You stared up at the clouds from your position on the ground thinking about the battle you could hear going on. The rural setting was typically peaceful and relaxing but the country was in the middle of a war for power and control.
You urged your family to retreat to the larger cities but they refused, stating that someone would have to stay at the farm to care for the wild stock in case the fighting ceased.
In the end, your family left and decided to leave one person behind in case it was safe to return. As you can probably guess, they chose you.
So here you were, in a large house on your own taking care of a barn filled with animals. You threw some dried corn to the ground and the chickens immediately flocked in that direction.
You heard a twig snap behind you and whipped your head around to see a wounded soldier at the entrance of the barn.
"Are you okay?" You slowly approached him, hands up in surrender.
"I..." The man croaked out before dropping to the floor.
You don't know what drew you to this handsome stranger, but you didn't care. A man had just collapsed in front of you and you wanted to help him.
You rushed to his side and pushed his brown locks aside, gazing at his manly features. A blush fell over your cheeks.
"This isn't the time to be thinking about that!" You harshly whispered at your own thoughts.
It took all of your might to drag the muscular man onto a stack of hay nearby.
He groaned at your touch as you stripped him of his clothes, checking for injuries.
"You've walked a long way from the battlefield." You wrung out a wet washcloth and dabbed away at his wounds, cleaning the dirt and grime out of it. Infection was probably the last thing this warrior needed.
"Ow!" The man was shocked back to his senses. As you touched his wound, he squirmed in pain. "You're... hurting... me..." he managed to say between deep breaths.
"Take some of this." You held a bottle of sake to his lips. "It will help you out."
The stranger took a large gulp and rested his head back onto the hay pile.
"I'm going to use it to disinfect your wounds." You were sweating at this point. "I'm sorry, but it's going to hurt... a lot..."
"Do what... you... have to do." The man's raspy voice gave you permission.
You stuffed a dry washcloth in his mouth to prevent damage to his teeth, and then bit your own lip out of nervousness.
"Well, here goes..." you slowly poured the sake and dabbed lightly. The stranger writhed in pain. His screams could be heard far and wide.
~*~*~
"How are you holding up?" You entered one of the rooms in the house, taking a seat next to his bed.
It had been a couple weeks since the man showed up at your barn door and you got to know him pretty well. The two of you were on a first name basis.
"I'm fine." He smiled gently, patting your head with his large, coarse hands.
"I'm glad to hear that, Shinpachi." You laughed at his gesture, staring into his fierce, blue eyes.
"You know (y/n), I've been thinking." He averted your gaze, staring out the window. "It's been weeks and your family hasn't returned for you. Doesn't that mean something to you?" He asked out of concern.
"I..." Your smile faltered and your gaze fell. "I hadn't thought about that." You lied, it was clear that your family had abandoned you and their home. When you looked back up, Shinpachi's eyes stared deeply into your own.
"I know you're lying." He kept a stoic expression on his face. "I want to tell you that in these past few weeks that I've gotten to know you, I realized how much your presence means to me."
Your eyes widened in surprise. "W-What?" You managed to stutter like an idiot.
"I lost a very good friend because I wanted to keep fighting for my cause, but he left to start a family of his own." Shinpachi's gaze never wavered. "After my near-death experience, I've realized that I want to live my life." He took your hands in his own. "But the only problem is that it can't be with just any woman. It has to be you. You were there for me when I was at my lowest and nursed me back to health. You were the one who took care of me when normal people would have tossed me to the edge of the forest to rot."
"Shinpachi... I-" You began.
"Before you say no, or reject me, just know that I promise to treat you right always. I won't let you down. I'll give you as many kids as you want. I'll even help you-" At this point, his eyes were closed and he was rambling. Obviously he was scared of being rejected.
"Shinpachi!" You yelled, gaining his attention. "I've come to the conclusion that my family isn't coming back for me." You were sad about this, but there was nothing you could do to change it. "Whether you wanted me or not, I was going to leave with you and stick by your side. If you didn't want me to come with you, I would have brought up the fact that I saved your life." You smiled and caressed the side of his face. "So the answer is: You have no choice but to keep me."
Shinpachi gave the widest ear-to-ear grin you had ever seen. In addition, his eyes brightened ten-fold. You couldn't have been happier with his reaction. "Aww man. I'm the happiest man alive right now, you know that?" He pulled you into his bed, embracing you with those strong arms of his.
Honestly, you couldn't have been happier even if you tried.
~~~~~
Ack! Sorry it took so long! Working on another one ASAP!❤️
