Eighty-One

Eighty-One

Opening my eyes I bit down on a pained moan, fresh torment all over my battered body. I guess pain is a good sign, at least it means I’m still alive. How... how is Shaeula? As I looked at her, pushed close against me in the tiny toilet cubicle, she let out a long breath and opened her eyes. Seeing me looking down at her she forced a smile, heedless of the blood that was staining her mouth.

“So, you are not dead than, Akio. I am pleased to see it-it.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure yet.” I was engulfed in throbbing waves of pain. That was by far the worst I’d ever felt, even worse than when I had been mauled by the dog, saving Eri and Aiko. Looking down at the ground I could see it was puddled with blood, and my trousers were also soaked through, as was my t-shirt.

Ugh, so much blood. No wonder I’m feeling light-headed. This doll had better be worth it, because there are certainly easier ways to grind a few levels. Coughing, tasting iron in my mouth, I looked down at the doll. It wasn’t moving, but one thing I noticed was the eyes were no longer dark, they were now a bright red, matching the spirit that was trapped in the Boundary.

“So, did we... free it?” I asked, and Shaeula nodded, wincing in pain as she did so.

“I believe so-so. Though it seems to be dormant, lying silent within this doll shell. Perhaps it will awaken in time-time, or perhaps it will sleep forever. It will be at peace, regardless.”

“I suppose being... ouch...” I groaned, my leg buckling under me. I could still feel wetness running down my thigh. This is bad. “... the same type of being, you wouldn’t want to leave it to suffer. That’s very kind of you, but I don’t want you putting yourself at risk again.”

“All life carries risk. I will always take the path I believe in-in, no matter what.” She retorted. Sniffing, her nose wrinkled at the reek in the air. “But for now, we must tend-tend to our injuries. Recriminations and retrospectives can wait until later.”

Listening out I couldn’t hear anyone else using the male toilets, so I opened the door gingerly, staggering out, supported by Shaeula, who was unsteady herself. Once outside I looked at us in the light of day and was horrified. We looked like victims of a slasher, covered in blood-soaked clothes. Unsteadily lurching behind some large bins left out by one of the stores backing onto the alleyway I slumped to the floor, air stinging my many burns and abrasions. Shaeula crouched down beside me, using a little wind to slice open the leg of my trousers, to reveal a brutal wound.

My thigh had been laid bare to the bone and had bled copiously, the tissue inflamed. Still, it had missed the major arteries, preventing me from bleeding out. Bruises were winding across the rest of my leg, along with burns, though they were superficial, more painful than life-threatening.

“This-this will not do.” Shaeula muttered, stripping off my sodden t-shirt. As she did so I shivered, cold air hitting my ravaged skin. Her touch was light and tender, feeling around my ribs where I had been punctured.

“I think-think you are fortunate. The blow has struck bone rather than penetrating your innards.” She let out more wind, soothing my sweating brow. “Your body is strong, you will heal. However...”

However? As Shaeula tossed my shirt aside, my phone rang.

Oh yeah... the girls. Taking out my phone I saw we had been away from them for nearly half an hour, and I had missed several calls and messages. Yeah, now I’m screwed. Explaining this is... well, impossible.

“Hi sis. What’s up?” I said as I took the call, trying to sound as bright as possible.

“What do you mean, what’s up? Wow, are you trying to be a jerk, big bro moonstone? You ditched us and went off with Shaeula, making Eri very jeal...ouch, I mean very sad. Wow, don’t hit me...” her voice went muffled for a few seconds before she resumed. “Anyways, wow, yeah... where the hell did you two get to bro? We have lots to pay for here, and we are just left hanging. So not cool, bro!”

“Sorry about that. Shaeula remembered there was something she just had to buy, so we went to get it, but then some stuff happened and...”

“Stuff, what stuff?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.” Thinking quickly I looked for a way out of this mess, my thoughts sluggish from blood loss and pain.

“So, when are you getting back bro?” My sister inquired insistently.

“Oh, yes, this way.” Professionalism won out over surrealism and with that I quickly bought new jeans, a long-sleeved high-neck shirt and some gloves, putting them on. After paying at the checkout I went upstairs and also paid for the very large collection of clothes the four girls had purchased. Holy hell, with this and the doll, I need to win some more cash before the trip next week. Well, honestly I had enough for my goals, but even so, spending so much in one day hurt...

“We must remain calm-calm here.” Shaeula said as we took the lift to the café on the top floor. “You do not want to alarm them unnecessarily.”

“Yeah, well, not sure how well we’ll manage to pull that off.” I moaned. Fortunately I didn’t have to carry all of the bags of clothes as the store clerk had them taken downstairs for us to collect when we were leaving.

Stepping into the café I saw the four girls at a table, enjoying crepes and parfait. Eri was the first to see us, and she waved brightly, her face lighting up, only to cock her head and adopt a look of puzzlement. At her gaze the other girls looked over, to mixed reactions.

“Wow, what the hell bro, you’ve changed clothes? I mean, they look good, but... why? Suspicious if you ask me.”

“Yeah, he vanishes with Shaeula, then comes back with new clothes... huh, Shaeula’s changed as well. That’s one cute yukata though, so adorbs. Still...” Rika-san said, eyeing us. “...and what the hell is with that huge doll?”

“Smells like cheating to me. Why else would they have changed their clothes?” Yae-san pouted, standing up to hug Eri, who dodged her with a glower. “Oh come on Ri-Ri, we need to commiserate each other. Aki has been sneaking off to cheat on us.”

“Us, there isn’t an us. Akio is my boyfriend!” Eri fended her off.

“Wow, enough messing around.” My sister complained. She too stood, hand on her hips, glaring at me. “So come on, fess up big bro moonstone, what is going on?”

Man she looks pissed. Makes sense, I don’t really know how I can explain this. Hell, it might even be easier to pretend I was cheating...

“There is no need to make a scene-scene.” Shaeula said primly, though I could see her arms tremble under the weight of the doll. She must still be in pain. “I simply had to buy this doll, it was a fated purchase, one might say-say.” At those words my sister and Eri looked at each other for a moment, before turning back to Shaeula. Their gazes locked and Shaeula nodded slightly.

With a sigh my sister sat back down. “Can’t be helped then. If it’s something fated then what can we do? Right Eri-chan.”

Eri pouted but agreed.

“That’s all very well, but that doll looks old, how much did it cost?” Rika-san asked.

I shuddered then with a different sort of pain than my injuries. “Don’t ask. Even after extensive haggling... my wallet cried.”

“So, he’s buying you really expensive presents... and that yukata too, I guess, away from his girlfriend?” Yae-san was still annoyed, it seemed. “Dressing up another girl when you have a beauty like little Ri-Ri already, that’s bad. If you wanted to cheat you could have asked me...”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off, wincing as the fabric of my shirt pulled at my wounds. Hopefully no blood comes through, Shaeula wrapped the injuries pretty well... “Seriously there was no cheating, the shop that had the doll had some yukata too, and Shaeula really wanted it, so I bought it. Then Shaeula thought it would be good if I changed my image a bit, so we got me some new threads. Simple as that. Speaking of buying things, I’ll cover lunch while we are here, sound good?”

My sister and Eri were looking at Shaeula, waiting for her nod. When she gave it, they relaxed a little.

“Do you... want to share this?” Eri pointed at the menu to a jumbo parfait that was supposedly ‘a treat for couples.’. Her gaze was boring into me, expectant, so I nodded, ignoring the laughter around me, and the muttered complaints of Yae-san, who was still insisting nothing added up...

Well why would it? I’m just amazed Eri and my sis are taking my crappy story so well. Maybe it’s Charm at work?