This Warmth Of Yours

Chapter 28 - The Lonely Witch and the Cowardly Knight

He wasn't sure what to expect upon entering her room. Not only was her window unlocked, the person herself was nowhere to be seen. Her room was completely empty. There was a bed and a table, yet neither looked like she had personal items. The bed was merely a white pillow and blanket, and the table only had her school supplies.

Ah, no, he was wrong. He caught a glimpse beneath the bed. The books she read, they were all there. Did she have to hide them, or was this simply where she preferred putting her books? This wasn't the time to ponder.

Beyond her room, it was chillingly vibrant, a far cry from how her room had looked like. It was filled with strange items a normal person would never even think to buy. Vague, surrealistic paintings, stone bust statues of people he didn't know, sculptures of all kinds lined the shelves. The walls were painted over with murals of random flowers. The items were spotless to an almost obsessive degree. Yuki felt uncomfortable walking through these halls, as if his steps would dirty this pristine house. He didn't have the time to take off his shoes. Haru was hopeless at cleaning, so the person who cleaned this house must have been...

There was a source of light coming from that room, and a horrid smell. He ran towards it, almost hobbling in his path, knocking over a framed painting on a drawer. Yuki reached the door and almost hesitated, afraid of what he would see if he pushed it. He shook his head and took a deep breath, slowly creaking the door open. His hand burnt upon touching the doorknob.

The girl was standing there, lit candle in hand. Her hair was braided and she still wore a mask. Her school uniform unkempt and messy, it was as if she hadn't changed out of it since she got home.

There was a wall of flame that separated them.

She didn't seem surprised to see him there at all.

"... I don't understand," she said, a tone void of emotion. "I finally got into this room, Yuki." She slowly turned around to face him. "But neither of them are here. I'm alone in this room. I got in, but no one's here."

She kept rambling, speaking in vague ways that Yuki couldn't comprehend. He took a step forward. "Haru, I'm sorry for breaking in. I was really worried about you-"

"No, you're not. I'm sure I'm just imagining things again. You can't be here, I'm not..."

She denied him being there like it was only natural.

She stared blankly at the bed in the room, silent again after her sentence trailed off. The room was colourful, whoever this belonged to must've been a bright person. It also seemed it was shared, due to almost half of the things in here being gray, monotone. This must've been her parent's chamber.

Oh... he understood.

He was right in front of her. If anyone else was standing before her, he was sure they'd be able to come up with something smarter than what he was about to do.

The flame between them could be taken directly from hell, and he'd still run to her.

He covered himself with the mattress, and ran through.

He blew the candle out in her hands and tackled her to the floor. He knew he shouldn't have raised his voice, especially given the current condition she was in, but he couldn't help it. "That phone call was a call for help, wasn't it?!"

She was taken aback. "You're- No... get out of here, it's dangerous!" He almost stopped completely, but he was convinced that she wouldn't understand as long as he just let her keep talking.

"I'm here! Stop chasing after people that won't ever chase you back!"

The rest of his words were left unspoken. He couldn't say it out loud. Your parents don't love you. That's such a cruel thing to say. "Look at me, me! I love you, haven't I already told you that?! Everyone else- they said so too! None of it's a lie! Please!"