Chapter 209 – Unknown Emotions

The pain in Yuna’s leg was back in full swing. A few moments after crossing into the forest, whatever spell Zero had casted on it had completely vanished. The disappearance left Yuna gritting her teeth, unable to put even a small amount of pressure on her leg. 

‘That shot must have had something else in it.’

Zero stopped. She squatted on the ground, pointing her back to Yuna. Yuna got the message. Hopping a bit on her one leg, she collapsed on Zero’s back. Zero gripped the bottom of her thighs before standing back up. Then they set out again.

They made a fast pace, Zero even seemed to travel faster with Yuna on her back than when Yuna was using her own feet. Yuna bobbed up and down as Zero navigated the dark forest in front of them. How Zero managed to carry her and almost run around within a forest where Yuna could barely see a few feet in front of herself, she didn’t know.

As the constant rocking slowly began to beckon Yuna to sleep, Zero stopped, snapping Yuna wide awake. Yuna lifted her head and scanned the area around them. Still the same night forest.

“It’s fine,” Zero said below her. “There’s no one around here except you and me.”

“Oh. Why did we stop then?” Yuna asked, glancing down. 

“I want to get your leg checked out,” she replied. “Do you think you can get down?”

“I think so.” Yuna slid down Zero’s back, taking care to make sure she landed on one foot. She waved her arms around to keep her balance. “I’m off.”

Zero turned to her and grasped her back, gently guiding Yuna to the ground. With a few grunts, Yuna tried to keep her throbbing leg in the air as much as possible, but that proved to be impossible. With every jolt, she gritted her teeth. At last, she was settled on the ground, her head on a bag that Zero had pulled out of nowhere.

She heard a snap and ball of light flared up inside the shadowy forest, dispelling the night around them. Yuna squinted at the sudden change in lighting, but soon adjusted. Once the spots in her eyes went away, her eyes focused on the woman leaning over her whose concerned grey eyes stared back. 

“How does your leg feel?” Zero asked, her soft voice washing over Yuna. 

“Painful,” Yuna replied.

Zero chuckled at the response. She turned her attention to the leg in question. Yuna followed her gaze to the exposed flesh of her left calf. A large bright red mark was emblazoned on it that stung slightly when the cool night breeze blew against it. Zero reached out with a hand and slowly pressed her finger on it. Yuna replied with a sharp inhale. 

“Mmm. I need to fix this right now,” Zero said.

“Why?” Yuna tilted her head. “Shouldn’t we try to get away as fast as possible?”

“The longer we wait, the more inflamed the burn will become,” she explained. “And the longer we wait, the higher the chance of scarring will occur when we heal it.”

“I’m fine with scars.”

“Let me just heal it right now. It’ll only take a moment,” Zero said.

“No, really. I’m fine with a few scars,” Yuna insisted. As she was about to say more, Zero’s hand went to her cheek and caressed it. She quieted, letting Zero stroke her cheek.

“I’m not,” Zero whispered. Yuna’s heart pounded at those words.

‘What does she mean by that?’

Zero sat back on her knees and slowly lifted Yuna’s leg, Yuna sucking in deep breaths as pain flared up. Then Zero slipped off her gloves and pinched the fabric of the bodysuit that Yuna was wearing. She slid her hand underneath it, the warmth of her hand sending shivers up Yuna’s spine. 

“I’m going to remove this,” she said. Yuna nodded.

The fabric was ripped and carefully peeled away, exposing Yuna’s entire lower leg to the elements. The cool air only made the sting of the burn more prominent. Zero positioned her right hand right above her leg.

“I’m going to start.”

“Go ahead.”

Zero’s palm glowed a soft grey. The air around Yuna’s calf seemed to instantly drop. Then she pressed her hand against the red mark. Shock ran though Yuna as Zero’s freezing palm came into contact with the injury before giving away to a soothing, blissful sensation as the pain in her leg was melted away. 

A moan escaped Yuna’s mouth, louder than she had expected. As Zero kept her palm on the injury, waves upon waves of bliss washed over Yuna eliciting more and more pronouncements of enjoyment as the pain was driven away. Yuna realised how weird she sounded, but she couldn’t stop herself.

When at last Zero removed her palm, Yuna’s chest was rising up and down as she sucked in deep breaths to calm herself. Zero turned to look back at her, placing her hand to rest on Yuna’s thigh.

“All done,” Zero announced, the edges of her eyes crinkling from a smile. “You seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.”

Yuna reddened as the sounds of her soft, yet mentally loud moans replayed in her head. 

“Sorry about that,” Yuna muttered. 

“No. It was quite...cute.” 

Yuna felt like her face was about to explode. She decided to take the comment as a compliment and nodded. Zero’s other hand went to her mask and slipped it off, her other hand still on Yuna’s thigh. Yuna’s breath quickened at the sight of Zero’s face revealing itself in all of its beauty. Her eyes wandered to Zero’s lips before she dragged them away. Zero then took her hood off, shaking her hair a bit when the hood fell down. Yuna stared at her silvery hair that reflected the light of the soft glowing ball that floated beside them.

“Is there something on my face?” Zero asked with a small smile. Yuna blinked and quickly turned away. She didn’t mean to stare.

A light giggle tickled Yuna’s ear, a sound that Yuna had never heard before. She turned towards Zero and saw her hand covering her mouth and her shoulders shaking. The sound was so joyful and pure, it lifted Yuna’s heart. She wished it could keep going. 

“You know, Yuna. I don’t think I’ve ever said this to you,” Zero started as she dropped her hand. She paused, leaving Yuna hanging, wanting to hear more. 

Zero smiled and leaned closer, the hand on Yuna’s thigh sliding up and curving into the inside of her leg. It was a new sensation. A sensation that sent shivers that traveled throughout her body.  A sensation that pulled on her and made her mind race yet at the same time stop. Yuna felt herself getting drawn closer until their faces were inches apart.

Yuna’s eyes met Zero’s and she was sucked into the kaleidoscope of colors that was Zero’s eyes. Her entire appearance, Yuna took in. From her long dark silver lashes to her glossy pink lips to her rosy cheeks. Yuna’s chest tightened, her heart raced, as she waited for what might come. Whatever that was. 

“You really are…” 

Yuna shut her eyes as she felt Zero’s breath. It smelled like peppermint. 

“So cute,” Zero whispered. 

Yuna’s entire body heated up at those words despite the cool night air. Though she couldn’t look now, it seemed as though her entire body was blushing all at once. 

Then a tap on her nose. Yuna opened her eyes and saw Zero smiling at her with her finger stretched out.

“Cute~,” Zero repeated with a small giggle. “You’re blushing so much.”

She turned away and covered her face with her hands. She never received a compliment like that before. But her heart still fell at those words. That wasn’t what she wanted. She sighed, releasing the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Zero tapped Yuna’s nose again before pulling back. Yuna restrained her hands from reaching out and grabbing her. The image of Zero kissing her replayed in her mind and she bit her lip. If only.

‘Why do I feel so...sad?’ she thought, her brows furrowing. 

“Let’s go,” Zero said, reaching out. “Time regroup with the others.”

Yuna grabbed the offered hand reluctantly, enjoying the feeling of Zero’s soft hands on her own. She got onto her feet and began following Zero slowly. She wished they didn’t have to go. That they could stay in the forest, just the two of them.

‘Why? Why am I thinking of these things?’

Caitlyn’s words echoed in her mind unbiddenly. Those words that said that what Yuna had for Zero wasn’t just friendship. That it might be love. A word so foreign to her.

‘Is this what it feels like?’