Time had passed since Asahi had arrived at the Palace and, mostly thanks to Kougyoku's constant insistence and argues with the black Magi, she was now spending more time out of the Judar's room.
Thanks to this, she was more familiar with her surroundings and she was able to move around the Palace on her own, even though there were still many parts of it that she didn't know and that Judar had taken the time to make perfectly clear that he would never allow her to visit.
The girl had also met the other Kou princes, Kouen, Koumei and Kouha. The older ones had pretty much ignored her, while Kouha seemed to be more interested in her. He wanted her to join him and his three assistants on a trip, but Judar had interfered, and the interaction with the price was pretty much null after that.
It has taken Princess Kougyoku several days to convince Judar to let Koubun Ka try and use the magic from his Household Vessel to heal Asahi's eyes. Sadly, it hadn't worked and the annoying magi hasn't missed any chance of reminding everyone about it.
That afternoon the princess advisor had the bad luck of running into the black haired Magi. He was just entering the dining room at the same time Judar and Asahi were walking out of it.
"Good afternoon High Prist, I how are you today?" Koubun asked, bowing deeply, standing by the door.
"Move! You useless bug" Judar barked, walking pass the scared man.
"Good afternoon... Sorry..." Asahi muttered, as she walked pass Kouba Ka, following Judar.
"I knew that idiot couldn't do it!" Judar growled, as he was marching down the hallway, with Asahi following him as fast as she could.
"It's not his fault." Asahi responded, still following him.
"No. It's that old hag's fault. She insisted on it even when I told her it wouldn't work" The Magi kept nagging and suddenly stopped walking, causing the girl to almost crash against him. Luckily she was able to avoid it.
"But..." She tried to argue back.
"That Household Vessel isn't strong enough to heal something that has been damaged for so long" He explained, looking away and seemly talking more to himself than to her.
"I don't even know why YOU are the one that's so upset! You're not the one who's still blind, you know?"Asahi pointed out, letting out a sigh full of sadness, hanging her head low. Judar glanced back at her, his expression serious, but something similar to guilt appearing in his eyes for a moment.
"This is why, right here" Judar leaned closer, poking her on the forehead "I didn't want you to get all your hopes up for nothing." He raised his hands into the air, rolling his eyes "That's also why I didn't want to tell you I was trying to find a way to get your sight back on the first place" He added, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, there was nothing wrong in giving it a try... And you didn't have to be so rude with them! You even took it on Hakuryuu who had nothing to do with it!" The girl argued, rubbing her hand over her forehead, where he had poked her.
"He didn't even have a reason to be there in the first place. He was just sticking his nose where he shouldn't"
"He was just curious! Kougyoku and him care for me and they are the only thing close to a friend I have ever had, you don't need to be so rude with them" She whined.
That statement caught Judal off guard. He glared back at her, narrowing his red eyes.
"Care for you? Your only friends?" He hissed, his voice tense and full of resentment.
Asahi was at a loss of words, realizing her mistake. In the short time she had known the Magi, she had discovered that Judar was like a spoiled child, who had to always get his way. He believed he was superior to others, and that he was always right. Also, he seemed to be the jealous and possessive type, especially with his possession, and Asahi suspected that he considered her as one of them.
"I-I mean, it's not like that, you also..." She stuttered, trying to pronounce an apology.
"Tch, that's fine. Go be with your friends then, you ungrateful rat. I'm out of here" He announced, clearly annoyed and hurt.
Asahi flinched at his now common insult. "Wait, Judar, I didn't mean..." she shook her head and reached out, trying to grab him, but failing at it. "Judar? Please come back! Let me explain!" She yelled, but he was already gone.
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After Judar had left, Asahi had ran into Princess Kougyoku, while wandering the hallways, feeling miserable. The princess took the sobbing girl to her own bedroom, and was trying to calm her after she had told her what had happened.
"Asahi, don't cry! I'm sure he'll understand. Judar is just... Him" The princess whispered, while stroking the other girl's hair. Asahi and she were sitting on the edge of the princess bed, and the silver blond girl had her face hidden in her hands.
"I shouldn't have said that to him" Asahi murmured between sobs, in a cracked voice.
Kougyoku suddenly remembered a conversation she had had with Hakuryuu.
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Both of them were watching from a corner of the room, while Koubun Ka was trying to use his household vessel to heal Asahi's eyes.
"Don't you think is odd that he hasn't tried it himself?" Hakuryuu whispered in her ear, surprising her.
"What do you mean?" She frowned, looking at him.
"Judar is a Magi. He has powerful magic, yet, he hasn't tried to heal her himself. Don't you think that's odd?"
Kougyoku glanced back at Judar. He was leaning against the opposite wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. Judging by the way he looked one could think he was as bored as usual, but his gaze was intensely fixed on the girl, not taking his eyes off of her.
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After being lost in that memory for a moment, the princess glanced back to the girl next to her.
"Asahi, You know I'm more than happy to know that you consider me and Hakuryuu as your friends, but, if you don't mind me asking... Why don't you consider Judar one as well?" She asked, looking at the other girl, who seemed surprised by the question.
"I do.. It's just, I don't know... I got confused at that moment..." Asahi answered hesitantly, lifting her head and lessening her sobs. She was now blushing and nervously playing with the sleeve of her dress.
Kougyoku smiled, watching her for a moment before talking again. There was a question she had in mind, and she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
"It can be that maybe you think of him as more than a friend?" The princess suggested, studying her reaction.
"No! Well, maybe, I mean... I don't know him that much or for too long. And he's always calling me names and being rude... I don't know." Asahi shrugged, and the blush on her cheek grew darker.
"I understand" Kougyoku smiled, taking the other girl's hand. Asahi cleaned the remaining tears from her face with the back of her free hand and smiled at the princess.
"But even if he acts like that, this time he has the right to be mad. He's doing all this and helping me and I just go and hurt his feelings"
"Well, let me tell you, it's quite a surprise to learn he has feelings! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful to him too. Even when he's always rude to me too. Judar and my bother En were the only ones who saw me as more than just a "lowborn"princess. Judar took me to the dungeon and helped me get Vinea. I care about him and think of him as a friend. But, I had never seen him caring for someone without gaining something in return." The princess explained, surprising the other young woman.
"You think he cares for me?"
"Sure! It's pretty obvious by now, don't you think?" Kougyoku replied, smiling.
"I guess..." The blond girl muttered, lost in her thoughts for a moment "I'm going to go look for him, ok?" She announced, standing up from the bed.
"You want me to come with you? You can still get lost here" Kougyoku offered, also standing up.
"It's ok, don't worry. I'm just going to look for him at the peach tree or in his room" Asahi explained, heading towards the door.
"Are you still sharing a room with him?" The princess asked before she could leave. Asahi slowly turned around to face her.
"Yes... But I have my own bed now" She explained, with a weak smile on her face. She knew that that wasn't good enough for the princess. Once Kougyoku had learned that Asahi was staying not only in the same room, but also in the same bed as Judar, she had almost fainted. After that, there was a discussion between the princess and the Magi that had ended as soon as it had started because Judar, much for Kougyoku's distress, had simply ignored her.
"I have to talk to him about that again! It's not right for a girl to be sharing a room like that! And we have plenty of free room here!" The pink haired princess complained, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know... But please don't say anything yet. He's quite mad already as it is" The blind girl begged, joining her hands in front of her in the form of a prayer.
"Ok. But only because you asked" The princess agreed, sticking her nose up.
"Thank you, princess. I'll see you later" Asahi bowed, smiling.
"I told you, just Kougyoku is fine! And good luck!" The princess cheered, also smiling.
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It was already night time when Asahi left the princess's chambers and went out searching for the Magi. She reached the garden with the peach tree quickly and without any trouble. The way to that tree was one of the more familiar routes for her by now. Every time she wanted to find Judar that was the first places she would go looking for him.
"Judar?" She called, standing under the tree. She was feeling his rukh coming from somewhere close. "I know you are there. Can you please come down?" Asahi insisted, patiently waiting.
A moment later a black figure jumped down, landing next to her.
"What do you want?" The Magi growled, staring at her.
Asahi sensed his presence close enough and, without saying a word, she calmly took a step forward, wrapping her arms around his body and resting her head against his chest.
The sudden display of affection left Judar nearly speechless.
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A/N: Sorry for this bad chapter and sorry for no updating recently. I know I have said it before, but, I'm seriously blocked with ALL my Magi stories, so I'm probably going to be doing only slow updates from now on.