Because of me

Chapter 6 - Absence

"Kiki, any insight on Shirayuki?" Zen asked Kiki, who was currently looking out to these sea using a telescope.

"No, nothing." Kiki sighed heavily. "Zen, I hate to admit it but.... I think we should all off the search.

'It's been almost three weeks since I woke up and a whole month since Shirayuki went missing. Where could she be? We've checked the area where they found me and surrounding areas but still.... Nothing. Should we call off the search? No. We have to find her. I know we will.'

"No, we won't call off the search. Even if all we find are mere traces of her then that should be enough."

"Zen...."

"Mitsuhide, Kiki I think we should start searching nearby villages or towns in case she washed up on a beach or something. What's the closest town from our current location?"

Mitsuhide took out his map and began to read over it. "Let's see, there's one which is North-East of Clarinece, it's close to our current location but it may be hard to get back once we reach there. There's another one, it's a lot bigger and safer but it's hard to find just fish there so I doubt you'll find anything there. Oh, there's one North of Clarinece that's fairly small but all kinds of things wash up over there. If that ones a failure then if we travel a little to the West from there, then there's another village that's not very famous but also worth a look!"

"The last village seems interesting, how far is it from our current location and what's it called?" Zen questioned, intrigued.

"Let's see," Mitsuhide began to look over his map again, "it's called Lirashia and it's about two days away from here."

"Two days?!"

"It is kind of far but it's one of the closest, you probably haven't realized, but we've been at sea for five days now. We have voyaged quite a bit so it's no surprise that villages aren't very close at this point."

"I see, I was so absorbed in seeking for Shirayuki that I lost track of my surroundings. I apologize."

"It's okay, just try to be careful. So then, let's go to Lirashia?"

"No, we visit all of them. If we're not gonna try then it's not even worth looking. We'll go in order of the options you had mentioned." Mitsuhide sighed heavily.

"Don't break his resolve." Kiki said to Mitsuhide, smirking.

***

"It's amazing, I've never seen anyone recover from so many arrow wounds that quickly. You must take very good care of yourself." Yuki stared at Shirayuki in amazement.

"So now that I've healed up, I should probably rest a little more then we can move onto training."

"Actually, I thought we should start training tomorrow."

"I'd like to but since I've only just recovered, I fear harsh or sudden movements may be painful so I should probably start within a week's time. Although, if you want I can start teaching you more about herbalism, why let this precious time go to waste?"

"Really? You'd do that? Thank you! I'll start teaching you the basics of swordsmanship but nothing physical until you feel comfortable enough to use harsh or sudden movements."

"Okay!" Shirayuki clutched the stopwatch which she was wearing around her neck.

'I need to grow stronger, or else I can't face them. I have to, for Zen. I can't let his death be in vain, he died trying to protect me. If I weren't so weak, if I wasn't cursed with this red hair, then Zen would still be...' A tear rolled down Shirayuki's cheek.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Yuki asked Shirayuki, concerned.

Shirayuki realized she was crying and quickly wiped her tears away, "it's nothing, just lost in my thoughts."

"Its okay, you can tell me, seeing that you intend to stay with me you should speak your heart, I'm here." Yuki grabbed Shirayuki's shoulders and sat herself and Shirayuki on the bed. "Is this about Zen? It's okay, he's in a better place now."

"I know but... I miss him. He's gone because of me. I can't go back there, I can't face them again. Ever."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, it's not your fault."

"Thank you, Yuki. I feel better now." Shirayuki lied.

'I'm so weak, I need to grow stronger. I'd like to start training as soon as possible but I still need to heal.'

"Yuki, it'll take around two weeks to strengthen your healing abilities, normally it would take around two months but you already know most of it and you're only focusing on healing so you won't need to take much time to master it. How long will it take to teach me swordsmanship?"

"It'll take a while considering the fact that you're a beginner but you seem to be a fast learner so I'd say about a month to learn basic wielding skills but mastering it will take a lot longer."

"Okay then." Shirayuki released her grip on the stopwatch around her neck.

"By the way, I forgot to ask you. You seem to be infatuated with that broken stopwatch around your neck. What's the story behind it?" Shirayuki looked down at it.

"Zen gave it to me, the day he came to save me."

"I see, it must be precious then."

"It is..."

Author's note:
DONE!

I'M SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS POSTED LATER THAN USUAL I FAILED AHHHHH!

I have end of term exams coming up soon where I live so I apologize in advance if I may not be posting regularly, but I promise, whenever I have free time I will start working on chapters.

Also, I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit of a mess, I rushed it AND I had writer's block when I was writing it.

Sorry for the late update and thank you for reading! Until next time then, GOODBYE!