Water. I just wanted water.

I could feel my conscious slowly drifting in as the ringing in my ears began sharper, and my mind cleared. My throat was dry bone; it hurt to swallow. God, I have been fainting way too much lately. 

"Damn it!" 

I felt myself flinch from the angry voice.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Justin."

I immediately recognized Tristan's voice.

"I don't even care about that stupid guard..."

Justin.

"...she'll be fine," I felt Tristan hover over me.

"It's been a week," Justin said angrily.

A week?! I've been out that long? I tried to move my body or even my fingers, but it hurt so much to even swallow. A slam besides me surprised me.

"Justin calm down," I heard Tristan warn. "Sakura will be fine. Catherine said she should be waking up today."

I didn't hear Justin respond or make any sound. Tristan sighed deeply.

"Justin get some sleep," Tristan said. "You haven't—"

"I'm fine," Justin curtly replied back. "You go and rest."

"Justin stop being so stubborn," Tristan snapped. "Your eyes are bloodshot, and you literally look like a starved zombie—"

"Okay guys let's not argue over Miss right now," I heard Yuri's voice interrupt. "She's still resting."

I shifted my head a little to the side and opened my eyes slowly. Justin and Tristan were glaring at each other with Yuri in the middle of the two. My mouth trembled open to speak, but I immediately fell into a fit of coughs. Immediately, the three leaned over me, relief washing over their faces.

"Miss," Yuri said, grabbing my hand. "Do you need anything?"

"Sakura," Tristan waved a hand in front of my face. "How are you feeling?"

Justin didn't say anything, but his angry creases in the middle of his eyebrows had disappeared, and a gentle calmness had replaced his stress. 

The three of them had dark rings circled around their eyes, and it seemed to me that they had gotten skinnier. 

"F-fighting," I choked. "Fighting is no good."

"Say that after you fainted because of fighting someone I'd already told you not to," Justin sighed and reached his hand over to gently brush across my forehead. My head started to slightly spin.

"Get some sleep. Rest up. You guys look—"I coughed, my throat still feeling like I'd swallowed a whole bucket of sand. 

"Take care of yourself first," Justin snapped. "You're the one who wouldn't just let me protect you, and stay safe."

Everyone turned their eyes to stare at him in surprise at his sudden change of attitude, but he didn't look like he regretted what he had just said. Instead, he stared at me for a few more seconds before sweeping his cloak behind him and exiting the room. We stared at the door in silence and shock. Slowly, Tristan and Yuri turned back to me.

"Sorry," Tristan rubbed his eyes. "Justin...he's a little grumpy."

I lifted an eyebrow. "You don't say."

"You do know that his parents...?" Tristan trailed off.

"Justin's an o-orphan right?" I cleared my throat. I didn't expect myself to choke up. "Did his parents pass or...?"

Tristan nodded. "So he's always been a little on the protective side when it comes to the people he cares about. And he doesn't care about a lot of people."

"That's why when you went unconscious and wouldn't wake up," Yuri shivered. "He was super unhappy."

"Justin's almost been with you twenty-four seven since you lost conscious," Tristan told me.

"Sorry guys," I sighed, pulling my hair behind my ear as I propped myself up. "I don't know why I'm fainting so often."

"Well I'm assuming your demon is almost at its waking up point," Tristan said slowly. "So your body is still adjusting and everything..."

He glanced at me and then back at the ground. Then he did it again. And again. I frowned. "What?"

"What?"

"What do you want to ask me?"

Tristan hesitated. "You...was the shattering of the blade done by you? I saw the shards on the ground and asked Catherine."

I sighed deeply. I had forgotten about that. Almost right after Guren's sword shattered into pieces, I felt that strange feeling in my chest. But were the two related? "I don't know. I really don't know."

Tristan nodded. "It's alright. Just rest up for now."

"What about Guren? What happened after I fainted?" I asked.

The two glanced at each other like they were silently fighting who would say what. Tristan sighed. "Apparently Guren used his soldiers to get away. After Justin fought off the soldiers, Guren was already gone. Justin couldn't chase after Guren because he was too worried about you. Apparently, you looked like a wreck back there."

I winced as I remembered the painful feeling in my chest. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the door banged opened to reveal a blond girl holding a tray of medicine and bandages. She stomped in, obviously in a bad mood, and opened her mouth, ready to yell at Tristan and Yuri when she saw me. She dropped the tray she was holding and covered her mouth. Before I could blink, she rushed at me with her arms out.

Luckily, Tristan held her back. "Catherine, be more careful. She just woke up."

"Oh right, right," Catherine nodded.

Tristan let her go and went to help Yuri pick up the fallen tray. Catherine hurried up to me and gripped my arm. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

I examined her. Just like the other three boys, she looked just as horrible. Pale, tired, her once electrifying blue eyes were bloodshot from no sleep.

"Did any of you guys get sleep?" I asked in horror. "Or eat?"

"Take a look at yourself," Catherine said, slapping a cold rag onto my forehead. "I was so worried because your throat refused to swallow anything. You weren't waking up I thought..."

She gulped and rubbed her eyes furiously. Watching her, I felt my heart crumple. Reaching out my hand, I touched Catherine's arm.

"Catherine," I gently said. "I want you to get some sleep for me. Please?"

"Recover first and then I'll get some sleep," she said, grabbing a bowl of medicine. "I still have to turn this into a paste and put it on your wounds—"

I snatched the bowl out of Catherine's hands. "I'll do it. You'll probably drop this bowl from exhaustion. Just please. Sleep."

She looked at my pleading expression and twisted her hands together. "Fine. Just an hour."

Tristan and Catherine turned to leave, but Yuri stayed behind for a moment and reached out to hug me. I blinked, surprised, but hugged him back.

"Miss," Yuri said as he pulled away. "Thank you. Thank you for protecting me. But...please next time if you're going to get hurt, please don't try and protect me."

I tilted my head and let out a half smile. "Alright, Yuri. I'll try."

Ruffling his hair, I waved goodbye as Catherine exited out the room with Tristan and Yuri. I sighed in relief as the door behind them closed. As I settled down against the pillow, I caught a whiff of the medicine Catherine had brought in besides me. 

Before I could stop it, tears began to pearl in the corner of my eyes as the nostalgic smell of the medicine brought me back. It smelled just like home. Shaking my head, I quickly wiped my tears away and began to bash up the leaves which quickly turned into paste.

Scooping a spoonful of it, I brought it to my lips and licked it. I almost threw up from the bitter taste. I looked besides me and realized there was a bowl of liquid that looked similar to what Catherine mixed together when she made me drink medicine.

Quickly, I mixed them together and frowned at the murky color of the liquid. Holding my breath, I took a spoonful and shoved it into my mouth, resisting the urge to gag everything out. As I wiped my mouth against my hand, I'd just realized that my arm was completely covered in bandages. Slipping my hand underneath my newly changed clothes, I felt bandages surrounding parts of my body.

"So that's why I felt so constricted," I muttered to myself.

I wanted to see my legs too so I swung the blanket over my legs and examined them. There were slight scratches but nothing else was that bad. My eyes traveled across the room and it looked like I was in the same house as I was before. On the counter next to me was my dagger. A churning feeling started to whirl up in my stomach. 

I blinked quickly and shook my head as if it could get rid of my memories. I remembered the warm splatter of blood that landed on my face and instinctively reached up to touch my cheek. I began to slide my hand up and down, trying to wipe off the imaginary blood of my cheeks.

My breaths suddenly became ragged as I felt myself being to rake my hands harder against my cheeks. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Don't think about it. Just stop thinking about it...

Soon, I began to feel a stinging on my face and realized I was scratching myself with nails.  Slowly, I brought my hands in front of my eyes and watched them shake slightly. The blood on my nails flashed back memories, and suddenly, my brain wouldn't stop thinking about what had happened. 

My hands were tainted. Tainted. Tainted with someone else's blood—

Suddenly, there was a knocking at my door. My head shot up in surprise, and I quickly placed my hands on my knees to stop them from shaking. 

"C-come in," I cleared my throat.

The door creaked open and in stepped Curt's friend, Jake. Tilting my head in confusion, I watched him edge towards me slowly and awkwardly. I wasn't sure how I felt about him being in here right now after what had happened, but I also did recall Jake not having a clue of what was happening.

We stared at each other for a few moments before Jake suddenly bowed his head to me. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what Curt had in mind! Really! I apologize on his behalf."

I stayed quiet for a moment and just stared at the top of Jake's head before peeling my eyes to the walls. "Where is Curt right now?"

"We put him in an isolated house," Jake responded, lifting his head but not meeting my eyes.

"When are you planning on letting him out?" I asked.

"We are," Jake gulped. "Leaving that decision to you. I figured that Curt had hurt both the village and you guys so I want the decision to be left to you."

I snapped my eyes back at him, and he flinched. "What? Our choice? Isn't he part of your village? Why are you leaving it up to us?"

"Well," Jake stuttered. "I don't know exactly what to do..."

"What if I decide to exile Curt from the village?" I asked. "Do you think you can deal with the burden?"

Jake blinked. "Well...ummm...I—"

"What about the other people in the village?" I asked.

"Most of the boys here are young," Jake said. "They don't really get the gravity of the situation. They just thought some bad people came in to hurt us."

"How about you then?" I asked. "Do you want him gone?"

Jake stayed quiet and didn't answer my question. I sighed and stared at my reflection in my dagger. Of course Jake wouldn't want him gone. He barely seemed capable of the thought of leading this village himself. And to let someone that you have known so long go...

"How is Curt doing?" I eyed Jake.

Jake bit his lip. " He's...he isn't his usual self."

I thought for a moment before deciding. "I want to see him now."

Jake was caught off guard. "Now? But—"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no...I mean shouldn't you rest first? You just woke up."

"I'm fine," I waved my hand dismissively.

As soon as I stood on my feet, the world beneath me started to spin fast, and my legs turned into sticks. I heard a shout of surprise, and a hand grab my back. There was a slight thud against my head as I reflexively closed my eyes.

When it was still, I slowly opened my eyes to see Jake's face centimeters away from mines. I blinked a few times before realizing the situation. Jake must've tried to grab me when I started to fall, but instead I pulled him down with me, and we ended up with Jake's body on top of mines with his hand around my head. 

Of course, everyone decided to come in at that moment; both me and Jake were both too shocked from the timing they came in to move from our awkward position. Catherine's mouth was wide open in shock as she stared at us. Tristan and Yuri both looked taken aback. I didn't dare myself to look at Justin's expression.

"W-w-what are you doing, you indecent man?!!" Catherine screeched, pointing at Jake.

"H-hold up!" Jake tried to get up. "It's all just a misundersta—eh?"

As Jake tried to get up, his hands slipped against my cloak, and he fell forward. I closed my eyes reflexively again and felt something soft press against my forehead. It went dead silent again as I slowly opened my eyes. Jake stared at me wide-eyed and then suddenly jumped back. His face turned tomato-red.

"No! No! No!" Jake shook his head. "That was an accident! I'm sorry!"

I touched the lingering feeling on my forehead then tilted my head. "Did you kiss me on the forehead?"

"An accident!" Jake gasped.

I still didn't get what the big fuss was. Jake already made it clear that it was just an accident. I got up and shook my head, ignoring how the atmosphere in the room just escalated a hundred times colder. "Don't worry about. Let's go, Jake."

"Go where?" Justin spoke up, narrowing his eyes at the both of us.

I felt Jake shrink besides me under Justin's sharp stare and sighed. "We're going to meet Curt."

"Not a chance," Catherine said, pointing at me. "You just recovered, and the last thing you should be doing is getting up."

"Didn't I tell you to get some rest?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "I don't think it's been an hour already."

"And I don't think it's time for you to get up, Sakura," Catherine responded.

"Catherine," I said. "I've already wasted us a week here. I can't—"

"Why are there scratches on your cheek, Miss?" Yuri leaned in, squinting at me.

I quickly covered up my cheeks and tried coming up with an excuse on the top of my head. "I scratched myself accidentally—"

"Why are you in such a rush?" Justin folded his arms, resting his back besides the door. "You're not even planning on using this village to help us. Why are are we wasting time here?"

I dropped my hands. Everyone fell quiet as their eyes fell upon me and Justin. Jake, confused by what was going on, broke the silence. "Wait what? Use this village for what?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to," I said, ignoring Jake. "But that doesn't mean we can just pack up our bags and leave."

Justin arched an eyebrow. I ignored the feeling of being sucked in by his drilling eyes and continued, "We caused this mess. So we're going to clean it up. Afterwards, we'll go on our way."

"Every second we waste," Justin said. "Every second, that bastard at the kingdom is closer to making his army. Curt was the one who brought this on his own village. He was naive and stupid in believing—"

"And you would've done that too," I snapped. "If you were stuck here with a whole village of boys, barely surviving. Yes, what Curt did was wrong, but in the end, he just did it out of the goodness in his heart."

Justin pushed his bangs up. "Would you be so forgiving towards Curt if Guren killed one of us, then?"

My breath hitched in my throat. By now, everyone was so tense and quiet, the sound of my racing heart was loud enough to be heard in the room. Before anything could get any worse, Tristan stepped in. "Stop it. Both of you. Justin, back off. Sakura, if you want to talk to Curt, talk to him. No one's stopping you."

I felt myself snap out of my shock as anger replaced my emotions. I was so done with this conversation with him. "I wouldn't have let anyone stop me anyways," I snapped as I brushed past Justin, still leaning against the doorway without a second glance at him.

Seconds later, I heard footsteps run after me and didn't look back. Jake appeared in my line of vision and timidly pointed towards the opposite direction. "Errr, it's over here..."

I nodded curtly and followed after him. I could tell Jake was conflicted and confused of what just happened, but I really didn't have it in me right now to explain anything.

I hated arguing with Justin, yet I always seemed to end up quarreling on some matter with him. I just couldn't believe he brought up one of us dying. He was always there for me when I needed him, whether or not I called for him...yet all I could do back at him was argue. But sometimes he could just be so frustrating—

I felt myself bump against something and stopped. A small boy who looked around the age of eight was sprawled on the ground; I quickly bent down and reached out towards the boy. I would've almost trampled over him if he hadn't let out a small squeak.

"Are you alright?" I gasped.

"Ouch..." he rubbed his back. "Yeah—Ohhhh you're that hero Brother Jake was talking about! The savior right? Who chased away the bad guys and saved Brother Curt!"

I tilted my head to a side. Jake, who realized I had stopped, responded, "Everyone in the village knows you guys now because of what happened."

"Brother Jake said that we should stay away from Brother Curt because he is recovering," the boy pouted. "But I miss Brother Curt so much! He played and smiled a lot with me. I liked him a lot."

Resisting the urge to look at Jake's reaction, I asked gently, "Are you the only one who believes Brother Curt is a good guy?"

The boy shook his head. "We all miss him! I hope Brother Curt recovers faster already!"

My eyes widened in surprise as the boy started to sniffle. Slowly, a smile stretched across my face. I reached out and squeezed the boy's cheeks lightly. He looked at me with an expression of wonder.

"He'll be fine," I smiled. "I promise. Brother Curt will play with you again soon."

"Pinky promise?" he sniffled, holding out his pinky. "You have to cut off your pinky if you break your promise."

"I promise," I stifled a giggle. "What's your name?"

"Kyle," he answered proudly.

I grinned. "Alright, Kyle. I'm going to go check up on Brother Curt right now."

"Can I come?" Kyle's eyes sparkled.

Jake bent down and patted Kyle's head. "Brother Curt is very sick at the moment. We don't want to overwhelm him."

Kyle frowned. I stood up and squeezed Kyle's hand. "Don't worry, Kyle. You'll see him soon enough. Go along and play with your friends, now."

Kyle nodded and treaded off with one last look behind his shoulder. I kept my smile on until he disappeared behind one of the houses. As soon as he was gone, I turned towards Jake. "Let's go."

Jake blinked at me as if he were stunned at my sudden change before quickly turning back around and leading the way. Eventually, we stopped at a very lonely house, isolated from the rest of the houses on the outside of radius around the village. I tried to look into the house, but every window was shielded by curtains.

Jake stepped on the doorstep and placed his shaking hand on the doorknob. With one last, worried glance at me, he turned the doorknob and stepped into the dark room.

~~~~~

Ughhhh another fight between the two :((( 

Sorry for the fat chapter guys :( Drop your thoughts in the comment section below!!! Leave a vote if you enjoyed it teehee <33 Thank you guys again for your tremendous support.