Chapter 21

After we both cleaned the dishes, we were already exhausted more than anything.

We entered our room as he brought out both of our futons. I took the other corner as we set them on the tatami mat.

The sky had stopped roaring but the rain hadn't stopped yet. We could still hear the heavy rain drops slapping the roof and the leaves of the trees.

"The temperature has lowered. We might need our rags." I said to Arashi and then I noticed we had only one rag, which laid on my futon.

"Yes. Unfortunately I had only one spare rag so I had to give the spare one and my rag to Hina and her grandfather." Arashi said as he sat on the futon.

But if he didn't take one, he would catch a cold!

"The—then what will you use?" I asked.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Should I just wear some extra layers of clothes?"

The corners of my lips curled up as fits of giggle left out from my mouth and he looked at me with a questioning gaze. As he realized how childish it was and he joined me.

"We can use this rag then?" I asked although I felt a bit shy. But we had shared the bed in the inn that time so it wouldn't be much different and besides, we were husband and wife.

The thought made my heart pumping all the blood to my cheeks as he nodded and stood up.

He joined our futon as we both laid down. I spread the rag on us as we both got comfortable in its warmth.

The dripping noise was still coming and at a distance, the sky rumbled. It felt so peaceful and I sneezed.

He turned to his side where he could see me and asked, "Are you cold?"

I shook my head as my nose got a bit itchy and I sneezed again. This time, I sat up as a series of sneezes came.

His hand went to my hair and he noted, "You hair still hasn't dried. You should have stayed at home." Then his voice became hard and as if he was scolding me, he said, "This is why I told you not to stay in the water while washing those clothes."

In my defense, I sneezed again. I realized he was right. I shouldn't have to wash the other clothes.

A sneeze came to my ear but this time, it wasn't me.

My head moved to Arashi as he started to sneeze.

"This is why you should have asked for help and not stay in the rain." I said as he gave me a look.

Then we both laughed. We knew we caught a cold.

We laid down as the temperature lowered more and he wrapped his hands around me in a cocoon as I leaned toward his chest. With each rise and down of his chest, my heart matched him and the warmth in the rag spread over us. My nose didn't feel itchy anymore. I felt so comfortable in his hands that I had never felt before.

His hands were strong and large, something I saw in warriors but his hands were gentle, careful and warm. I didn't know when my hands slowly moved on their own as they wrapped him as well.

Compared to him, I couldn't hold him fully, instead I caught a hold of his yukata. My breaths felt warm and my eyes burnt. I felt thirsty but I didn't want to go now. I didn't want to miss his warmth. My hands tightened around him as Arashi moved.

One of his hands came near my face and touched my cheeks. Then he touched my forehead with the back of his palm. "You caught a fever."

"Oh." I said but didn't let go of his cocoon as I felt sluggish to move.

"Let me get you some medicine," he said. He was about to sit but I wrapped him tightly with myself. Now my body was pressing against him as I buried my face as well. He stiffened.

"Don't go." I mumbled against his chest.

"But you need the medicine otherwise it could go worse." He said.

"Please?"

He contemplated for a moment as a sigh left from his mouth. "Okay."

And he again wrapped his hands around me but this time, his grip was tight and protective. I didn't want to go out of his protective hands and I didn't want to miss his warmth.

I used to feel lonely whenever I had a fever. I wanted to curl into someone and feel comfortable but I used to be always alone. Alone with a dry throat, burning eyes and a deadly headache.

Nobody would care nor would they come to give me a glass of water. They would let me be like that for several days unless I was strong enough to do the household work.

Even if my body was weak, I had to go get my meals in sickness otherwise I would have to starve.

I couldn't even cry because I knew no one was there to see me. No one was there to hear my pleas.

But here when Arashi caught me in his arms I couldn't help my tears falling down. I couldn't help but succumb to the care he was giving me. He never treated me poorly since the day we met. He treated me equally which was never a theory in my life.

He scolded me for my sake, not for anyone else's.

A sniffle came out from my mouth before I could suppress it and Arashi moved. He must have heard it as I buried my face more into his chest.

His hand reached my chin as he tilted my face up. I could see the worry in his eyes for me. Our faces were so near that my heart was about to come out from my mouth. He tried to read my face as I averted my eyes in embarrassment.

"What happened?" He asked, his brows knitting on his forehead. "Are you feeling really bad? Is your head aching? Should I go get the medicine now?"

I shook as more tears poured out and he sat up, panicking while taking me along with him. He wrapped his hand on my waist and pulled me toward him. And now, I was sitting on his lap.

"Why are you crying, Bianka?" He asked with concern.

"I— nobody had ever taken care of me when I was sick, getting that kind of treatment from you—" I sniffed and buried my face in him again. Somehow his scent made me relaxed. I couldn't even finish my words as I was embarrassed for crying on such a silly cause.

But it meant a lot to me and I had no words to decipher how I felt. For years of abandonment and ignorance, someone was finally watching out for me.

"Then let me take care of you, Bianka." He said as I looked up at his eyes.

His dark eyes were even more beautiful in the darkness of the room but it held a promise. A promise to take care of me always. A promise to protect me always. A promise to share these burdens that had been on my chest for years.

He gave me a reassuring smile as both of his hands reached my face and wiped away my tears. "You don't have to feel lonely anymore. When you feel low just tell me. I will be with you."

I must have done some good deeds in my past life that I found a man like Arashi and I was so glad that I met him. I was thankful to my father as well. If he didn't rush my wedding, I would never have found him.

I smiled now that my tears had stopped as he wrapped me in an embrace.