It was already the next morning. The sky appeared clearer, and the air much fresher, less suffocating. Maybe, it was due to the exorcism that happened last night. Miko sat in the garden, carefully absorbing the essence of the demonic spirit she had got when she exorcised it. The sun was rising past the mountains in the distance, its firts rays of light peaking over the hills.
"Thats enough for today," Miko thought. Her ears and tail were quickly hidden with illusion magic, such that she appeared human once more. She did not want Tashi to wake up early and see her in her fox form. In fact, she had never thought about how he would react if she told him... but she decided to head back into the room and lay next to him. She put on some clothes first, remembering that after she transformed into a fox, she placed her clothes automatically into a sealed space. Sealed space was a limited space of an extension from the current world. It was in space, and can be an extended storage place that expanded according to the owner's prowess. She teleported her clothes immediately when she turned into a fox to prevent them from getting dirtied or damaged. Speaking of dirty, Miko was covered in mud and dirt...
Miko took a morning bath before she went in. She drew some water from the well in the courtyard behind the house headed into the bathroom. Then, she stripped and poured the water over herself, biting her lip to deal with the pain that followed when it touched her bare wounds.
"Sigh, are there even bandages here?" Miko wondered. If she had been as strong as she was before, she would have some sort of accelerated healing, making the pain more bearable and having the wound healed faster. This cut was deep, and at her current state, looked like it would take quite a long while before it could be fully recovered. Miko took a deep breath and exited. She wrapped a white bath robe present in the bathroom around her body. She looked outside the shoju screens saw that the sun had fully risen.
"Did I really take that long?" Miko thought as she made her way back into the bed room to see Tashi sitting upright on the bed.
"You're awake," Miko said, sitting on the bed. Tashi crawled forward and slid his arms around her waist.
"Why did you leave me?" Tashi whispered into her ear in a low voice, making Miko shudder.
"I jus went to take a bath... I was too excited to sleep..." Miko answered. She tried to get up but Tashi held on tighter.
"Don't... leave..." He said. Although Miko didn't want to admit it, what he was doing was kinda cute.
"Haha okay. I'll stay with you forever," Miko whispered back into his ear, placing a kiss on it which made Tashi twitch a little. It turned a little pink, which made Miko chuckle. Tashi smiled and wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, which made Miko hiss in pain.
"Y'kay?" Tashi asked, concerned.
"I'm fine" Miko replied, smiling through the pain.
"You don't seem so." Miko continued to wave it off, but Tashi was unconvinced.
"Take your robe off" Tashi said, his voice commanding.
"Huh?!" Miko exclaimed. She had not put on a proper set of clothes, so there was nothing underneath.
"Take it off... I need to see whats wrong," Tashi stated once again, "but if you are uncomfortable, just face your back towards me." Miko nodded and turned to face the edge of the bed. Due to the pressure applied by his arms, a portion of the robe was stained deep red. Tashi furrowed his eyebrows. He did not expect something this severe.
Miko bit her lip to hide her embarrassment. Not only that, but one's powers fluctuated according to their emotions. She did not want her embarrassment to cause her illusion to dissapear, even for a split second.
"Please baby, I need to see what's wrong..." Tashi pleaded, placing his hands gently on Miko's shoulders before he slid them off, calming her nerves. Miko raised her hands and slowly played with the knot holding her robe together, detangling it. Then, she slowly slid the robe off her shoulders such that it pooled around her waist. She grabbed both of her arms in embarrassment, and possibly a little uncertainty. Tashi took her arms and placed them down, pressing a quick kiss to the nape of her neck. His eyes wandered down her body, down her back covered by her long, pink hair. He parted it and placed them at the front, such that it covered her chest. Hopefully, this helpped her feel more secure and less exposed while granting him access to the view in front of him.
Her skin was as light as the moon, smooth to the touch like silk. Subconsciously, Tashi's fingers brushed across her back, coping a feel of her back. This made Miko shudder a little as he drank in the sight in front of him. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Breathtaking. A million words to describe how Miko looked and felt. His fingers brushed along her back, leaving every single nerve he touched to come alive. Miko's breath hitched, much to her embarrassment. She was barely holding it together.
"Tashi..." She whimpered, snapping him out of his trance.
"Sorry, I... I'll go get bandages now," he replied, after a quick glance at the deep wound. He immediately darted out the door, he himself trying to keep himself under control. Miko tried to calm her palpitating heart, much to no avail. Tashi went to the cabinet and took out a medical box, which contained some bandages. He carried them back to the room, and opened the door to see the sight of Miko in front of him. Her skin glistenening from the water that dripped down her skin, her chest and cheeks painted a bright pink, like the sakura petals in spring. Her breast were covered with her hair, and she covered herself in shock when she saw Tashi approaching.
"Sorry," Tashi said, closing his eyes to walk behind her first. He took a cotton sponge and applied some medication on it, before gently dabbing it onto Miko's wound. Miko tried not to move or hiss from the pain, and instead wait for Tashi to be done. After a bit, he took the bandages and wrapped them tightly around her torso and upper body.
"This will stop the bleeding and reduce risk of infection. How did you even get this hurt?! Come, I'm taking you to a doctor." Tashi said as he pulled the robe back onto Miko.
"No need," Miko replied, putting her hand over his. She gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go. She couldn't go to a doctor. As a human, he would be able to figure out how different she was. A spiritual beast's body in human form is different from a humans in terms of energy composition. This allows them to transform at will between their human and beast, plant or elemental forms. A plant or elemental spirit would not even have a pulse! The doctor would be able to tell and that would be the end of her.
"I'll bring you to a cultivating doctor if you are scared that ordinary physicians are not able to treat it properly. They should also have medicine that prevents scaring, if thats what you are concerned about. Its too bad to leave alone..." Tashi comforted, massaging her shoulders to release some of her tension, which it unfortunately failed to do so.
"I don't need a doctor, really. It just looks big but its not that deep. I'll be fine," Miko answered.
"A cultivating doctor is worse!!" Miko yelled in her mind. They would see through her more easily, just through her aura if they were strong enough. Then, it would be over for her if she gets captured. Besides, a spirit's regenerative ability is much higher than a human even without cultivation, and unlikely to scar from just physical attacks.
"But..." Tashi trailed off.
"I'm really fine. If anything is wrong, I'll tell you immediately," Miko insisted. Anything to not go to a doctor.
"Fine," Tashi finally relented.