Darling in the FranXX: Insurrection

Chapter 17- A Place to Call Home

You slowly begin to return to consciousness, thanks to something brushing against your nose.

Pfft.

You blow some air from the corner of your mouth, trying to get whatever it is to leave you alone so you can return to sleep. Much to your satisfaction, it does. You begin to nod off once more.

Soon after, you feel the same tickling sensation on the tip of your nose. Without opening your eyes, you reach up and brush it away, only for it to return a moment later. Shaking your head, you move back several inches and your assailant disappears. For the second time, you feel sleep coming to take you.

Sometime later after you have returned to the world of dreams...

"Ah...ah...achoo!" you sneeze, your head rocketing forward until it comes to a grinding halt against something hard, absolutely crushing your nose. "Ow!" you shout, rolling back to your other side and clutching at your nose, blood seeping from your nostrils.

At the same time, Ichigo cries out in shock and pain.

Squeezing your nose to try and stem the bleeding, you look to her as she clutches the top of her head. "What did you do that for?!" she shouts. "Do what for?" you counter loudly. "Hit me!" she yells. "I didn't hit you!" you yell back. "Yes, you did!" she angrily replies. "I was sleeping until a moment ago, when you hit the top of my head." She begins to rub the spot in question before her eyes go wide. She slowly retracts her hand and looks down to find a few red stains. Looking to you, still holding your nose to avoid bleeding on anything that you can, her eyes narrow in realization.

"You got your blood in my hair!" she screams. "Well, if your hair hadn't made me sneeze, it wouldn't have happened!" you grumble. "Don't try to make this my fault!" Ichigo shouts. "You're the one who sneezed, you're the one who hit me, and you're the one who bled in my hair."

"Maybe if you hadn't been so close to me, it wouldn't have happened," you shoot back. "When I fell asleep there was plenty of space between us, so I couldn't have possibly hit you if I sneezed. That means you moved closer to me in the night!"

"And what if I did?" Ichigo redirects the blame once more. "It was cold, and you're warmer than me. Would you rather I froze? Next time you can have both sleeping bags to yourself, I'll just sleep outside!"

"I didn't say that!" you groan. "All I said is you got closer to me in the middle of the night and your hair tickled my nose. That's why I sneezed. It doesn't matter whose fault it is... even if it isn't mine."

Ichigo looks fully ready to continue the argument, but then something in her must click because she stops herself. Instead of continuing, she gets up and walks over to one of the supply chests and pulls out some cotton balls.

"Move your hand," she orders, sitting down beside you. You do as instructed and she pushes a cotton ball into your bleeding nostril. "Hold it," she says before going and getting one of the canteens and wetting another down.

While you hold the cotton ball and continue squeezing the bridge of your nose, Ichigo begins to dab at the blood that had gotten on your parasite suit. "It's not getting all of it," she mumbles to herself. "But, it's better than it was."

Several minutes later after you're sure the bleeding has stopped, you remove the cotton ball. Ichigo immediately sets about cleaning the blood from your face, forcing you to sit quietly while she works. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," she says. "I know it was an accident. I just woke up in pain so my mind when into freak-out mode."

She finishes cleaning your chin, giving you the chance to reply. "I am too. Let's just put this behind us. You and I are a team, and nothing can come between that." Ichigo smiles and nods. "Anyway," you continue. "We should be able to reach the village tonight. Let's get ready and make sure everyone is up and good to go. I'd hate to unload everything in the dark."