Heal the Pain (Kouen X Fem!Reader){HIATUS}

Where You Lead

Your horse panted as grass, trees, bushes, and flowers passed your vision over and over again. But you focused only on the sorrel horse ahead of you, and its red-haired master. "Prince Kouen! Where are we going? Why are we going so f-?" You cut yourself off when you noticed he was slowing down. You followed, Tornado neighing in defiance when he figured out that he couldn't go ahead of Enchantress, Kouen's horse. "No, Tornado!" You snapped as he reached over to bite the female horse. "I'm sorry about him. He likes being in the lead," You told the Prince. Kouen just looked ahead. "Why did you take me out here?"

"You wanted to collect some herbs before winter, right?" Kouen asked, finally looking right at you. "I need to get away from those idiots, so I decided to be your escort." He went on.

"Those idiots...? Are you referring to Lords Seishuu, Gaku Kin, Shou, and Kokuton?" You asked in confusion. He nodded. "I see. I'm sorry they're being annoying," You told him, recalling how much of a toll they could be. Especially Seishuu, always touching your things. You smiled at how Gaku Kin had hit him upside the head. Hard.

"Not your fault. Well, Tornado gets his wish. I am only here to get some quiet." Kouen went on, pulling back. Tornado whinnied in triumph. You chuckled, running a hand down his neck.

"You really are a bossy little guy, aren't you?" You murmured to him. Then you realized that it was odd, feeling Kouen keep his pink eyes on you, and not the other way around. You're just being self-conscious, honestly! Kouen doesn't care about you, he's probably thinking about something else! You scolded mentally while heading over to the only forest in the area. Soon your horses were side by side while silence fell around you.

You sighed, wondering what to say. But what were you supposed to say a prince? A person who captured a dungeon, no less? Kouen was a mystery wrapped in an enigma with a nice bow to top it all off. Even with your abilities, you couldn't figure him out. He was your General Commander for over four months now, you had healed his soldiers and talked with him about the safety of them for all that time, and yet for all the effort to know him, he was still unknown.

You could never simply break the ice. Funny, considering his Djinn was a fire Djinn. One would think that he was as open as they came. Glancing over at the male, you noticed he was staring at you.

"Eep!" Your noise startled Tornado into a gallop, making you reach the woods first. When Kouen caught up to you, he started laughing hysterically. "S-shut up! You startled me, that's all! What were you even doing, staring at me like that?!" You demanded, demounting. Kouen kept laughing for a little bit then smiled down at you. You blushed. That smile and laugh was a rare thing, gained only by his siblings and that which he found to be truly hysterical. You had heard that not even his closest siblings, Koumei and Kouha, had heard that laugh.

So for you to hear it... You must've died. After pinching yourself, you were sure you hadn't. But that made no sense! Looking at Kouen with your mouth agape, ready to speak, he beat you to the punch.

"Sorry. I just find it funny that you managed to become so startled that Tornado also became startled. It was very funny." The redhead explained. You flushed harder. While you had to admit it was funny as well, you didn't like how innocent he looked when laughing. No, his face was now forever stuck in your mind like that. "Anyway... What exactly are you looking for?" He asked. Glad to change the subject, you turned around, observing the many plants nearby.

"Well, what I want to find specifically is something that looks pretty similar to this," You answered, pointing to a meadowsweet plant. "Meadowsweet's useful for colds, mostly. But if given in large enough doses, it can become painful. Which is why I want its cousin- forestsweet. You see, forestsweet is much more useful when treating illnesses. And with the onset of winter, I need all the forestsweet I can get."