The Beast Within

Chapter 4 : A Place to Belong

Asuna's POV

As a herbalist, I have been accustomed to waking up early in the morning to carry out my usual routine. There were always tons to do as I have to check my shelves inventory for any shortages of the medicinal herbs and then restock them. Restocking often took quite an amount of time as I have to pick them fresh from my herb garden. Some of the herbs require processes such as peeling, grinding or fermenting in order to be usable in medicine, making it extremely time-consuming.

However, today, I've felt extremely tired. My eyelids felt heavy, urging me to continue sleeping as I nuzzled my face against the warmth beside me. It was odd as despite the comforting warmth that was radiating from it, it felt nothing like my pillow. There was a slight hardness to it and a smooth unruffled surface. Definitely not a pillow. Despite that, I did not feel the urgent need to determine what that object was as the warmth was lulling me back to sleep. Just as my consciousness was about to drift away once more, a small sneeze accompanied by a sudden jolt on the object I snuggled against had my eyes bulged wide open in shock. Realizing what I was just nuzzling my face on turned out to be, I scrambled away from it in an instant. Another sneeze came and my eyes fell on the face of a sleeping boy beside me, his body completely bare.

Finally remembering the events that had transpired yesterday, I quickly sat up and broke away from the sleeping boy, silently apologizing to him while still feeling flustered by it. That's right, he turns back to normal at dawn. That thought had not occurred to me when I had decided to sleep right next to him. This had been the second time that I've woken up beside him like this and there was no way I could get used to this, but there was no helping it either. Lightly smacking my cheeks with both hands, I tried to calm myself.

Another small sneeze caught my attention and I look at the boy on the bed. As he lay on his side, still asleep, his face showed signs of discomfort. Judging from his shivering breaths, he was feeling the chills from the early morning without anything to shield his body. Looking down on his severely injured leg, I noticed the white sheet I had used to temporally protect his wounds had fallen off his body as he transformed back into a human. Since I wanted him to rest more, I decided to postpone bandaging his wounds until later when he woke up. Gently lifting his head, I placed my pillow under him to provide comfort and grabbed the sheets to tuck it around his bare body, keeping him warm. My palm tenderly rubbed his back to soothe him as I peered at his face.

It must have been my touches that had woken him up as his dazed half-lidded eyes were looking in my direction. "Kazuto-kun?" I called softly but he did not respond, seemingly in a state of reverie. Smiling to myself, I deduced that he was not completely conscious. I felt his forehead to check his temperature to find that his fever has lowered significantly. "It's alright, go back to sleep. I'll come to get you when breakfast is ready." I cooed at him, caressing his cheek as his eyelids came to a close. Without thinking, I lowered my face close to his and lightly placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Ah-!" I gasped silently, cupping my hands on my lips after realizing what I had done. Why did I do that? I wondered to myself while trying to keep the heat on my face at bay. However, when I laid my eyes on Kazuto-kun's face, the act of kissing his forehead didn't bother me much anymore. The corner of his lips had curved slightly upwards and a small bead of tear formed at the corner of his eye. He was smiling in his sleep, appearing somewhat relieved. I wondered if that small kiss had brought back fond memories for him. I thought to myself while brushing his soft hair. Perhaps those actions had reminded him of his mother. Seeing that, I reminded myself that I have to protect that smile at all costs, and give him the happiness he deserves.

With Kazuto-kun's current state, I ultimately decided to close the shop for a couple of days to give my full attention to helping him recuperate. Every month, I would close up the shop for a week in order to rest a few days and sometimes head out to the safer region of the forest to study wild herbs. As such, closing the shop for a week now would not be out of the ordinary at all. After what he had been through, what he needs in healing isn't only his physical wounds but also his years of accumulated emotional pain. I am now the only one he could rely on and there was no way I would abandon him after seeing how much he had suffered.