How lucky we are for having each other (Yamata, Mirror Devil)

Christopher kept going. He was wobbling from the poison, and his mind started spinning, but his voice was still strong. “Whether you want to be a hero or a gang leader, that’s your decision. I can’t stop you, but I want you to know, on that day, that day you thought you were powerless, the day you had to be rescued? You were my hero.”

Her breath died in her lungs, Orochi’s lips trembling as her pupils straightened to focus on Chris. Her mouth was painfully dry, her body covered in sweat as she stared at Chris teetering. His thin smile faded as colors drained from his face.

Orochi’s heart clenched painfully in her chest, an image overlay haunting her eyes. Yuusei’s image was overlaid over Chris. A pale face turned paler as he struggled to keep himself awake, smiling even as he was losing consciousness because of her poison, trying to play it cool and not worry her—

She hyperventilated, her eyes unfocusing from Chris to see something else, her pupils trembling as her arms and legs started to lose strength.

Just like Yuusei all those years ago, Chris tried to play it cool, to comfort her as he was slowly poisoned. Once again she poisoned someone she loved by existing, by daring to expose how she felt, to un-bottle those feelings in her heart. Truly, how far could she fall? Why did she even try?

Why am I… hurting those I love?
From earshot, she heard the screams and shouts of her mother and aunt. The memories of that day all those years ago— “No.” Chris grabbed her face, Orochi’s eyes forced her to see the reality before her, not the memories perpetuated in her consciousness. “Orochi.” His hands were soft, and their grasp was weak, but Orochi felt compelled to look forward as if his hands stopped her every movement.

“Calm down.”

calm down
“Calm down”

CALM DOWN
CALM
CALM

Calm down

“Orochi. I will be okay. Calm down.” Magenta eyes and featureless void eyes looked at Chris. His visage still smiling. His face was pale, and his eyes vacant.

Orochi’s head throbbed, despite Chris’ grasp over her face, the memories kept flooding in, her memories kept drawing parallels, and her blood starting to boil under her skin. A painful disgusting scratch under her skin, like a pus-filled pustule under her flesh, just where she couldn’t reach.

A disgusting feeling. A whistle inside her ears drowned all sounds of the outside world, leaving only Chris in her world. His ragged breath, and struggle to keep himself awake, as her body continued to sweat, her heart beating so painfully in her chest it seemed that it could go into a heart attack at any moment.

A revolting taste in her mouth much like the smell of rotting flesh and blood. The edges of her vision started to turn into shades of pink, yellow, white, and black. Her world diminishing by the second. “Orochi,” Chris said one last time, dropping her face, and giving a last her a last hug.

It was not a tight one, it was not a strong one, and she felt strength wane from his arm body, leaning on her.

The buzz inside her eardrums shattered into something far worse, a chimney of screams and chaos. A pressure built outside of a pipe and released right in her head. Her hands spasmed.

Hands covered with red-blood scales opened and clenched without control, each finger acting independently, yet feeling as if it was the conscious effort of her brain.

Hydras were flooded with a barrage of sensations they were not made to feel, the red creatures halting their movement, unable to process the scene unfolding before their black eyes.

Orochi’s breath became ragged, body trembling and shaking. The voices of her mother and aunt filled her head.

She had hurt someone once again.

She had hurt a loved one again.

She acted like a monster again.

The chimney inside her brain became worse. What would she tell Faith? What would she tell her classmate? What would she tell anyone? Everyone? What? WHat? WHAT?

WHAT!

“Orochi. I’m okay. I just lost the strength in my legs.” Chris spoke, but his words fell on deaf ears, ears willfully blocked by Orochi, drowning in the memories and mistakes of the past.

The Hydra stood still, despite the loss of her strength, and the trembling of her legs, in a stupor between reality, and her own memories and twisted thoughts.

She felt a heavy weight over her right shoulder as if someone was leaning there, with a soft grasp, yet digging her claws in her shoulder’s flesh. The leaning of someone over her ear forced Orochi’s eyes right, to stare at what was there.

She couldn’t see anything but a faint silhouette. Someone she never met before, it felt familiar, almost like a sibling—

The voice spoke in a way she couldn’t understand, but magenta eyes were forced to see the reality, as Chris saw the movement of the right hydra head, biting over Orochi’s shoulder.

Orochi’s knees finally buckled, and she fell into a sitting position, her arms holding Chris close, to not let him fall. The buzz inside her heart started to vanish, but not before it left a nauseous feeling, her vision no longer clouded by strange spots. “Orochi… Are you okay?”

Chris asked, as Orochi vacantly nodded, a sentiment of crowdedness inside her skull, a small laugh in the back of her head. “I… will be okay.”

As she always would in the end.

As they always are in the end.

(Scene break)

Orochi had taken her time to groom herself after… her less-than-ideal display with Chris. Her father had appeared just in time to carry Chris back to one of the living rooms, and her mother was just after her father to help her. She did not doubt that her parents were there to step in should anything truly bad happen.

But given how fast it all went, 'Did it happen faster than they thought it would, or did they know I and Chris could handle it?' Her mother in the past would have stepped in way earlier. 'I don’t know anymore.' Orochi groaned, her tails wrapping around her in a defensive formation.

Despite “calming down”, her body still felt light, and her head was slightly dizzy. Orochi made her way to the living room. It was one of the more simplistic living rooms in the estate, a small room with a chabudai, and a large TV on a ceiling support. Chris was watching the news.

Chris was seated on the right end of the chabudai, but there was no sight of Orochi’s parents. She was a little glad about that. Explaining why she was covered in sweat with a boy, even if they had the context of the entire thing, would be a true nightmare. The Hydra girl took a seat on the left end of the chabudai.

Some snacks were distributed over the table. ‘I’m not feeling hungry today.’ Orochi would have to pass that. She stared at Chris, who wore his usual poker face. He was drinking tea while watching the TV, but he stopped to look at her. She looked at him in an awkward mood.

“Chris, I—”
“Orochi, I—”

They spoke at the same time, making their cheeks red with embarrassment.

“You go first.”
“You go first.”

Once again, they spoke at the same time, and the situation had turned even more awkward. “You go first.” Chris managed to speak faster than Orochi, making the girl groan in annoyance.

“Alright. Alright.” Orochi complained, resisting the urge to bang her head against the table. “I… am sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind and I didn’t manage to control my poison. I… didn’t mean to cause you pain.” Orochi said while biting back tears from forming, and her hurt from showing. She had too many problems because of her weakness; she didn’t want any more.

“I… acted a little too reckless. Don’t worry about that. It is no big deal, besides, I too was part of my problem. 'My hero'.” Chris broke his poker face to make a mouth-closed smile. Orochi recalled what he said before… whatever happened to her happened.

‘You were my…’ Her cheeks didn’t flush red anymore; they felt like exploding. “... This is playing dirty.” The hydra whined, throwing her weight back and lying on the ground, trying to hide in vain her embarrassment.

“It is the only way for you to not be down in self-pity and blame yourself,” Chris added with a smirk, drinking the tea loudly to annoy Orochi, who rolled her eyes.

‘Just because you are right doesn’t mean you are correct!’

“Anyway, what I said stands, Orochi. Your path is your own but… well. This is too embarrassing.” In a rare display, Chris blushed, not wanting to continue his phrase now that the poison was mostly cleaned from his system, noticing how cheesy it was. “But… I will try to help you, in whatever path you take. Who knows, maybe be a little greedy and try to conciliate the two.”

Chris talked in a tone of jest, yet there was a hint that he considered the idea, even if it was too small to notice. Orochi closed her mouth and looked at the ceiling. The memory of a friend came over in her head.

‘Would you be content with that? Y’know, we could achieve waaaaaaay more. Be greedy! Ain'tcha a dragon?’

Orochi turned to the side, cursing that the room lacked a kotatsu. ‘All I want now is to sleep and skip this day.’ It wouldn’t be possible given her internship. “Yeah, maybe I should be a little greedier.” Orochi sighed.

{B̷͜͝A̷̫̚S̴̖͘T̸̿͜A̵̧̚R̸͕͒D̴̫̕!̸̰̍ C̸̙̏A̷̫̐I̵͇͐N̶̳̉ B̸͔͠A̶̢̒Ŝ̶̙T̷̰͘A̶̻̅R̶̨͝D̸̦̏!̸̘͂}

Orochi blinked a few times. A loud hissing voice echoing from behind her, somehow. “Hey, Chris, did you hear that?”

“Heard what?” Her classmate asked dryly.

“Wait… you didn’t hear that? I swear I heard someone cursing your name…”