Comfort

"Akashic—you—wha… when… when did you awaken?"

"Not too long ago, why?" She went quiet for a while before responding.

"Rare… healing type is very rare… many families and corporations will want to recruit you…"

Rare, huh? I mean, I figured any Awakeners would be coveted, but I didn't know that healing would be extra special.

Makes sense, though. If it were common, I'm sure her grandfather would've been healed long ago.

"I don't really know much about this stuff. All I know is I can heal injuries and sickness. I used it on an elderly woman on her death bed, and she

was perfectly healthy when she left." After I said that I could see the moment the idea appeared in her mind as her pupils dilated.

"Akashic! Please listen to me for a little bit! I really need your help! You can name a price!" It's the most excited I've ever seen her.

"Of course. What's wrong?" I sat back down and began listening to her story.

Several years ago, her grandfather got ill and was convinced by her father to step down, allowing him to take power.

Her grandfather was a powerful Awakened who came to prominence many years ago by having strong ties to other ancient Awakened families and taking over weaker ones. 

In his prime, he was known to be ruthless, but as he got older, many assumed he mellowed out as he became a family man.

But that wasn't the case. He still commanded great power through both his physique and connections, even in his old age.

He fell ill seemingly overnight after he almost destroyed an Awakened family in the capital after they harassed his family, trying to force a marriage contract with Sierra.

That was why she felt extra guilty about the situation.

He was very protective of her and even reprimanded his son when he tried to force a marriage on her. 

She was set to inherit his position. He was even planning on introducing her to his connections so she'd have support in succession if anything happened, but unfortunately, everything changed.

His strength rapidly depleted, and he became very sick, unable to walk around or move much.

They tried getting top healers from the capital to come help, but after what he did there, the ancient families didn't allow it. 

His connections didn't have any healers, as they were that rare. They were at a loss.

He's been using ordinary doctors to keep himself going. Their best guess is some sort of cancer, but Silas believes it to be something else.

His influence in the family is strong, but he remains unaware of its problems as Noah, his son, controls all the information he receives.

Sierra was also told that too much stress on him might cause him to die faster, so she pretends everything is fine.

But with no support now, her father's trying to marry her off with the same family that started this mess so he can repair relations.

Anyway, they've all been treating her like shit since he went away, so she's tried starting her own business to make a name and get some status.

Unfortunately, she hasn't Awakened, and with Noah's connections against her, she hasn't succeeded much.

"Once grandfather is back, he can change things… But more importantly, I just want him back in my life!" She ended her story, crying profusely as she just kept repeating the word "Please."

I soothed her, holding her in my arms as I rubbed her back.

"Of course I'll help you, don't worry about it." I kept hugging her, and she cried harder.

I wonder how long she's had to hold it in, how long she's had to pretend to be strong?

I related to her a bit. After I lost my family I felt like I lost everything. I'm very grateful that I had people who still loved me in my corner.

But she didn't have anyone. The one person she did have was slipping away from her.

I just kept rubbing her back, and she kept sobbing for a while. Eventually, it became quiet, and I realized she fell asleep.

I knew from her conversation earlier that she had an apartment on the floor above us, so I picked her up and took her there.

Luckily, she had a private elevator, or it'd be very hard to explain why I was carrying their unconscious boss to her room.

I wasn't in the mood to get arrested.

The apartment was originally an office, so it was pretty open for the most part, like a studio apartment.

*Picture*

I took her to her bed and laid her down, covering her with only a blanket since she was still wearing her business attire.

*Growl* My stomach signaled my hunger as I looked at the time. It was past noon, almost 2:00 pm.

I hadn't eaten anything this morning, so I was hungry.

Scanning the apartment, I noticed takeout boxes. I guess she doesn't have time to prepare meals.

Well, I was hungry and happened to have a new skill I wanted to test out.

So I went and looked through her fridge and cabinets, a little rude, but eh.

I found some vegetables and rice, that's about it.

I figured she'd be asleep for a while, so I went back to her office, using the phone in there to ask someone downstairs to bring a few items.

She owned the building, and there was a grocery store nearby, so they did it pretty fast.

I gave the runner the money and thanked them, taking the bag and going back upstairs.

Sierra was still asleep, so I began cooking.

I didn't really know many meals, so I stuck to something I knew—steak and rice. 

It was something my grandmother made for me when I did well on a test. 

I started cooking, and the smell was already amazing. 

The rice was simple and didn't take much time to begin cooking after all the prep.

Once the steak was almost done, I had some gravy being made.

Not too long passed, and everything was done.

*Picture*

I went to Sierra and tried waking her up, gently calling out to her, but she didn't budge.

'Guess she was pretty tired…'

Oh well, I grabbed a drink and sat down to eat the first bite...

[+50 Satisfaction Points]

It was excellent. Made me excited to make even better food with better ingredients.

I ate, cleaned my dishes, and left, sending a text to Sierra as I did so. I wanted her to eat soon.

I made enough so she'd have some leftovers. She at least didn't have to eat takeout tomorrow.

As I left, I looked at the time and saw it was 3:21 pm. Alexia's classes should've ended, so I called her.

*Ring*

{"No show again, are you okay?"}

Oh wow, she answered pretty fast.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to thank you for the food yesterday, it was delicious. It meant a lot to me."

... She didn't respond. In fact, based on how quiet it got, I knew she muted her audio.

{"I'm glad you enjoyed it, hope to see you tomorrow."}

After a few seconds of silence, she responded. Even though her tone didn't change much, I knew her enough to know she was happy.

We talked a little longer before hanging up.

I started to make my way home while I called my grandparents.

Yesterday they mentioned Naomi was about to have her 18th birthday, and Aunt Karin wanted me there to surprise her.

I definitely want to see them again, so I agreed. Now I was calling back to see when was the best time to head there.

They were still several hours away, but I had a few days before her birthday. I really hope I'd be able to stop the marriage contract before then.

I still had months before my death date anyway.

I dialed their number and waited.

~

/Sierra's POV\

*Yawn*

I woke up to dim lights and a blanket covering me. I snuggled in as I enjoyed the soft bed.

Wait—

I shot up. Why was I in my bed?

That's when the memories hit me. I remembered finding out my dream came true—I found a healer for my grandfather.

And it was none other than my first friend! How lucky.

I looked at my phone for the time…

5:23 pm.

|9+ Messages|

How long was I asleep? I blankly looked through the messages and stopped when I saw Akashic's.

{Akashic: Yo, I would've left a note, but there's no paper and I have a phone. Anyway, after everything that happened, you fell asleep—understandable, as I'm sure you were exhausted. I picked you up and took you to your apartment. I used the private elevator, so don't worry about rumors or anything. While there, I got hungry and noticed a lack of food, so I had someone bring some stuff, and I made us something to eat. Enjoy, see you tomorrow.}

*Picture*

That's when it set in—the lingering smell of food made my stomach growl.

I stood up and went over to the stove, looking at the food he made.

There wasn't any mess, not even from the dishes where he would've eaten, so he had cleaned that up before leaving.

I got some food and went to sit down. Taking a bite, it amazed me.

Another tear slipped down my cheek, happy ones this time.

I felt like a light appeared in my life—there was finally a way out.

And the one to make that light appear was him… my chest felt warm with an unfamiliar feeling, but I didn't mind it.

I continued to eat my food in silence.