Light of the Dragon's Eye

Chapter Thirty-One

KASUMI'S POV

"Any sign of them, Ichiro?"

"None! They're still missing!"

I hold my head in my hands. When I woke up that morning, I went to call Kai for breakfast, but his room was empty. Ichiro went to check on the guys, and they were gone too.

"Wait! I see them!" Ichiro calls from downstairs near the entrance. "They're coming back!"

I jump up and run down the stairs, stumbling three times. I skid to a stop in front of the doorway, practically shoving Ichiro to the ground.

Kai stops his horse and dismounts, cradling a beaten figure in his arms.

Akira.

Spatters of blood decorate bandages tied around her calf and stomach, dirt smears on her sickeningly gray skin.

He carries her inside. "She needs medical attention."

"She needs a normal frickin' life!" I exclaim, smacking my forehead. "Geez, can't these celestial beings keep humans out of their petty quarrels?"

Makoto enters the door and stares at me. "Their 'petty quarrels' might end the world."

"So they're pubescent teenagers. What's your point?"

Kai chuckles slightly, and carries Akira into a nearby room and sets her on a cot. "She's fainted, I'm pretty sure. I think she needs stitches in her calf and stomach."

"Great." Ichiro picks himself up from the floor and cracks his knuckles. "Kasumi, I need you to heat a needle over a fire and dip some thread into alcohol. I'll see what I can do about her more minor injuries in the meantime." He goes to step into the room, but turns back to me. "Bring plenty of strong, drinking alcohol, too. She's gonna need it."

I nod, and run into the kitchen. A lady rented this large inn completely to us after the guys saved her from some bandits, so everything is at our disposal.

I pull two bottles of sake from the shelves, sterilize a needle in the fireplace, and soak plenty of thread in alcohol.

I carry the stuff into the room and immediately recoil. "Ugh...is that garlic?"

A sticky, smelly poultice is smeared over minor cuts and scrapes covering Akira's body. Her ragged clothes have been taken off so that she's in her underdress, although Ichiro focuses on grinding more garlic in a mortar. "Garlic works to fight infection, so for the sake of her not dying, bear it. Fold up that sheet over there."

I fold the sheet into a thick pad while Ichiro heats a pair of tweezers over a flame. "What are those for?" His eyes darken. "I need to clean her wounds. I can see dirt in them from here. We need to wake her up before, so she can swallow the alcohol and bite down on the sheet, or she might bite her tongue from the pain."

He stands with a strong smelling garlic glob in his hand. "Hopefully, she'll pass out."

I grimace. He holds the garlic to Akira's nose, and she stirs slightly. "Nnn...?" I kneel next to her, holding a cup of sake to her lips. "Drink."

She sips from the cup until it's empty, then I give her another. When she drains it, I hold up the sheet. "Bite down on this." She clamps her teeth into the thick cloth, although she's still woozy.

Ichiro kneels next to her stomach, and cuts away the fabric. Bloody claw marks mar the skin, and he sucks in a breath. "Hold down her arms." He turns to Kai, who waits in the doorway. "Hold her ankles."

He sits at the end of them bed and wraps his hand around her bony ankles, his face apprehensive.

Trembling slightly, I take hold of Akira's forearms and pin them to the cot. She mumbles slightly through the cloth. Then, she starts to scream horrifically.

Ichiro picks out pieces of dirt from the gashes, causing her to cry out and thrash around. Ichiro calls out over her screams. "Hold her down, don't let her hit you!"

Tears start to well in my eyes at this sight of such raw pain, and I climb on top of the cot to hold her down more effectively.

She's still screaming, pleading, tears coursing, until her eyes roll back and she collapses, unconscious. "Well, that makes my job a lot easier," Ichiro remarks. Kai pulls away, horrified. "I never want to see something like that again." He runs out of the room, and I hear him puking in the front yard.

Ichiro rolls his eyes. "Weakling." Then he spots my tear stained cheeks, and smiles softly. "You can go now. Thanks for the help."

My lip quivers, and I shake my head. "I-I want to help." He raises an eyebrow. "If you're sure," he says slowly. "Wipe the dirt off her skin. Keep more sake ready." I nod, pour another cup, and down it in one go.

"I meant for Akira, but okay."

Ichiro manages to completely clean out the gashes on Akira's stomach before she wakes up again. I make her drink more sake while Ichiro stitches up the marks. "Cleaning hurts a lot more than the actual stitching," he explains to me, acknowledging how little Akira reacts to the needle pricks. She leans against my shoulder, one of my hands clasped in hers, occasionally squeezing it in slight pain. Ichiro warns me to set her down again after he treats and wraps the gashes, before moving onto cleaning the wound on her calf.

After an hour, all her wounds have been treated, and she sits giggling drunkenly. "Everything looks so...what's the word? Like...grass...and stuff."

Then she perks up. "Green! Everything's green!" Then she claps her hands together. "I did it!"

I smile slightly, and catch her as she lists sideways. Her head lolls, and she smiles at me. "Pretty." She pokes my nose. I blink. I could get used to this.

Her arms wrap around me as she pulls me into an embrace and sobs into my shoulder. "Th-the squirrel is gone..." she blubbers into my kimono.

Never mind. I can't get used to this.

I gently push her off, and she stares solemnly at the wall. "Staring contest...I'm winning!"

Ichiro laughs. "Goody. Drunk Akira is always a treat to behold."

I stare at him blankly. "Does this happen a lot?"

"Not exactly, but it only takes two drinks for her to get dizzy. Two more, and the toddler makes its appearance."

Kai pokes his head through the doorway. "Did I hear Drunk Akira just now?"

As if on cue, Akira tilts her head to the side, and stretches her arm out at something. "Never in love," she giggles. "Trying, but never in love."

"I came here to help you, and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now." Kai crosses his arms at her. I roll my eyes. "Please experience the pain of rejection later, and take her to her room."

"Ugh, fine." He scoops her up and stumbles slightly. "She smells like a brewery! How much sake did you give her?!"

I stealthily nudge the two empty bottles under the bed. "Just a little."

KAI'S POV

I stomp up the stairs, constantly adjusting my arms to make sure Akira doesn't hit her head. She giggles vaguely about how everything sounds like purple, and keeps repeating that someone was never in love.

I finally reach an empty room, and place her down on the bed. I thug the blanket over her, and she glances at me through a sleepy haze. "Your eyes look like emeralds."

I smile slightly. "And yours look like stars. Now go to sleep and make my life a little easier."

She salutes. "Aye, sir!" Then she pulls the covers over her head.