As I push myself up, I hear Tomoko running up to me. "Miss! I saw what happened are you alright?" She grabs my hand and helps me up, brushing away possible dirt on my kimono.
I smile softly at her worry, "Yeah I'm fine," I step forward but a shot of pain burst in my ankle," Ow!"
"Here let's get you to your room to soak in water." She holds my waits and helps slowly walk me to my room.
We get to the room and I sit down on my bed. Tomoko takes off my tabi socks; my ankle has already become red and swollen. After a few minutes, she comes back with a small round bucket of cold water. I suck in my breath when she lifts it to be put in the water.
"I'm sorry for causing you some trouble now. You're probably behind on your work." I sit watching her get some cloth from a box full of medicine.
"It's quite alright. It's my job to take care of you when you need it. I like helping other people and see how much good that I can do. I'll be back with some more stuff give me a few minutes to go check on a few guests and I'll come back."
She leaves the room and I'm left sitting in the room by myself. I think about the lady that tripped me and I suddenly get a feeling of anger towards her.
Who was she to trip me? She doesn't even know who I am.
A few minutes later, Tomoko comes back with a bottle of yellow liquid.
"Alright, let's get your foot dried and rub this on to help it." She sits in front of me and dries off my foot.
"I'm sorry you have to do this. I feel so embarrassed." I fold my hands in my lap unsure of what to do.
Tomoko smiles up at me and pats my hand, "Miss you worry so much. This is stuff I do every day. It's part of my work that I have to do here since the Master took me in."
She pores some of the liquid into her hand and starts rubbing it into the sore spot on my ankle. It hurts so much but I bear through it, it's only a simple sprang. I breathe in and out repeating it to myself. Tomoko wraps a cloth around my foot and pats my knee.
"There you all done." She smiles and stands up. I smile back, "Thank you Tomoko. You have been such a big help with me coming here. Is there anything I can do? I just feel bad."
Her face reads blank and then she gasps," You can pet me!"
"Huh?"
"I have a fox form and I love getting pets. So in return, you can pet me for all my hard work." She smiles and her tail wags behind her.
"Well, okay as long as your comfortable with it."
Suddenly, a poof of smoke appears and fades with a tiny orange fox on the floor.
I gasp, "Tomoko is that you?!"
A little yip comes from the small little form signaling that it was indeed her. I pick her up and put her in my lap to pet her. Her fox form curls up and lays down. I smile and pet her head for a few minutes.
Her fur feels like a cloud and her ears feel like puffs of cotton. We stay like that for a while, my hand petting her small little body and me sitting on my bed until I grow tired.
She turns back into herself and helps me lay down. My eyes slowly drift closed and I'm asleep.
~~~~~~~
I hear creaks of the floorboard near me and I turn to see that lady who tripped me; standing over me smirking. "Aw, the poor little human girl hurt her ankle. How sad." She laughs at me and her face becomes filled with anger.
She starts walking towards me, I start to stand up in a hurry but I feel her footstep on my ankle and feel my body slammed onto the bed behind me.
Her hands wrap around my throat and squeeze. My lungs begin to panic and I start gasping for air, clawing at her hands to let go. She's trying to kill me!
"To think a weak and pathetic human is going to be the wife of a demon lord," She spits on my face and squeezes harder making blood rush to face "I'm going to watch your little face in agony knowing how easy it is to kill you."
I start wheezing for air as my vision starts to become darker. She leans down to my ear and whispers, "I know who you are. You heartless Lotus."
I manage to get a single yelp in before my lung start to beg for air. Suddenly, I hear glass shatter and the woman is thrown to the side of me. I start heaving in the air. "What are you doing here! No one is allowed in this room!"
I see Tomoko angry and standing in front of me. The women scoff and leave the room unaffected by what happened.
I hear Tomoko shout someone's name but everything becomes distant and turns black. All I know is that my body is being lifted by someone and yells are going on in a distance.
~~~~~~~
I wake up in a strange room that's not mine. It's big and has unfamiliar things in it. My eyes wander until I Orochi sitting down by a table reading something. I try calling his name, "Oro-" but my voice cracks from the sore muscles on my neck.
He looks up surprised and gets up, "Ren, glad to see you're doing alright."
I attempt to sit up but he pushes me back down, "You need to rest and try not to strain your neck any more than it is."
"Does it matter? I'm just a human and I can take care of myself but who was that? The person who did that." I croak out.
He folds his arm examining my face and says, "One of the guests. Qing Qing was removed by my guards. You don't worry now since I banned her from coming here again."
I look at the ceiling and exhale in relief. "When did you get that mark on your arm?" I pale. He knows.