Pᴀʀᴀʟʟᴇʟ | Dᴏʀᴏʀᴏ 2019 Fᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ |

19: Realizations

Kou grunted as she sat up and noticed that she was straddling Tahomaru by his waist. But that was not important right now. They fell and Tahomaru took the fall for her. Luckily, he was able to use the trees to soften the fall.

She removed herself on top of him and shook him by the shoulders.

"Tahomaru! Oi!"

She sighed in relief when the young man groaned and blinked his eyes. The first view that came to his eyes is Kou's worried face peering down on him. Despite feeling the pain on his body, he managed a smile and reached out his hand to sooth her furrowed brows.

"I'm okay". He said with a hoarse voice.

Kou helped him in sitting up and checked him for any injury. Aside from small scratches and bruises, it looks like there was nothing more serious so she released another sigh.

"Idiot". She suddenly blurted. "Look who's the one who fell".

Tahomaru blinked as he stared at her then, his expression turned warm.

"Indeed. I fell. Too deeply".

"Don't exaggerate". The girl spoke, looking up to their previous position. "The cliff isn't that high. Like a two storey building perhaps. But a fall from it could lead to injuries". She turned her head back to him. "Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere?"

He only shook his head in response as the girl continued to talk while looking around. While the residence is just a few meters above them, to reach the front gates, they needed to go and walk a long way.

The place where they fell is a forest, protected and conserved by Eri's parents. Aside from that, it's pretty far from the main house and people rarely pass by so it was no use calling out.

Tahomaru continued watching the girl. The warm feeling inside him spreading like wildfire. Kou turned to him with an innocent expression.

"Can you stand?" She held out her hand for him to grab.

His black orbs gazed at her small white hand before firmly grabbing on it. He could feel the sudden rise in his temperature when they made skin contact. Tahomaru attempted to stand up but failed to do so.

Suddenly realizing something, Kou stopped on her tracks. She was about to burst out laughing but she stopped herself from doing so. There is a serious situation at hand so she needed to be at her best behaviour. A series of awkward snorts came out instead of her supressed laughs.

Their current situation is like those scenes that one may see from a shoujo manga. Where the girl had sprained her ankle and the guy will help her and carry her with him. But the only difference in their situation is that their roles are reversed. Imagining Tahomaru acting so timid and shy like those girls in the manga had struck a chord in her as she ended up laughing out loud.

Tahomaru looked at her as if she had grown three heads.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, if you're injured, just say so". She spoke between her laughs as she pulled up the cloth to reveal his swollen ankle. "You made me imagine something so hilarious".

As the laugh left her, Kou returned to being calm as she assessed his injury. Tahomaru didn't noticed, but he had sprained his left ankle. Was he that distracted to even feel the pain? But now that he was aware of it, he could slowly feel the pain on his foot.

"I may not be able to carry you like those guys in the manga but I can support you as you walk. Here, come on". She motioned for him to lean half of his weight on her as she help him stand properly. "We need to get back before sunset."