The Tragedies of Life {A Genshin Impact OC Story}

Chapter 28: The Man in the Desert

Kinoko staggered down the road in Gandharva Ville. She hadn't realized it was already noon, so all the forest rangers were off having lunch breaks. "Gah!" She whimpered slightly as a sharp pain coursed through her abdomen. The numbness of the plant Wanderer had given her was wearing off.

Though her entire body was numb, she still felt the physical limitations as she walked, and it hurt the most to cry because her stomach shouldn't move at all to help it heal. She looked down at the blue piece of clothing on her stomach and lifted it slightly, feeling even worse when she saw the dark red blood. Her mind suddenly felt dizzy. She was going to pass out if she didn't stop the bleeding.

"Kinoko?" Tighnari's ears flickered in the distance when he heard her scream of pain. He was talking to another ranger, jotting things down in a notepad, but when he saw her, he came running over. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Kinoko could only shake her head, feeling sick everywhere. "Nari..." She could only imagine what the forest watcher was thinking. That she was too risky again. That there had been another Fatui attack.  "IT HURTS! OW!" She screamed, the numbness starting to wear off more quickly this time. She could barely hold herself up.

"Hey, hey, hey, look at me." Tighnari murmured, supporting her by holding her arms up. "Let's get to my house, and we'll help you so it doesn't hurt anymore. Hang in with me." As strong as he was, Tighnari's eyes pricked with tears. "C'mon, just a little longer." He said as he led her closer to his house.

Kinoko didn't know how long she could bear it. It felt like a chunk of her was missing. Her head was spinning and dizzy, and it was all just so painful, she couldn't begin to comprehend what happened. She bit her tongue to stop her scream as another wave of pain washed over her. She hadn't really noticed the trip, but instantly felt relieved once she felt the familiar covers of Tighnari's bed, where many patients once laid in to feel better.

Out of everyone, Kinoko knew she didn't want anyone else but Tighnari to help her feel better and heal.

"Kin, I think I'm going to put you to sleep. I don't know what happened to your stomach, but you're bleeding and it'll only make things worse if you saw it." Tighnari said gently, hurriedly bringing over a bowl of medicine. He had to tap her lips with the edge of the bowl to make her snap out of her trance of pain and drink the medicine. She swallowed using the rest of her strength to do so.

As she felt the world slipping away from her, Tighnari sat next to her, holding her hand. "It'll be okay. When you wake up, there'll be no more blood, no more pain, and you can feel relief for a little while."

Kinoko heard all that, but she couldn't let herself believe it. What about the bleeding of my heart? I won't feel relief from that! She wanted to scream. But before she could attempt to say anything else. Everything blacked out again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Numb.

That's the only feeling Kinoko felt when she woke up. She looked past the leaf doors to see it was nighttime. Seeing Tighnari sit right beside her with dark circles under his eyes must have meant it was late into the night. "Nari?" At the moment, without pain to keep her occupied, she was worried for her "brother".

"You're awake. It's been hard not knowing what happened." Tighnari sat up, taking another bowl from the counter. "But first, take this. I know that the numbing medicine feels weird, but it's better than the pain."

Kinoko took the bowl carefully from him, drinking the medicine and almost gagging at it. After the aftertaste went away, her face softened. "Tighnari, I'm so sorry. For the past 4 years, I have been a constant medical problem for you, always getting hurt, always something wrong with me."