blue butterfly (IZANA WISTARIA ◎ akagami no shirayukihime)

11; The Savior

Another short chapter, but that's because I just want to get to what's happening next.

I'm excited for what's going to start happening next chapter.

•••

"Izana...?" Umi mumbled under her breath, shocked to see him here. "How'd you get here?"

"Ein led me here," he explained as the man under his foot squirmed, then hit the guy in the back of the head, knocking him out. Ein barked from further away, announcing his presence.

Umi nodded. "He actually let you?"

"Surprisingly, yes. It somehow didn't take me much to make him help me sniff you out," he explained.

"I see. It wasn't even that difficult to escape that guy—he's utterly stupid, if you ask me..."

He chuckled before looking up at her. "Can you get down?"

"Yeah, I think." She looked around. "Yeah." It wasn't that bad a drop, a few feet—maybe more than just a few. So, she jumped—it was the first time she had ever jumped off of something this high, though. Fear was clear on her face as she dropped and her body shifted mid-air—that just made it extremely difficult for her to actually land on her feet.

Just as she was about to touch ground, arms circulated under her knees and upon her lower back. Her eyes closed among the sudden contact. They opened and Izana was there, looking at her. She breathed out. "I thought I was gonna die."

He sighed deeply and looked into her eyes. "You should've told me that you couldn't get down," he said.

"I thought I could," she said sheepishly.

Once Izana noticed that she was still in his arms, a feeling washed over him. That warm feeling from a few chapters ago—I mean days. That satisfying crushing of the chest feeling. Then, he realized it wasn't his chest; it was his heart.

"Izana?" Umi waved her hand in front of his eyes. "You there?"

He left his train of thought and nodded, setting her down. He walked over to the man who captured her and began to carry him on his shoulder without a word given. He was too wrapped up in this heart pain. Am I sick?

"Izana," Umi called to him, well, not particularly called, rather, said in a semi-normal loud tone. "Are you okay?"

He turned and smiled at her. "Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry, Umi."

She paused and stopped in her tracks. That's not a real smile, she thought as she watched him make his way back to the castle. "Tch." She clicked her teeth and clenched her fists. I'm not letting my friend become a drama king, she nodded.

She ran towards him and quickly stopped in front of him. She took her hands and grabbed his cheeks, bring his face closer to her's. "What's wrong, Izana?" She said in a low tone.

He was shocked by her actions, having no idea what to do.

"Izana Wistaria, I know you are not alright. You're my first friend and I'm not letting you get away with fake smiles and lies about being okay."

His eyes widened and his mouth became agape. First friend?
He calmed his demeanor and relaxed his face before giving a smile. "You're a weird girl, Umi," he chuckled.

She detached herself from touching his face. "W-What do you mean by 'weird'?"

"You were all calm one moment, then the next moment you're angry."

"O-oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I blew up like that. I'm so embarrassed!" She held her face in her hands and turned away, flustered.

He patted her head with his free hand, since he carried the man in his other. "It's all okay—you're opening up, at least." A friend, huh? I'm beginning to think that I should take back what I said to that red-haired girl Zen is all obsessed about, he thought. For a noble and a commoner to be friends.

He would take that back eventually, sooner or later.
He knew he would just by seeing her smile so brightly up at him.

•••

Aw, now isn't that cute.

You don't know how fricking hard it is for me to get his personality correct.