#62 Recovering
While we were resting and cuddling, I saw from the corner of my eye, one owl to land on one of the branches of the tree.
I immediately glared at that owl and its eyes immediately widened in fear.
"Spying on your allies isn't a very nice hobby." I said aloud and when Taeko heard me, she immediately jumped away like a cat, landing right next to me as if nothing happened at all.
*Puff*
"Yeaah...I wanted to reveal myself immediately, I didn't want to spy on you two or interrupt you." Chelsea came approached us and said with an awkward expression while scratching back of her head.
"Chelsea...y-you didn't interrupt anything" Taeko said with her stoic face but she still started blushing, most likely imagining what would have happened if Chelsea caught us a few minutes ago.
"Taeko...I-It's alright, you are a woman, after all, you don't need to feel ashamed" Chelsea tried to make her feel better by saying this but I think that she only made the situation worse.
"It's not like that-" Taeko said with a low voice.
"Lollipop girl, are you aware of the situation?" I asked with a serious expression.
"More or less after seeing those kids returning to the inn together with that man but I don't know details. And lollipop girl? I thought I am make-up girl for you..." Chelsea said and then blurted out without even thinking which slightly surprised even her.
"I promoted you. Previously you were just a make-up girl due to your convenient ability, now you have become a lollipop girl because I remember you by your strongest trait. You better cherish it, this also means that I slightly acknowledged you after working with you." I said with a small smile.
"...Grr, why it can't be for example Red beauty?! But I guess it's slightly better than the make-up girl." Chelsea glared at me before she gave up and accepted her new nickname.
"You can add "Red" anywhere you want but be careful about a "beauty" thing. I will tell you details about what happened a few hours ago later. Anyway, what were you doing while we were busy?" I said with a provoking smile and then asked her when she sat down next to Taeko.
"?!" Chelsea tensed up when she heard my question which slightly surprised me.
---
'I can't possibly tell him that I wanted to help but failed miserably before even approaching my targets...He would definitely go back to calling me a make-up girl and definitely made fun out of me.' Chelsea thought with wide-open eyes.
---
"I-I was relaxing in the hot springs, I was quite exhausted you see...hehe" Chelsea said with an awkward expression while scratching her cheek.
Is she embarrassed that she didn't help us or is there something else?
I narrowed my eyes while looking at her.
"Eek-!" Chelsea immediately hid behind Taeko while putting her hands on Taeko's shoulders, making her face me instead.
Whatever, I am pretty sure that it's just something stupid.
I started explaining the situation while I approached Babara and...took off her clothes to check on her wound I caused to protect her heart from the curse.
"...Normally I would use this chance to make fun of you but seeing how your expression is serious, I can't..." Chelsea said and although she didn't make fun of me, she still had to mention how she regrets that she can't.
"Do you think I like what I am doing right now? There isn't any space to act embarrassed or awkward. I would have let Taeko take care of it but I also need to check on the curse if it's not spreading anymore." I said with a small smile while raising my head from Babara to Chelsea.
"Haven't you said that you already removed the curse from her body?" Chelsea asked with a confused expression.
"I did but how can I be sure that nothing unexpected will happen? I don't know the curse's process so I have to check on her condition at regular intervals." I explained while using my energy to slightly ease her condition. Although fire doesn't exactly have healing properties, you can still burn your wound to stop the bleeding so I guess it has something to it. I was just trying to ease her suffering a bit and also make sure that nothing harmful is inside her body.
...
"Anyway, I am done here, can you dress her up?" I said to Chelsea while wiping my hands with the wet cloth.
"What is it? Are you able to take lady's clothes off but unable to put them back?" Chelsea couldn't resist to tease me with an amused smile when she finally saw that Babara's complexion brightened a bit after my treatment.
Lady my ass...
"Maybe I am...do you want to try it out yourself?" I said while glaring at her.
"Hehe, it was just a little joke, I am coming~!" Chelsea released a forced laugh and got up from the ground to dress Babara up.
I went back to sit next to Taeko at my previous place.
"..." Taeko didn't say anything but she smiled after seeing our exchange and her smile only widened when I sat down next to her.
"..." The atmosphere turned a bit awkward since Taeko kept glancing at me with a smile and Chelsea who was dressing Babara up kept raising her head, checking at us. She was trying to look discreetly but it was too obvious that she was interested in what has happened between us since we had no time to do anything due to fighting and treating Babara's wounds.
"Well...Girls, I will go back to the town and find some blankets or something we can use to sleep on instead of this hard ground." I said with a smile.
"Oh?! How considerate of you to think of our beauty sleep. I wouldn't be able to sleep on this hard ground." Chelsea said with a bright expression before she started rubbing her butt with a pained expression.
I am thinking about Babara's quick recovery instead of your butt...
"Wait, it's not safe to return there..." Taeko, however, had a different opinion than Chelsea. She was looking at me with pleading eyes.
"Don't worry, they won't find me in such a big town, not to mention that they have their own worries right now." I said with a comforting smile while getting up from the ground.
Taeko didn't say anything more but she still grabbed my hand which caused me to look at her with a confused expression.
"Then I will go with you, it will be safer with two of us." She said and grabbed her sword that was lying next to her.
"No, there can still be danger beasts lurking around here, you have to remain here...Lollipop girl, can you change my appearance?" I reassuringly tightened my grip and then shook off her hand.
"Um...I can't, it doesn't work like that. I can't just change your appearance whenever you want. This Teigu is mainly for me, it's already good that I can prolong your disguise." Chelsea answered with a difficult expression while glancing at Taeko with curious eyes.
"Well, doesn't matter. I will just sneak into the town without letting anyone see me. Wait here for me." I said and jumped on the branch of the tree, ready to leave.
"Can you take me a glass of milk while you will be there~?" Chelsea said while waving at me and Taeko was just looking at me with a worried look in her eyes.
"..." I didn't reply and just simply left.
---When Akashi left---
"Taeko~ Hi!" When Akashi left, Chelsea suddenly released a teasing smile while sitting down right next to Taeko.
"? Hello?" Taeko was confused by Chelsea acting but she still replied.
"Don't worry about that guy, instead, you should trust him if you know him so long." Chelsea tried to comfort Taeko.
"...Mm!" Taeko thought for a while before nodding her head with a small smile.
"Anyway~ What had happened before I arrived? And I don't mean granny's injury and treatment..." Chelsea asked with a teasing smile while observing Taeko's clothes if there was something out of place. Except for a slightly tattered shirt and her white tights which was most likely caused by the battle, nothing else suspicious was there.
"Before...? Chelsea...our leader usually mentioned love between a woman and another woman. I have never really understood what does it mean but I want to ask you something...Is there a possibility of love between woman and man?" Taeko suddenly asked without replying to Chelsea's question.
"Huh?! *slap*" Chelsea was shocked by Taeko's question so much that she had to facepalm herself.
'So this is what happens once you grow up without anyone teaching you common sense while your leader is also lesbian? Anyway, this is not like Taeko...something really happened but it probably wasn't anything big.' Chelsea thought while looking at Taeko's clueless face tilted to the side as she was staring at her in confusion about why she facepalmed herself.
"Haaa...listen Taeko. I won't describe what love is because even I don't truly know it, I only know a few common sayings but for each person, it can mean something else. As for love between man and woman...that's usually what is considered normal since you can't...have...kids without a man." Chelsea took a deep breath before she started explaining and teaching Taeko some common sense, however, even she started slightly blushing in the middle of such discussion.
Taeko and Chelsea continued their talk until it arrived at the matter what happened before Chelsea came and Taeko who was already quite talkative from such discussion where she could learn a lot of things, she described what really happened word by word, she even started describing how it left during their french kiss but Chelsea already stopped her at that time with a slightly horrified expression.
'I know that I used a few tricks to make her tell me everything but to think that she would believe me so easily...I guess I will also have to teach her the importance of keeping those things to herself. You better thank me later, Akashi!' Chelsea thought with a tired expression while touching her forehead.
----
"I am back" I said while standing behind sitting Chelsea.
"Eek-! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Chelsea said with an angered expression.
"Yeah, yeah, here you go." I threw blankets on her and even one bigger tent and also...
"Oh!! You really brought me milk? And it's even hot...I love you Akashi!" Chelsea was surprised when she saw the bottle among the blankets and said with a teasing smile.
Taeko flinched a bit when she heard Chelsea's words and then looked at me with a curious expression.
"Mm, you will pay me the money I spent later." I nodded with a smile and closed eyes and then informed her.
"Haah? I thought that it was a gift...and for free." Chelsea immediately started looking downward with a disappointed expression and after a while, she even started mumbling something.
I handed another bottle to Taeko.
"? Thank you." She looked a bit confused but when I winked at her she smiled and took the bottle from my hand.
I went to prepare a tent and also make a place for Babara more comfortable so she could recover slightly faster.
.
.
.
The next morning...
When I woke up, I was lying between Chelsea and Taeko, as for how it happened. The tent I have brought wasn't big enough for 4 people so when I wanted to sleep outside due to my resistance to coldness, Taeko immediately dragged me inside. While Chelsea complained a bit, in the end, she accepted it quite easily.
Ugh...Why do I feel like this has already happened once...
I thought while looking at Taeko who was resting her head on my chest with a peaceful expression.
I wouldn't mind this at all except for Chelsea currently hugging my head between her boobs.
Before anyone wakes up, strike first!
I thought and moved my head up in quite a quick motion and hit Chelsea's chin.
"Ouch! ...W-What are you doing?" She immediately woke up and stared at me and Taeko for a while before she regained her senses.
Easy escape without being seen. That's what I call assassin.
"Nothing, I woke up just a few seconds ago" I replied with a clueless expression.
---
'Then who hit me...I felt that something or someone hit my chin' Chelsea thought while warily looking at clueless Akashi.
---
After we all woke up, even Babara, we went to find some breakfast.
.
.
"So, how are you doing?" I asked while crouching near Babara who was sitting on one of the trunks.
"Much better than yesterday but my strength is still greatly affected...Thank you for saving our lives even though it was quite dangerous. We greatly underestimated them so I was slightly surprised that you didn't choose to retreat by yourself" Babara said with a small disappointed smile.
"Who do you take me for? I said that I will keep Taeko alive and also come back in case you will be in trouble so I did. I wouldn't let Taeko die no matter how strong opponents I would be facing since I gave you my word." I replied while angrily glaring at her.
"...Is it really just because of your word?" Babara asked with a teasing smile while observing her pupil's slightly unusual behavior.
"Can you tell me what the curse felt like? You are probably the first one to survive, judging from his expression when he saw you still breathing." I decided not to answer her question and instead, I changed the subject with a serious expression.