Scarlet

18. Union

Mr Watanabe waited for several hours for Gouenji to wake up but when he showed no such signs, with a heavy heart he finally understood that he wasn't going to wake up ever again.

He began thinking of what to do next. He also wondered if he should find out about Kira too and bring her back. He assumed they would have wanted that.

He was just wondering all of it when he thought he heard a faint voice.

"Ki...ra. "

He turned around with too much speed to check up on Gouenji.

Gouenji slowly opened his eyes and as soon as he realised he wasn't dead he was confused and so was Mr Watanabe. This was nothing short of a miracle.

"You're awake, sir! This is incredible!" Mr Watanabe couldn't help but exclaim.

"That means, " Gouenji could barely muster the energy to speak, he was extremely weakened," Kira is out of danger now. " His lips curled up in a smile ever so slightly as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

...

He remained in this weakened state for days, even consuming blood did not help him. He knew this was because Kira was recovering after momentarily dying. That's what had caused him to go through all of it too.

He had no option but to stay lying there, worrying about her, wondering what happened to her. His heart was restless, he just wanted to hold her close and make sure she was okay.

He wondered if he should have pressed further for her to not leave. He had been gloomy ever since she had announced her journey. He had been apprehensive the entire time and now his fears had come true.

A fortnight passed, and then one day he received a letter from her. He would have liked to send one himself but she was likely, hopefully, at a hospital of whose address he had no way of guessing.

Mr Watanabe handed him the envelope and left. Gouenji stared at it with great anxiety. His breath was shaking as he opened the envelope with fumbling hands. He didn't know what he would get to read about her condition. The only bottom line was that she was alive, but whether she was in a good state was still unknown. He took a deep breath and began reading.

The letter briefed him of what had happened. The carriage she had been in had toppled over and she had come under it. She wasn't the only one to get injured but one of the few most seriously injured ones. She told him that she was trying to leave as soon as possible for her and that she should be able to see him in a few weeks.

It was a waiting game from there. At this point, he cursed himself a lot for not being able to go out and get to her. A long journey was entirely too risky not to mention he was now unable to barely walk inside the house. So once again, he eagerly waited with bated breath for her to return in his arms.

As Kira gradually got better, he did too. He regained his energy and sometimes he spent time in the library. Kira had recommended many books to him that were there but he hadn't tried them. He spent time reading those books so he could talk about them to her when she returned. But above all, he was just somehow killing time, desperately waiting.

One day, finally, about a month since the fateful day, there was a knock on the door and he rushed towards it, tossing aside the book in his hand and toppling over his chair. As soon as he opened the door, Kira hugged him with force and he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She said in a distressed voice.

"Tell me you're okay." He said, an overwhelming relief washing over him.

She then broke apart just enough to look at him, "I'm fine, are you?"

"Are you sure?" He was worried to see the bandage wrapped around her head.

"I'm fine. " She reiterated with a smile this time.

"If you're fine then I'm also fine." He answered.

She blushed and looked away.

"No, I mean it." He clarified, "Don't you remember what I told you? Our lives are intertwined together. If your life gets in danger mine does too. "

Kira gasped as she remembered, staring at him with wide eyes.

"So it really happened?" She held his face looking at him with concern.

He quietly nodded in response and then added, "I don't know what exactly happened to me but I lost consciousness, for a good while as Mr Watanabe informed me."

After this initial conversation, they stopped discussing it further. Kira settled down on the sofa as Mr Watanabe brought tea for her. When she had arrived, she had a wilted and sickly look on her face but being at what she could now call her home, her face regained its glow rapidly. She occasionally glanced at Gouenji between sips of her tea as he did too. They were both immensely relieved and happy to be able to gather again in each other's presence.

After dinner, their routine resumed in the form of Kira sitting next to him on the bed as the moonlight illuminated the room. They stayed in silence for a while just feeling the other one next to them letting the comfort of the company ease their minds. After a good while, Kira spoke,

"When I was stuck under that carriage and my eyes were closing I thought I saw you, right next to me. " She told him, "You said my name. I extended my hand to reach out to you but I couldn't touch you. That's when I thought the injury was making me hallucinate or that this was my last vision."

"I saw you too," He answered, " When I fell to the ground I could see you lying next to me. I saw you reaching out to me but I don't remember anything afterwards." He told her the truth plainly.

" I never thought this could happen!" Kira was agitated to hear his account, " You kept warning me about this and I paid no heed to it. "

He opened his mouth to console her but she continued,

"When I was lying there thinking I was dying I wasn't even sad to lose my own life, I was sad to lose you. The fact that I'd never see you again, never hear you again, never feel your lips on mine again. " She came closer and ran her thumbs along his lips.

"They told me I did momentarily die but it was a miracle that I could be revived. They couldn't even understand how it happened. It happens but it's quite rare. " She continued,

"But I don't want to take any more risks," Her voice darkened and lowered, " I can't bear this anymore, " She looked into his eyes with conviction, a look he had definitely seen before on one special night,

"I'm ready. Turn me now and let's stay with each other for eternity. " 

A/N: Only 2 more chapters to go. Are you surprised by Kira's changed behaviour?