The Cursed Iris

Sprout 6: The Start of Our Journey

Three days passed, and Katsumi and the dragon slayer still haven't woken up. Usagi watched over them, while Ayame was outside playing with Sakura, "So, Katsu I have a question. You probably won't hear it, but why won't you let me fight beside you? My healing magic is good too, so why? Why?" Usagi asked in a somber tone

She began to cry, and she remembered Katsumi's fight against Yushiro. She was the reason why he killed Yushiro, she was the reason why everything happened to him that day.

The dragon slayer groaned, "Would you please shut up?" she said irritated.

Usagi wiped the tears from her eyes, "You shouldn't talk to me like that, I'm the princess," she choked.

"I literally could care less, now tell me where the two dragons are?" she asked. Then she tried to sit up but winced in pain.

"You shouldn't move, you know?" Atsuko said standing at the entrance.

The dragon slayer looked at her with disdain, "You monster. I'm going to make sure to kill you now that he's down," she stated as she stood up. Once she did, she ended up collapsing instantly.

"You really think you're in any condition to kill anyone?" Atsuko teased.

"Be quiet!" she snapped.

Ayame walked in, and the dragon slayer scoffed, "What's wrong?" Ayame asked concerned. She began to walk towards the dragon slayer, but her expression made Ayame her hesitant. "I won't hurt you, I just wanted to change your bandages."

"Don't touch me, monster!" the dragon slayer yelled as she pushed Ayame away.

Ayame fell and she stared at the dragon slayer. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not what you think I am, but that probably won't change your mind. You seem to hate dragons, but you have a slight sadness in your eyes."

The dragon slayer stared at Ayame like she resented her. She didn't know why she had this feeling. Was it because of her appearance, was it because her personality, or was it because of her prejudice against dragons? She just knew she couldn't stand Ayame, and she doesn't think she'd ever like her.

"Damn you really are one hateful woman. You need to learn how to lighten up," Katsumi said as he woke up.

Ayame looked at him relieved, "You're awake," she stated with a gleam in her eyes.

"Yeah, her constant yelling woke me up, but anyways I'm not letting you hurt them. Thought we already established this?"

"We didn't establish anything, damn it!" the dragon slayer replied.

"Okay, I understand that, but why do you have such a vendetta against dragons? Especially if they haven't done anything to you?" Katsumi asked.

"It's because of them my life has gone to hell. I lost everything because of fate with these bastards, so I vowed to kill all the dragons I come across. My master would've wanted this."

He stared at her, "I'm positive that's not what they wanted," Katsumi replied bluntly.

"What the hell do you know?!"

"Because I had a master of my own, and he wanted the best for me. Even if he had to..." Katsumi's voice trailed off.

Ayame wondered why he did that, but she'd rather ask him later.

"You're doing all this, but you don't even know your reason," Katsumi continued. "because just saying it's fate isn't good enough. That's something I learned, blaming fate isn't something you can always do."

"Why should I listen to a murderer? You ended multiple people's fate prematurely, so I refuse to listen to you Katsumi Nakajima," the dragon slayer replied to him.