zarahjoyce | GARO MNH fic: Conversations (2/2)

Notes: Yep, it's a series of one-shots now!

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He tried his best not to cry out, or even whimper. He was a Makai Knight, damnit - he was Garo. He could bear a little pain.

Trying to control his ragged breathing, Raiga closed his eyes - then all but doubled backwards as he jerked.

"Ah, Raiga-sama, I apologize profusely," Gonza said from where he stood behind him. "But there's a particularly deep gash on your shoulder and--"

"It's all right," he replied, craning his neck to shoot his butler a tired but affable smile. "I can take it."

A few seconds of insufferable silence followed. Beads of sweat glimmered on Raiga's forehead and rolled down his back, and more than once he thought about sending Gonza away - but he couldn't risk the chance that his wounds might get infected, and so it was best to have them cleansed now, while they were still raw and fresh.

Unfortunately, the healing salve Gonza used was akin to feeling like having his skin torn off his body. The ritual would never be something Raiga looked forward to, no matter how useful it was.

He heard Gonza gasp softly, then, "I seem to have misjudged the amount of bandage I need to use. Forgive me, Raiga-sama. I'll be quick."

Raiga nodded, then looked away. He thought about reaching for his jacket to cover himself, then thought better of it. Best if he were not to move so as to not upset his battered body further.

A few seconds later, and the sound of footsteps reached his ears. At first he thought it to be Gonza's, but no - they were too quick, too soft, too--

"Raiga."

--too late.

He didn't even have to turn to look at the newcomer; already she stood before him, brows furrowed ever so slightly, lips pursed as though what she saw perplexed her.

"Mayuri," he said. "I hope my arrival didn't wake you?" It was the first thing he asked, when he stumbled inside the manor: Where's Mayuri? Gonza's frantic reply was that she was in her room - already resting. Having the small chance of her walking on this scene was the only reason Raiga quickly agreed to have his wounds treated in the living room, instead of inside the comfort of his own room.

That - and because he was already shaking so badly the walk towards his room felt like an impossible feat.

"No," she replied. Then, "You're hurt."

There was no discernible concern in her tone; her words were spoken like she was stating a fact - which of course she was. Raiga smiled, despite himself. "I am," he admitted, because there was no point in trying to mask what she was already seeing. "The latest Horror was a bit-- persistent."

To make its death permanent, the Horror had to be killed four times. The problem was, each time it came back to life, it grew double its current strength. Such was the power it gained from all the lives it'd taken, before being discovered.

At the end of its fourth life, Raiga, too, was almost at the end of his.

"I know," she said. "Which is why I was forbidden to go."

Mayuri hadn't questioned him, when he told her she had to stay where she was safe - only watched him leave with those sharp, sharp eyes of hers. He wondered, then, how he would have persuaded her to do as he said, had she insisted to go with him.

At the back of his mind, Raiga was aware of how shamefully grateful he was that she was not yet capable of such a thing.

She picked up the jar Gonza left behind, then studied it curiously. Without being prompted, Raiga said, "It's a healing salve. A Makai Priestess left it for us." At her look he added, "A friend of my father's." A beat, and then, "She... may have a bit of grudge against him, come to think of it."

A healing salve that tormented the user before showing its power. How else could he explain it?

With her bare hand, she dipped into the jar and brought a large chunk of the salve closer to her face for inspection.

At another time, Raiga would have laughed at how absurd this situation was. Here he was, half-naked, bone-tired, with eyes about to droop from weariness, and all Mayuri was concerned about was how the salve smelled.

He was about to say something about it when Mayuri did the unimaginable: she reached for the deep wound on his shoulder, and smeared it with salve without warning.

There was simply no elegant way of saying how he reacted to that unexpected move: Raiga spasmed. His eyes nearly crisscrossed, his fingers dug half-moon graves on his seat, and when he came to from the black haze that enveloped him, he could see Mayuri peering at him like she would at something that greatly interested her.

It took him three more seconds before he could fully form the words to her name. "M-Mayuri--"

"You shouldn't hurt anymore," was what she said. "Why are you still hurting?"

"It-- it takes time," he responded, feeling as though he'd been doused with ice water and set aflame at the same time. "The salve-- has to settle before it-- fixes things. It's not... it's not instantaneous."

She straightened, and all but slammed the jar on the table beside him. "Then what use is it to you?"

Now that the blinding pain had passed, Raiga could breathe easier - and think a bit clearer, too. He exhaled shakily, looked up at her and said, "Its use is that it hastens my recovery time. By tomorrow, it'll seem like I wasn't even injured tonight."

Mayuri titled her head to one side, studied him quietly. "That's good," she said. "I dislike seeing you hurt."

Her admission - if it could even be called that - shook him. Raiga found himself at a loss on how to respond. What did it mean? Did it have to mean anything?

Raiga fought the urge to laugh at himself. How pathetic he must be, to scour for something that was probably never there.

"I see," he said, smiling at her. "That's... that's good to know." Then, "Thank you, Mayuri."

"For what?"

He was saved from having to answer because at that moment, Gonza returned, with rolls and rolls of bandages in tow. He clucked his tongue at having found Mayuri awake at this hour, and fussed even more when he found Raiga to have lost color - all in the ten minutes it took him to amass all the bandages he could.

For all the pain and discomfort he felt, Raiga took notice of how Mayuri never left his side, not until he was already lying on his bed, with her and Gonza standing very near the doorway.

"If you need anything, Raiga-sama--"

"I'm fine, Gonza." He smiled. "Thank you."

He was about to say the same to Mayuri - except she was no longer there.

Still, sleep came easily to Raiga that night.