My Knight // Hananene ~Medieval AU~

Chapter 18:Feverish

  A black paper crane slipped out of Yashiro's pocket.It flew right out of the window, and flew back into the castle of a certain man's bedroom window.

  The red and black haired man, a son of a marquess, with cloudy grey eyes looked to his right as he woke up.He watched a green-haired woman raise her hand for the black crane to land on.

  "Hey, what are you doing here so early in the morning Saku-"The man muttered before being smacked with a book by the green-haired woman.

  "Shut that awful mouth of yours, Natsuhiko."The green-haired woman, Sakura, chided.

  The man, Natsuhiko, pouted.The black crane in Sakura's hand morphs into a kokujoudai.Sakura sighs.

  "At least the results are favourable."She muttered.

•Meanwhile•

  I snuck back into my room as the sun rose above the horizon, my heart pounding in my ears.Hanako-kun's kiss was still fresh in my mind, leaving me a blushing mess.How could he just leave after all of that?!That sneaky apparition!!

  I opened my door and closed it before sinking to the floor, leaning against the door as I wrapped my arms around my legs.

  Despite my exhaustion, unlike earlier, sleep seemed like it would be hard to come by.There was a knock on my door, and I heard a familiar voice.

  "My lady!!It's morning!"

  I immediately jumped up and pulled open the door.I wrapped Ina into a tight hug.

  "M-my lady?!"Ina cried.

  I held back tears.I was so relieved. Now that I thought about it, Yako did say everything will be back to normal by morning...

  "My Lady is something wrong?"Ina asked hurriedly, Inna concerned tone.

  "No, it's just that I realised that I did not know how much something meant to me until it was gone."I replied.

  "May I ask what thing, My lady?I can help you search for it."Ina added, "And you have caught a fever, you should sleep in and take care of yourself."

  I leaned back, shaking my head as I smiled.

  "Don't worry it's been resolved, Ina.I'm just so relieved."I replied, "I will sleep in today."

  Ina nodded, not questioning further. She served me breakfast as usual, and I engaged in useless but comforting chatter with Ina before she left.Being able to ask her things like 'how is the weather?' Or 'How are you?' every morning, was more comforting than I remember.

  After Ina left, I lay on my bed.The effects of the fever started setting in.I guess staying awake all night running, fighting and on an emotional roller coaster caused me to fall ill.

  I fell asleep, and woke up shortly later to find someone gently putting a wet cloth on my forehead.It felt so cold, I could feel cold sweat on my body.

  I heard them sigh as they muttered, "Ah, I really pushed you too much.Honestly, if I had known this would happen I would have just went to resolve it myself..."

  Dazed, I opened my eyes, trying to squint past the feverish haze before my eyes.I could barely make out a figure leaning above me.

  "Ina?"I muttered softly.

  The figure froze.Then, I could barely make out that they were smiling softly.

  "Sleep, don't think too much."The person said soothingly, gently closing my eyelids with their hand.

  Their voice, whoever it was, was calming.With my eyes closed, I could feel sleep coming quickly.However, right before I fell asleep, I felt a gentle kiss on my cheek.For a moment, it did not feel so cold anymore.

•

  It took me several days to recover, and get back my lost sleep.I inquired Ina if she was the one that put the wet cloth on my forehead. However, she told me she was equally perplexed as well to find the cloth on my forehead.However, I shrugged it off.

  "Hey Yashiro, something happened with that guy you mentioned, right?"Aoi asked.

  I was pulled back into reality.Ah, right I was having a tea party with Aoi.Although I still felt a bit feverish, I was much better than a few days ago.

  "W-What?!Of course not what made you think that?"I asked, nearly spitting out my tea.

  Aoi chuckled.

  "You denying it so adamantly only further confirms my suspicions, Nene."Aoi replied, "So, what happened?Did he confess to you?"

  "What?It's nothing like that!!"I cried, before I added quietly, "Well...he kissed me on the cheek."

  Aoi's eyes widened as she quickly gulped down her tea before she might spit it out.

"Oh my, I guess the guy you mentioned is rather updated on the trends.See, there is a current trend among young couples to 'date' before getting engaged."Aoi explained, "Since families have realised the disadvantages of traditional arranged marriages, they would introduce the potential couple to each other first and give them a period of time to see if they are suitable together.However, one can also another to date them."

  I gasped.

"So...you think he is planning
to do the prior?"I asked, cheeks burning.

  Aoi nodded fervently, her eyes sparkling.

  "Mhm!!Your man seems to be the type to do that!"Aoi said.

  My face turned even redder.

  "He's not 'my man'!!What are you talking about?!"I cried, covering my face as Aoi laughed.

  However, a realization hit me and I slumped.Aoi's laughter died down as she realised something was wrong.I peeked through my fingers.

  "Though...we can never be together anyways."I said softly.

  Aoi frowned.

  "Why not?It's okay if he's a different rank from you as long as you love-"Aoi said.

  "It's not like that-we just..."I muttered, before covering my face completely again and whispering, "It's more complicated than you think."

  Aoi decided to not pry any further, so she simply gently took my hands off my face.She wiped away the tears that were rolling off my cheeks.

  "Aw It's alright, you don't have to tell me, Nene."Aoi said, patting my shoulder, "Well if it's that serious then...weigh the cons and pros, and make your desicion carefully.Whatever decision you make, I'll stand by it!"

  "Thanks, Aoi, your an amazing friend..."I said, wiping away my tears.

  Why did I cry?I only just met Hanako-kun, didn't I?There's no way that I'm actually so pathetic like others say...that I would fall in love with an apparition so quickly, right?

  Then why did it feel so painful when I thought of that?

  Author's Notes:I just felt like writing this ;-; Cute interaction between Hanako and Yashiro but Yashiro's thoughts are just so sad.Im updating more these days :3