RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Thirty-Five: Tender And Gentle

"You need to eat, Yuko-san."

She still could not get up from the bed by herself, and Kyouhei Kurosaki, who had brought a seat next to her bed, had to assist her first just so she could sit up. Yuko Amazawa did not really like how she was so weak and dependent at that moment, but she knew that she should be grateful enough that someone was willing to go this far for her. Well, it was a good thing Kurosaki came.

"What is that?" she asked when she noticed what he had set on the bedside table and frowned. Kyouhei gave her a short glance as he turned and picked up the bowl filled with some kind of green soup he had prepared for her that she could not recognize. She felt wary about it.

"It's a herbal soup," Kurosaki briefly answered, stirring the hot soup with a spoon in his hand, blowing every now and then as he tried to cool it down so Yuko could eat it. Yuko's sense of smell was still not working because of her clogged nose and she felt queasy just seeing how suspicious the look of the food was to her.

"Herbal soup?"

"This will help with the fever, Yuko-san, " Kyouhei just explained, keeping his eyes glued on the soup while Yuko watched him from her bed, adding, "Don't worry, you don't have to finish it. You just need to put something in your stomach so you could take some medicine."

He stopped and moved to seat on the bed near her. He looked at her for a moment, his eyes scanning every feature of her face as she met his stare. He slowly sighed, gently reaching up to touch her cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear. He was a bit too close, but Yuko made no indication that she was uncomfortable. In fact, she never even moved nor showed any kind of reaction. She just stared at him, with those curious eyes as she held her breath, afraid that he would lean much closer. 

Then Kyouhei turned and took the bowl again that he had returned on the bedside table. He stirred the spoon in it some more before slowly taking a half-spoonful of it to feed Yuko. She was not used to being taken care of like this. Well, of course, her parents had done that to her before, but Kyouhei was different. And this felt completely strange and intimate yet for some reason, Yuko did not move away. She just let him bring the spoon near her lips and slowly sip on the liquid.

It was warm, and it slowly glided down to her throat when she tasted it. Surprisingly, even when she could not really tell what it tasted like, it actually helped her ease the dryness of her mouth and throat. It was only then that she realized how hungry she was and how badly she needed this. It did not even take that long before she finished the soup and ate all of it.

"All good?" Kyouhei asked after he moved and placed the empty bowl on the bedside table, together with the spoon, and took the glass of lukewarm water with the straw to give to Yuko. Yuko did not respond but silently took the drink from him as she sipped on the straw, sighing in total relief as soon as she started drinking.

"Slow down," Kyouhei reminded her, then after she drunk to her heart's content, he gave her the medicine and she silently took them without any complaint. He adjusted her again so she was leaning her upper body on the headboard of her bed before he left to bring out the empty bowl and glass with him. Yuko quietly kept to herself as she felt a little soft with how gentle Kyouhei was treating her today. When she thought he won't be back in her room, she calmly moved to lie her body down and stared up to her ceiling.

She did not really know what kind of feeling she was getting from this... But it seemed like she did not actually hate it.

Then suddenly, her door open again. Kyouhei walked in with a small basin and a towel in his hands. Yuko immediately brought her eyes at him as he placed the things he brought on the seat beside her bed.

"You need to change your clothes, Yuko-san," he told her, not even minding how that simple remark made Yuko instantly blushing as she gaped at him. "If you can do it on your own, I will leave the room and close the door so you can change."

"I can do it," Yuko quickly answered, overtly cautious of such a situation. She was very eager to do it even when she was a little weak as she tried to get up from the bed.

"Let me help you," Kyouhei said, with his arms already going around her body to assist her.

"You can leave now," Yuko told him right away as soon as she had managed to sit herself up.

"What about your clothes?" Kyouhei anxiously asked.

"I can get them on my own."

"Okay," Kyouhei simply answered back, nodding his head with a soft smile. "Then I'll just be standing behind the door if you need anything. Just holler me up, okay?"

Why was he so sweet?

Yuko could not bring herself to speak back at him so she just tightly nodded her head and looked away. Kyouhei eventually left after that, and he closed the door behind him just as he promised. Yuko sighed in relief and slowly tried to reach out for the water basin nearby. She was feeling a bit much better now that she had eaten and drank some water. She carefully moved on her own and got out of her bed to tend to her own needs. And as soon as she managed to get some new pair of clothes on the nearest closet she could reach without stumbling on her feet, she pulled whatever that she could wear in the meantime and took her time putting them on, then she neatly folded the ones she removed and placed them together with the water basin and the used towel on the seat beside her bed.

When she was finished getting back on the bed, she called out Kyouhei's name, and not long after that, he came in from the door and crossed the distance between them He quickly picked up the basin and the clothes on the chair yet still took his time checking on her first.

"Do you need anything?" he asked her. Yuko just shook her head no. Then he added, "You feeling better?"

She nodded and for a brief second, Kyouhei thought he was imagining it, but Yuko softly smiled back at him. Not expecting that, he abruptly stiffened, feeling his chest tightening upon seeing that expression on her. It was the very first time... that she smiled at him so genuinely.

And as he realized that it was real, only one thing came into his mind as soon as he walked out of her bedroom: Her smile was so beautiful. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Thirty-Six