"Am I...still dreaming?Everything felt like a dream...one of those nightmares that continued to replay over and over again...
She could recall the moments as easily as she could her first steps. How her heart raced as she ran across the desert, her brother laughing as he chased behind her, ensuring that she didn't fall.
But in place of those memories was now something that seemed to strike like a bolt of lightning.
One flash....her realizing the danger that rested behind her...
Another flash...the sound of something swiftly cutting the air as it came down upon her...
Finally...the last flash of her seeing blood, her body hitting the ground and attempting to drag herself across the ground...voice echoing in her head as she could feel life leaving her body...
If that was what death felt like...it was certainly more terrifying than anything she imagined or read...
She could only recall hearing her brother...his voice telling her to wake up from her slumber, teasing her by poking at her nose as he usually did. Yet as she allowed her eyes to do so, she found light hitting her face, her purple hues narrowing against the glare of the sun as she attempted to see her surroundings.
A silence lingered within the room, only prompting a few moments for her to attempt to reach up her hands to rub at her eyes. As her wrist crossed her gazed, she'd stop in an instance upon seeing a figure sitting next to her.
"There ya are....take it easy kay? Ya not exactly up to stuff just yet..."
Purple eyes would blink as she prepared to speak, seeing her cousin there as she found herself struggling to move her arm as she soon looked at Arashi, her expression seeming to show some concern.
"Hey...I said take it easy..you've been through a lot and I want ya to take it slow...don't say anything...but listen..."
Moment MusicAyukawa would still find herself reaching, her hand leaning down beneath her head as she turned slightly so that she could face the older female. Though something still felt off. She could tell that she was off-balance...
"Look....what you did aside...you're gonna be okay...but..well...your injury isn't somethin that can be replaced...not easily...and it may take some time...but you'll adjust...I wanted to make sure I was here to tell ya this cause...well...I know it isn't a thing that ya wanna come to grips with alone..."
The young girl would blink once more, finally allowing her mouth to open as she began to speak.
"Is Issei and his friend okay? Did something happen? What about my injury? Why are you talking like th..."
A hand would cup over the girl's mouth, prompting her to release a breath as it wasn't uncommon for Arashi to do that when she was talking too much.
"Ya boyfriend and...well..his idiot friend...are alright...they should be on their way back to Konohagakure...as for your injury...well...I want you to realize that...there isn't much that can be done for it...and well..."
Ayukawa would hold a calm expression, her eyes still seeming to have that familiar light as she began to recall the events once again. The flashes, the dream...all of it coming back to her like raindrops.
She'd slowly turn her gaze, her body shifting upright in the bed, her head turning as she could see the gown she was in, along with the bandages across her arm before seeing the truth. Her left arm...it was gone...leaving only what barely looked like a nub in it's place.
Grasping at her mouth, the girl breathing started to increase, her eyes watering up as she shook her head and seemed to bite back a scream as she began to rapidly pull back the wrap that was around it. She was scratching at it, hoping that maybe she was just having a nightmare. Her free hand in a panic before Arashi took hold of it to stop her. Yet, the girl still struggled to get free, her eye glossed over.
"Look at me...LOOK AT ME AYU!!"
The girl would turn as she could feel her heart racing, her eyes holding a wide stare as the girl's face began to dampen with tears streaming down. The silence in the room continued, aside from the rapid breaths of panic that were escaping Ayukawa, like a wild animal trying to realize what had been lost to it, finding the means to accept it, but still unable to fully come to the truth before it.
"አዝናለሁ ፑካ...በጣም አዝናለሁ.."
(I'm sorry Pucca...I'm so sorry...)
---------------------
It had been only a few days since that realization came...and she hadn't so much as left her room...her body hidden beneath the covers of her bed, her eyes closed as she kept hoping that this bad dream would finally end. She didn't want to open her eyes to the reality, she didn't want to see the truth. She didn't want Issei to her either, since this was her own fault. She shouldn't have been there...she shouldn't have thought that she could help. She should have just listened...everything was her own fault.
Arashi was allowing the girl the time she needed, but it was getting to the point that a decision had to be made in terms of what to do with her at this point. Her task wasn't to babysit her through her grief, but to deliver judgement, and in the end, it had been decided that she was the one to do it. Leaning outside of her room door, Arashi would release a breath as she began to look over the scroll within her hand, allowing it to rest at her side as she shook her head.