✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Chapter 16 - A Spark Of Hope And Love

School clinic...

Some of Kurama's classmates called the attention of the school doctor and in a few minutes, they carried him through the stretcher and they took him to the clinic. Riya and Ayako insisted on staying beside him since they knew that it wasn't just a simple fever that took over the fox demon. It was something worse.

When the doctor had finished doing some examination, she concluded that it was indeed a fever. But Riya knew better. Something from the battle last night made Kurama sick right now. And it was something she needed to find out no matter what.

When they entered the room and had a look at Kurama's condition, they saw him getting paler by the second. His breathing was becoming heavy and he was sweating hard. Riya was becoming worried.

They made sure that the doctor wasn't around before they talked.

"I know something's weird going on but I couldn't figure out what," Ayako started as a whisper.

Riya didn't say anything regarding that. Instead, she placed her hand just a little above his torso and her hand began to emit a silver glow. Her eyes were closed the whole time. The glow lasted for a minute before it faded. Certainly, she didn't like what she found out.

"His physical wounds may have been healed completely but there's something left inside of him that caused him to be sick," she concluded that puzzled Ayako. Even still, she continued. "And that certain 'something' has poison in it."

"It could have been something from the sword," Ayako commented.

Riya tried to remember the events during the fight last night and as much as possible, she wanted to remember every detail. For minutes, she and Ayako tried but then a sudden touch completely distracted the flow of her thoughts. It wasn't just a simple touch; someone gripped her left hand that was just near the bed.

When she looked down, she saw Kurama facing her as his hand was holding hers—something that she hadn't expected. After a few seconds of silence between them, Ayako finally broke it.

"I think I better leave you two alone," Ayako said as she teasingly smiled. "I don't want to ruin your moments together." And with that said, she left Riya and Kurama alone in that room.

Kurama hadn't let go of her hand but she wasn't angry about it. She liked it—a lot. But that positive feeling turned into worries when he began breathing heavily again.

"You should be getting some rest. Come on, you need to sleep. Okay?" she said as she wiped the sweat on his face with a wet towel that was just on a basin near his bed. She did it as carefully as possible.

"It was probably one of the small shards that I destroyed last night," he mumbled as his breathing began to slowly even out. But Riya heard what he said and that was when she remembered it.

It was fast and undetectable to the naked eye but she saw a small shard enter his body. The entry of the shard into his body happened in a flash. At first, she thought it was nothing but now that he mentioned it...

She sighed and then smiled as she faced him before she sat on the chair near the bed; Kurama still holding her hand. "You're just having delusions. Maybe it's for the best if you just sleep. I promise; you'll be fine when you wake up."

Kurama slowly faced her and then he looked at her half-eyed but intently.

"Only if you promise me you wouldn't leave... That you'll be here when I wake up," he said which surprised her but she didn't show it.

Instead, she held his hand tighter as she looked at him. "I promise."

And with that, he slowly closed his eyes as his breathing even out.