If the weather was fine during the night, it was completely different when we woke up the next morning.
The sky was covered with thick, dark gray clouds till as far as the eyes could reach, and it was pouring incessantly. The rain had started in the middle of the night, and soon, it had turned into a real storm.
As I came out of my room into the corridor to go brush my teeth, I came across of Gōjun, and the moment his eyes fell on me, he jerked to a stop, having a nose-bleed.
'What is this thing that you are wearing?' he shouted. 'Don't tell me that you had been wearing this last night to sleep?!'
Eh?
I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing a negligee. It was a light pink, sleeveless dress that came off my thighs, with ribbons hanging everywhere.
'I bought this at the supermarket the other day. There were promotions. I thought that I could try to wear something new. I find it very pretty.'
'It's also way too sex- I mean indecent! I want you to take it off immediately!' he shouted, even more loudly.
I cringed away, covering my chest with my arms, protectively.
What a pervert! He wants to… in front of everyone?!
Tsubasa-sama, Shunsui and Saien-sensei had come out in the corridor to see what was happening.
'Not in that sense, you idiot! I want you to go to your room and get changed into something more decent!' he snapped at me, when he saw my reaction, giving me a large bump on the head.
'Itai!' I moaned, rubbing my head in pain, and very quickly, I ran back into my room to do as he had said, while I heard him mutter to himself under his breath, 'And she dares think of me as the pervert! Who is the real pervert in the story, huh? I really can't believe this!'
I flushed tomato red.
***
Later...
I was in the kitchen, preparing our lunch when, I remembered that Shunsui and Gōjun liked to eat hot meat buns on a rainy day. It was something that they would always do when they were kids, and I decided to make some for them. I was sure that it was going to please them a lot.
After our meal and the meat buns were ready, it was time to put them in a few plates to bring them to the table to serve them to everyone. But I couldn't find any large plates in the cabinet above-head. I decided to check in the cabinet beneath the kitchen-counter.
Opening one of the doors, I crouched down and began to search for something that I could use to serve us our meals. As I was groping around, suddenly, I felt something walk onto the back of my hand. Instantaneously, I pulled my hand back, but it was too late. A sharp, deep pain hit me at that exact location where I had felt the crawling sensation. At the same time, in a reflex, I threw whatever it was that had bitten me off the back of my hand with a fling of the arm, while I squalled with pain.
When I looked on the ground, I saw that it was a large spider that had bitten me. It scooted away rapidly, and clutching at my hand, my eyes returned onto the bite it had left me with. It was hurting a lot.
But I told myself that it was going to pass very soon.
I continued to search for what I had been looking for. Once I had found several large plates, I brought everything that I had prepared in the communal dining area where the others were waiting for me.
But, contrarily to what I believed, the pain didn't pass. It simply transformed itself into a burning feeling all around the place of the bite. My heart was beating very fast. At first, I thought that it was only due to the scare that I had had, but I had the impression that my blood pressure had risen. And I had a tingling sensation around my lips. My head was aching, I was perspiring hard, and I had nausea. However, I continued to try to persuade myself that it was going to pass.
'Are you alright?' Gōjun asked me as I placed the dishes on the table, watching me with a concerned look. 'You don't look too well.'
Looking at him, I wondered if I should tell him about the spider bite. But I didn't want to worry him or the others. Tsubasa-sama, Shunsui and Saien-sensei were watching me with the same concerned look.
I had been about to tell them that it was nothing when, suddenly, Gōjun's eyes fell onto the back of my right hand and his expression grew alarmed.
Grabbing my hand instantly, he examined the bite mark I had there, to demand at me, 'Hime, what is this mark?!'
I was really feeling unwell by now. My head was dizzy and I was starting to have difficulty to breathe.
'Well, in fact, I got bitten by a spider in the kitchen earlier.'
Just as I had said this, abruptly, I began to feel faint and, the very next fraction of a second, I was falling the small distance to the ground.
'Hime!' everyone cried out together in shock, jumping to their feet.
Gōjun managed to catch me before I would hit the ground. He had gotten down onto one of his knees on the floor, and he held me in one of his arms into a sitting position, his expression completely alarmed now.
Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama and Saien-sensei have rushed to my side by now to get down on the floor too, their expression matching his.
'Hime! What kind of spider was it?' Shunsui demanded, urgently.
'I didn't see,' I answered, in a croak. 'It happened too quickly.'
'Oh my god! It must have been a funnel-web spider!' a female voice exclaimed at that moment, and we all stared at the old manager of the Ryokan, frantically.
A funnel-web spider?!
It was one of the deadliest spider in the world!
'A few months ago, another visitor had been bitten. Funnel-web spiders are quite common in these mountains!'
'It's not possible!' Gōjun shouted, looking at me with a horrified look. We were all horror-struck. 'Tell me that it's not true!'
'We need to take her to the hospital immediately!' Shunsui exclaimed, his voice shaking.
'The closest village is at several kilometers from here towards the northeast. But there are no roads that lead to it from where we are. You have to traverse the forest, and even then, I don't think it's actually possible to reach it on foot given the distance. Especially with the rain, the risk of landslides and floods. Not to forget that the venom...'
She left her words hanging.
The venom would have already killed me by the time we reach the village- if we manage to- on foot...
My heart trembled.
Okā-san… Am I- Am I going to die?!
'I'm calling for a helicopter immediately!' Tsubasa-sama declared, and getting to her feet, she grabbed her cellphone to dial a number. Her lips were quivering with fear, her fingers were trembling, in fact, her whole body was shaking.
'What is the name of the village?' Shunsui demanded at the manager, and she answered, 'It's the Village of Onogi. I have never been there before, but I know that the village has a doctor. The Doctor Sekine. Do you remember that I told you earlier that another one of our visitors had been bitten a few months ago? The doctor was here on a visit at that time, and it was he who saved the life of that poor soul!'
'Alright,' the reddish-brown-haired young man breathed.
'We need to cleanse the bite with water and soap,' Saien-sensei declared at the boys, his eyes scared. 'And then, we have to apply a pressure immobilization bandage to try to contain the venom!'
They both nodded, and Shunsui left to fetch a bowl of water and a cloth, while the manager of the Ryokan brought us a first-aid box.
Okā-san… I am scared. I don't want to die before having seen you come out of your coma! Am I going to leave without our having said goodbye to each other?
'Why is the helicopter taking so long?!' Gōjun demanded, agitatedly, while we were waiting for it.
He was still holding me in his arms. I was starting to find it more and more difficult to stay alert. I was slipping in and out of consciousness. It resembled a wave. At one time, I was submerged under the water. And at others, I would make surface again.
'And this rain which is not stopping!'
'Everything's going to be alright, Gōjun!' Shunsui assured him, though his voice was equally agitated. 'Nothing will happen to her! The helicopter of the Zaibatsu can fly even in the worse possible weather conditions! It should be here at any minutes now!'
The next thing that I heard was the dim sound of the approaching helicopter. And after that, I was under the pouring rain. Gōjun was carrying me in his arms. And the sound of the helicopter was in my ears. I remember being placed into the flying vehicle and catching glimpses of the terrified look on everyone's face; the tears in Tsubasa-sama's eyes.
When I resurfaced again, it was at the sound of the blonde woman's voice. We had arrived over the village, but there was no place where the helicopter could land, except in a small clearing at thirty minutes on foot from there.
After that, I was under the rain again; I could feel the droplets of water falling onto my raincoat relentlessly. Somebody was carrying me piggy-back. It was still Gōjun. I could recognize his scent. And when I opened my eyes, I could only see trees all around us. We were in the woods, and he was walking very fast.
I slipped back into unconsciousness for a moment, until I was shocked out of it by the sound of loud bangs. It was Saien-sensei who was banging on the door of a house. We had reached the village. We were at its entrance. I was having more and more difficulty to breathe by now.
A young woman answered the door, and immediately, Shunsui demanded at her where the Doctor Sekine lives. She looked at my face, in deep worry, and very quickly she gave him the indications. I went under the surface once again after that, only for me to be pulled back to consciousness by another couple of loud bangs on the door of a different house of the village. This time, it was an old man who answered the door.
'Are you the Doctor Sekine?!' Gōjun demanded at the man, making past him to enter the small house; Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama and Saien-sensei following suit.
'Yes,' the old man answered, a bit startled.
'She needs your help!' Tsubasa-sama exclaimed at him, sobbingly. 'She has been bitten by a funnel-web spider! You need to save her!'
'Oh my god! Put her down on my bed, quick!' the man exclaimed at Gōjun, and swinging around, he ran to the mini-refrigerator by the side of the door to open it and search through it, but only to gasp out, 'Oh no! It's not possible! I don't have any anti-venom left!'
My heart skipped a beat. Everyone had stopped breathing.
'What?!' Gōjun snarled, and crossing the room in one long stride while still carrying me on his back, he fisted the old doctor by the front of his shirt to shove him against the door, looking like he could kill. 'What do you mean you don't have any anti-venom left?!'
'Gōjun, please, calm down!' Shunsui urged, and grabbing his arm, he got him to release the man's shirt, before turning back around to look at the doctor to ask him, frantically, 'Where can we find anti-venom?!'
'At the hospital of the village!' the man answered, watching me with dead alarm. 'We need to take her there without losing a second!'
My eyes closed on themselves for one more time. I briefly remembered being under the rain before I slipped back under the surface. When I emerged out of the dark again, I could hear the doctor asking Gōjun to place me down anywhere he could find. I couldn't feel the rain on me anymore. I managed to open my eyes to see that we were inside of an old, wooden building. We were at the hospital; in what resembled the entrance hall. But there were no medical personnel around.
Gōjun put me down on the floor to hold me in his lap, his arm tight around my shoulders. Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama and Saien-sensei were holding themselves behind him, their expression more terrified than ever. The Doctor Sekine had gone somewhere.
I could keep my eyes open for hardly a second or two, before they went close. However, I managed to remain conscious.
'Hime?! Hime! Open your eyes!' Gōjun told me, in a begging tone, and I felt his other hand come over my jaw to cup the side of my face. 'Hime, please, open your eyes! Don't leave me! What will I do without you?! I love you!'
My heart skipped a beat.
Gōjun…
Fighting off the crushing darkness with all my force, I managed to open my eyes again to gaze at him.
"What do you feel for Gōjun?"
Ever since Natsui had asked me this question, I had been pondering over it.
What do I feel for him?
I didn't know the answer back then. Or rather, I knew it, but I had not wanted to admit it to myself.
I have feelings for Gōjun. Feelings of love. I am in love with him. I have no idea when or how it happened, but I love him.
However, I didn't think that he could feel attracted to me. "After all, why would he?" This was what I would keep saying to myself. When I had realized that he does feel attracted to me, I guess that what had bothered me so much was the fact it was only a physical attraction that he had for me. At least, that was what I had believed he felt. And I guess that it was also what he had wanted to believe- that it was purely physical.
But, there is more than that. I knew it today. I could see it in his eyes; he is sincere. And I can't hide my feelings to myself anymore, and much less to him; even if, perhaps, today is all that we have.
Slowly, I lifted my hand up to cup the side of his face equally, to whisper, 'Gōjun… I love you too!'
His eyes widened at me a little, his breath catching.
The pressure of the wave was too powerful for me to resist it any longer. My eyes closed on themselves; my head starting to sink under the surface again.
'Hime?! Hime! Open your eyes! Stay with me!' I could hear him cry out, but his voice was somehow blended by the water.
'Doctor, hurry up!' Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama and Saien-sensei shouted together, but their voice sounded blended too.
The last thing that I remember was the feeling of a sting, before I drowned completely.
Thank you for reading!