold, harsh-worded man?

Mizuki hates that she can't decide. She's decisive, by far the most realistic person she knows of and yet, with Yasui Hinata in front of her, she can't make a choice. "How do I forgive you? We've been nothing but enemies until this point. We still are."

Hinata doesn't lift his head, neither does he utter a single word.

"Be honest with me, why did you find me?" Mizuki is sure he asked Ingrid for her whereabouts and soon found her in this state. She's mortified that he did and he still gets to see her in such a pitiful state, all bandaged up like a mummy and reliant on crutches. "You don't have the right to see me like this. Leave me off with an insult and let me go."

'Don't', Mizuki adds in her head but the words have been said and it's far too late for her to retract her hostility. To her surprise, Hinata lowers himself onto his knees, his palms resting against his thighs.

"Please forgive me. I cannot force you to return with me but let me take care of you till you are better. I cannot leave you on your own," Hinata confesses in a shaky voice. It's more hesitation than fear and Mizuki can't hold it against him. Considering his nose-in-sky personality, she could guess apologising isn't something he's accustomed to.

"I'm doing fine, aren't I?" Mizuki jokes.

"You almost got yourself killed," Hinata looks up. Mizuki can't seem to take her eyes off him anymore, staring deep and in silence. She wishes she could run but she knows she mustn't. Hinata is the only one who can guide her, who has since her very first moment of being here.

Mizuki is reminded of her first encounter with Hinata, meeting him in his backyard in the middle of the pouring rain, having kicked him away to the side right after waking up. Her heart warms at the memory. Fixing the position of her crutches, she mentions softly, "I can't move around with these crutches on my own and I do need to move around."

"Can I take you home?" He smiles warmly, raising a hand. Mizuki turns her face away adamantly, heat rising to her cheeks. "Don't keep me waiting any longer."

So he doesn't. Upon standing, he places one hand at Mizuki's calf and another at her back, lifting her up into a bridal position. Mizuki flails her arms in confusion, crutches accidentally knocking against Hinata's cheek bones. "Is there no better way?" Mizuki blushes furiously, bellowing in his face. Out of fear of falling, she wraps her arms around his neck for support, hoping she won't fall. Hinata chuckles, then teleporting to his house with Mizuki in his arms.

"Ah, I forgot you could do that too," Mizuki realises, settling a little in his arms. "Shit, I think I dropped my crutches while teleporting."

"I'll get them back for you," Hinata assures, kicking the door open for himself. Mizuki admires him while he walks. There's something different in watching him like this, in his arm, so close up to his neck and face. It's something special to have a relationship with a man that isn't abusive, torturous.

Hinata treads up the stairs slowly to ensure Mizuki's comfort, finally laying her against his own bed. Mizuki turns to home with a smirk, "Thought you didn't want me laying on your bed, hm?"

Hinata folds his arms mockingly, imitating Mizuki's tone towards the end, "Do you want me to lift you back up to yours, hm?"

"No, thank you," Mizuki smiles innocently, keeping her silence. Hinata's smile falters, eventually morphing into an expression of seriousness. Mizuki's comfort ebbs away at this sight, wondering what he could be thinking about so deeply.

"How did you get so badly injured?"

'Ah…' Mizuki understands. Racking her memory, she briefly remembers her fight with a winged beast, though she's not sure how long it's been since the fight. The final hit was so bad, she only expected to be in a coma for months. She's lucky it's only been days. "I got into a fight with someone called Valkyrie."

"Valkyrie?" Hinata repeats incredulously. His eyebrows curved downwards in a stern manner, he scolds, "She is one of the strongest people you can possibly run into, especially at your level. How did this happen?!"

"Why? Have you fought her yourself?" Mizuki raises an eyebrow.

Hinata ignores, averting his gaze. "That's besides the point. You need to learn how to take care of yourself. What are you going to do if you keep getting hurt like this and eventually lose all your chances of revival?" With this statement, Mizuki can tell that he's hurt. Mizuki's hurt too, especially with the way his words belittle her.

"I'm not a child," she clarifies, voice a little colder, warning him that he's about to overstep a boundary he isn't meant to.

"I worry for you, Hirashi," Mizuki catches Hinata's ears redden, tucking strands of his hair behind it. "I struggle to show it all the time," he sighs, leaving the area so Mizuki can catch some rest on her own, which she deserves after an emotional rollercoaster of a morning. Muffling a groan, Mizuki is left with the rapid racing of her heart, his words echoing through her ears relentlessly.

Maybe it's because it's a first for her, to be cared for at all. Maybe it's because it's him.

[Hirashi Mizuki has succumbed to a deep slumber]

Mizuki doesn't like waking up anymore, the feeling of being dragged back to reality out of any other peaceful place she could've been roaming. She feels a little less stressed once she's up, muscles more relaxed - she can't tell if that's a good thing.

With a soft grimace, she sits up so she doesn't ruin her spine with all the lying down. She turns to a window, her conscience itching for an adventure. It's somewhere around dusk and Hinata has fallen asleep with his head against the sheets of the bed she's on, books scattered around.

'He was probably up studying again', Mizuki assumes.