Ink Stained

23: an unbelievable story*

信じられない話

Haru regained consciousness two days later.

With the gossip between the Tsukumogami that helped Kanou in his office by cleaning up after him while he tended to the wounded Daitengu, everyone had heard by now that it was Shin who so viciously attacked Haru. Hardly anyone could believe it, that Shin would do something like that to one of his own comrades, his friend.

But when Haru woke up and spoke to Kouta, it became an irrefutable fact no one could avoid.

Pai was in the infirmary when Kouta came in. The large room served as Kouta's office as well as an area of the house cordoned off from everything else, reserved for those who were injured, a place to recuperate without being hassled by anyone else (namely, the kids).

It was snowing heavily outside. Winter had finally come in true Hokkaido fashion; with a blizzard to kick-start the season where the previous day had been relatively cool rather than chilly. The wind howled as snow danced madly through the air, littering the ground and turning it pure white and making it difficult to see far past the white screen that had descended over the world. The sakura tree had long shed its leaves; now it looked like a wooden skeleton Pai didn't like looking at. It made her feel sad, and empty, even knowing that the flowers would come back again once winter was over.

All the doors of Ayashi House were closed, windows shut, but despite this and the electric lights illuminating every room and hallway, Pai couldn't shake off the heavy feeling of darkness she felt walking through the house. Heaters were on and kept the house mostly warm, but she was still cold, deep in her core, in a way that layers of clothing and several pairs of socks didn't help.

She was wrapping bandage linen around Haru's chest and back right now. The last times his bandaging was changed had been done by Yukiji since she was more of Kanou's protégé than anyone else in the house, but she was out on an errand for him now. Mizutani was fixing up a broth for Haru and some other food for the others. The only ones in the house now were Shiori, Ryu, Kouta, Kanou, and Obaasan. Kouta had sent the children back to the main village at Kyoto for their own safety, with Yuu and Ryosuke escorting them there before coming back.

After what happened with Haru, it would have been foolish to let the kids stay here.

Haru was sitting up on the bed, trying not to grimace every time Pai tightened the bandaging so it wouldn't come loose. His wings were out, but only the left one was folded neatly against his back. The other, injured wing was spread out behind him, cleaned of the blood that had stuck the feathers together. It was slowly, but steadily, healing.

The ligament that connected the wing to his back had been halfway torn through. Kanou said it would take a long time for the tear to fully heal enough for Haru to fly again without dealing himself more damage than already inflicted. She had seen the torn edge of Haru's wing when she started bandaging him up again; it made her heart ache, and she kept silent for fear that she would start crying if she tried to speak.

Haru had three broken ribs as well, wounds that were quickly healing from internal bleeding, bruises and scratches all over his body, a cut lip, and a gash on the back of his head that was wrapped in bandaging she had already finished changing a little bit ago.

With all that, she was shocked to hear Kanou say that it would take, at most, two weeks in the convalescence room recuperating from his wounds. She had only suffered two fractured ribs, a sprained ankle that already healed, and the wound on her neck from the Onihitokuchi's tail, and she was confined to almost two months of bedrest.