This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Walking up to the bedroom threshold with a water bowl, Yua stopped, hesitating. The floorboard creaked one last time for a brief moment after her foot stopped. By the bedside of the bunk bed, she saw the blue-haired girl sitting on a stool, leaned over the bed where Alisan rested, her head down. Approaching as quietly as she could, Yua noticed the girl’s back gently rising up and down. Her head was buried in her crossed arms, lying just beside the torso of Alisan. She was asleep.
Yua observed her for a moment longer, eyes clouded with thought, then turned her attention to Alisan. Hugging the water bowl to her chest, she reached over Karin and lifted the towel off Alisan’s forehead. Setting the towel in her bowl, she then pulled a nearby chair closer to the bed and set down the bowl, squatting down to wring the towel. Hearing soft shifting of blankets and the creak of the bed behind her, she looked over her shoulder to find Karin lifting her head. Yua couldn’t see her face, veiled behind her dark flowing hair, but her dull movement and prolonged inhale told Yua she had indeed just woken up.
“Sorry…” Yua apologized with her soft, sheepish voice. “Did I wake you up?”
Karin turned her head towards the direction of Yua’s voice, eyes squinting against the sunlight. “No…” she croaked. “I just… dozed off.”
Yua let go of the towel. “Did you stay up all night?”
“No…” said Karin, stiffly straightening. “I woke up early to check on Alisan… and…”
She did not finish, instead turning her attention to her unconscious friend.
Yua turned back to her bowl and wringed out the towel again. “I can help take care of your friend. Get some rest, okay?”
“I’m not tired.”
Giving the towel one last squeeze, she retracted her elbows to her sides, blankly staring down and saying nothing more. Then, she stood up and walked to the bedside. Karin was feeling Alisan’s forehead. Extending the towel out to Karin, Yua said nothing else and glanced towards the other bed at the other side of the room. Turning towards the offer, Karin took the towel and smiled the best she could.
“Thank you.”
Leaning forward, she gently placed the towel on her friend’s forehead, adjusting it to sit flat, then returned to an upright posture. Yua moved towards the other bed to check on Nozomi, picking up the towel on her forehead and feeling it.
Returning to the wash bowl, Yua offered some advice. “I recommend taking a walk downtown. The air is fresh this time of the year.”
Again, there was no response from Karin for some time. Eventually, she took a deep breath and stood up from her chair, staring towards the window. She raised an arm to her neck, feeling the cut wrapped deep under the bandages. Then, she turned her head towards Yua.
“Do you need me to pick up anything?”
Yua looked up right in the middle of giving the towel a good squeeze. “Eh…?”
“Do you need me to pick up any supplies from town?”
“Ah…! Don’t worry about such things… Take some time to recover.”
Karin tried to smile some more. “I might as well make myself useful while we stay here. It’ll help distract me from my worries.”
Studying her for a moment, Yua eventually nodded and glanced towards the window, bringing a finger up to her mouth and thinking. “Well… Let me think… Ah, well, I have some herbs to pick up at… one of the markets. Here, I can write down directions to the market and a note for the merchant……”
Downstairs, Karin found Rin sitting at the dining table, back facing the stairway, hunched forward with her chin resting in the palms of her hands, staring idly as the morning sunlight waned and grew. There was no one else downstairs but her. Hearing the creaks of the stairs stop, Rin sluggishly turned her head, facing Karin.
“Awake so early?” Karin asked.
“Couldn’t sleep.” Her voice croaked, betraying those were the first words she’s spoken for the day.
Karin nodded. She raised the piece of note paper in her hand. “I’m going downtown to pick up some things for the healer. Want to come along?”
Turning her head away, she lifted off her palms and stretched out her arms. “Nothing better to do,” she grunted, scooching the chair back and standing up.