Swords & Saniwa

Glass

~Otegine~
御手杵

Requested by DANE-sempai

---------------------------------------------------------

"Aruji, you have five reports due by next week. We have three planned sorties and two expeditions for today. I've already assigned them for duties, for your information."

A sneeze was made before she could answer him, blowing her nose into a tissue paper. Hasebe then hurriedly took a jacket from the wardrobe and draped it over her shoulders before turning on the heater.

"Be careful not to catch a cold, Aruji. I shall leave then."

Leaning on the chair, she then sighed at the amount of workload she had to finish in a matter of days, along with her thesis due in a month's time. Composing herself, she then wore her glasses and started working.

~~

"Thank you for the hard work, Aruji."

The sage was buried deep in her work and didn't even realise that the yari was was standing right infront of her.

"O-Oh... It's you, Otegine. Hurry and go rest. It's late."

"Same goes to Aruji. Your eyes! They're swollen." He said while pointing at his own eyes, causing her to massage the bridge of her nose and rubbing her eyes.

"Just a bit more and I'll go to sleep. Thank you for the concern, Otegine."

Leaving her room as quietly as he could, he left for his room. He was worried that her body couldn't take it and collapse as a result of overworking. All those thick reports were done in a span of three days, and he knew she was working on her thesis. Everyday he came to see her, the completed work kept piling up. To make matters even worse, she only had dinner and some light food for the entire day, which he thought it was too less for her intake. What happened to her?

On the other hand, the female then loosened the grip on her pen and let it fall onto the paper full of anatomical drawings. A university student majoring in veterinarian medicine, the degree was very important to her. It could even get her a prestigious scholarship, as per told by her strict parents.

But the thought of leaving the citadel made her heart ache. The times she had with them had already became a previous memory to her.

"Don't even bother to come back if you don't graduate with an excellent GPA." Her mother told her, closing the door as the latter threw her luggage on her and turning to leave afterwards.

It would be a lie if she said she didn't feel hurt at all. It did; the pain biting deep in her heart like a heartless monster.

~~

"Good morning, Aruji. For today, we'll send the teams out for expeditions instead of sorties. You'll submit the reports by today. Are you aware of that?"

"Yes..." She replied after doing the daily smithing and coughed for quite a while before looking at Hasebe. A layer of cold sweat had already formed on her forehead. She realised that her world was spinning around. She then placed her hand on the wall, trying to support herself. Her head had never felt so heavy.

"Hey Hasebe... Can I....-" Before she could finish her sentence, her body went limp and collapsed forward, alarming the sword as he caught her and knelt down on the ground with the unconscious sage, calling and shaking her body repeatedly.

~~

As Otegine watched over her, a glum expression was held on his face. Nothing would have happened if he stopped her from overworking herself. The simple thought of not being able to do anything to help her caused him to clench his fist, crumbling his jacket.

"Ngh... It's you, Otegine."

"Just lie down and rest. You've got a high fever." He said while pushing her down on her shoulders before feeling for the temperature on her forehead. Glad that it has reduced a little, the sage then spoke.

"I might be leaving here, soon. I can't cope with my studies." She said while smiling, soon turning into small sobs.

Those sounds hurt him. 

"It's okay, Aruji. Don't worry about us. Yagen's making the medicine now." He said with a gentle voice while squeezing her hand to give her support.

Leaving her room, he then went to find the secretary. Grabbing his collar, he then gave him a warning.

"Make sure all of this doesn't happen again. If it does, I'll make sure you turn to a skewer."

"I deeply apologise for not looking after her well-being." He said while swallowing his throat. He had never seen him in such a way.

The day came when she told him that she wouldn't be leaving, and it did make him excited and glad.

Just those little times together always made his heart thump.