"Oh, what's wrong Yukina?" James questioned, he twirled his head around. He had an expression of awe, and shock.
"Can you take a look at my eye…? It's feeling weird…"
Recently, it's gotten worse. I can't open it now, and it felt as if things were crawling inside… For an odd reason, I didn't feel any pain anymore. And honestly… I'm terrified to see, even seeing it right after gave me chills.
"Alright, alright… Go sit on that chair over there, I'll take a look." James ordered me to, pointing to his right. I sat down at the chair, hands on the edge and leaning forward.
What's he doing? I curiously thought to myself. James hurriedly left the tavern, well to his room. After a few moments rushing back.
He was holding a flask of something, gauze and an odd colored bottle.
Doesn't he have healing magic? Why does he need it for this? Surely it wasn't so bad as to need potions.. Confused, I tilted my head at his actions. It's extremely weird…
"Hold still for a moment, okay?"
"Alright…?"
Up close, I saw him set down the medical supplies. He carefully unwrapped the bandage around my eye, his jaw clenching for a moment. Was it that bad?
"I don't know if this will hurt, just bear with it for a moment."
His hand closed in on my blind spot. I felt his fingers touch my eyelid, one finger on the bottom and top. Then, they parted ways… mentally and physically, I flinched expecting pain.
However, there was nothing, not even a slight hint of it. For me at least, but James's mouth hung open, eyes wide. His hand started to rattle my face, it was shaking badly.
"W-What's wrong?" I stuttered, unintentionally. I could feel my heart race, was my eye that bad?!
"...I'll provide some procedures on it. You'll be alright, don't worry." James said to me with a forced smile. His cheeks were forced, I won't be alright…
******
JAMES
A few days have gone by since Yukina came back to us. I feel my stomach churning seeing her walk around, I wanted to wrap her in a hug and tell her it's okay. She was in a terrible state, plus she's been relying on us more for things.
Something's been bothering her, it's quite obvious. Her right hand is injured, swollen and purple. A slime's poison takes so long to heal without magic. Her other arm we put in a cast, she can't use it — nor can she bend it without forcing.
Yet, she seems slightly different again. I can see it behind her one working eye, there was a slight fire alit, plus she started training with Shaun. Although, just sword stances, having to modify her foot stance due to her disability.
And today, I was standing in the diner, thinking about the future when I heard Yukina call to me. I turned around, frightened, she was quiet as a mouse when walking around. She looked uncomfortable, her mouth was in a deep frown and her eyebrow was twitching.
"Can you please take a look at my eye…? It's feeling weird…" She asked me, I could hear a slightly scared tone in her voice. Is she scared of seeing it herself?
Without thinking, I agreed. Due to Shen's fault, I cannot use my healing magic on her. It's been a few days, and she estimated it'd take a week for the vampirism to run its course. As this ran in my mind, I rushed to my room.
My wife and daughter were sleeping away on the bed. In the dresser right of our bed, we kept a supply of medical tools. Gauze… A flask of hot water, then an anti-infection potion. By the Gods, I hope this works…
If my magic doesn't work, potions should. This, I do believe, they aren't made from magic, they're made from naturally grown materials. Once I held them, I ran out of the room, almost bumping into the door frame.
Back, I can see Yukina sitting on a chair. She was shaking slightly, her ears flopping on both sides. Furthermore, impatient as she was, she grabbed the edge of her seat.
"Hold still for a moment, okay?" I asked her to, she doesn't seem to be in pain, but it could be an act.
"Alright…?"
I set the supplies down, and began to remove the bandage. Her eyelid was way more swollen, red and angry. I must've reacted without thinking, Yukina was staring at me.
"I don't know if this will hurt, just bear with it for a moment."
I held my fingers to her eye, and opened it.
"..."
I'm really going to kill that woman… Her eye is so bad… I could feel my body shake, I felt this… fire enter my heart, then an overwhelming rage course through my body.
Yukina's eye, or former eye was… bad. It was decaying, her sclera and pupil were missing. I can see past it, the nerves that made up the eye were visible, blackened and starting to shrivel. It was dying, we were scared at first, we didn't check it.
"W-What's wrong?" Yukina stuttered, I don't have the heart to tell her, I don't want to. She looks afraid, she was frowning, I could feel her shake.
"I'll do some procedures on it, your eye will be fine, don't worry." I said to her, smiling. Should I tell her? Her eye was hoping I could heal her. I can't! I can't do that! By the time I can, her eye will be gone!
"Can you heal it?"
"..."
"...You're not able to…" Yukina lowered her good eye, I wish she wasn't so quick on the uptake. She realized fast, even after waking up, something was wrong. "James… are you hiding something?"
"..."
"If there is.. please, just please tell me something."
"Y-... You were bitten by a vampire."
"... Shen, right?"
"Yes.."
Yukina tilted her head, and slowly lifted her hands to her face. There was an audible groan of frustration, as she grumbled some quiet words.
"So, does this mean I'll turn into one?"
"Shen said your blood was special, and it's fighting off the vampirism. We can talk about this when I apply some of this on it." I suggested whilst holding up the potion. She looked at me dumbfounded, she was questioning me. "Just stay still, I'll explain."
"Okay…"
********
YUKINA
I should've known…. Well.. I did? Turns out that asshole, Shen, did this to me. That neck bite was from her, and that drink she had was most likely blood…Here's me hoping it was just fancy wine.
Some of this was making a bit of sense to my scared brain right now. I'm a bit worried, he said I wasn't, that my blood was special due to that. What are the chances that I slowly am?
I don't know the benefits of being a vampire in this world, nor do I know anything about them. James seems to know, and so does everyone, but they haven't said anything. Bringing that point back, they have not told me that I can't be healed.
And how did I figure that out? They have not done such a thing, and James is doing classic doctor things… Currently, he is pouring that cold ass green potion down my eye socket. Due to that, I feel like I need to shiver. Well, it's better than it giving me a burning feeling..
"I'm going to need you to lean your head back." He suggested whilst moving his other hand to my forehead. I felt him apply pressure, but I followed his orders. "Do you feel any discomfort? Any pain?"
"No, it just feels cold."
"...That's not good." James mumbled, his mouth wrinkled. He must've realized what he said, backpedaling moments later. "Ahem, sorry… Um, it's good it is not hurting, but I'm concerned."
"How bad is it?" I asked him. I know full well how bad it is, I just want to hear it from him.
"The nerves of your eye are damaged, and you can't see… due to the parts of your eye missing."
Seems like he's finally opening up… He's starting to see I'm not just a little girl. I do want to know about these things.
"What's happening to me?"
"Ah… well, the most notable thing you noticed is I cannot heal you." As he explained this, I felt that cold wash over my eye socket. He kept pouring as if he doesn't know how much.
"How long will it last?"
"Around a week, if you can bear with this for another week, I can heal you."
It's not like I can't feel anything with it… It randomly started to numb…. Haah… What am I going to do? At this rate… it'd be better to remove it.
""ACK-! WHAT DID YOU PUT INTO MY EYE?!" I just felt this sharp needling jamming into my eye! It kept stabbing, stabbing into it!
"Something to help with it, I can't numb that pain you're in… but potions seem to be effective." I could feel myself convulse, barely holding my entire body together.
Fucking! FF-! THAT'S WORSE THAN EVERYTHING. IT KEEPS STINGING- STINGING EVERYWHERE! I DEFINITELY JINXED IT!!
I felt myself slip off the chair, barreling to the ground. If it had not been for James, I would've hit the ground. He held me, making sure I wouldn't get hurt.
Finally… The pain from my eye disappeared, it was now a refreshing feeling.
"I'm okay, please let me go…" I said to him as soon as my eye was fine. I could feel my cheeks slightly warm up, but he quickly removed his arms, then I sat back up. "W-What was that?"
"It's a potion to fight off infections. Your eye was badly infected, and it killed all of it."
That still doesn't mean my eye will heal, parts are missing and quite a few of the nerves are dead. James checked my temperature, let out a relieved breath and backed up slightly.
"It worked… It's… It's really a miracle! I-I think we can save your eye!" He exclaimed, plus his mouth turned into a grin. He seemed excited, it honestly scared me with his change of tone. "Let me finish it here! In three more days I can operate on your eye, okay?"
After that, he doused the gauze with warm water, then carefully wrapped it around my head.
"Thank you for checking…" I thanked him, lowering my head in the process. My heart slowed down, it was calming, after all, I thought my eye was completely done for!
"Don't worry about it, okay?"
Don't pat my head… Please! Ugh… I kept my head down, I hated it when they do this… They treat me as some kid still, usually patting my head or touching my ears to take my thanks.
Thankfully he's not touching my ears… That part was relieving, it took a minute before he let go. I was truly grateful for what he did, so I just let him do what he wanted there. And he did seem happier, his grin was wide, plus his tone was extremely cheery.
I guess it was a good thing, despite my absolute hatred for it. We talked for a while, waiting for everyone to wake up.
James announced the news about my eye, apparently, they were all extremely worried about it. That changed, Allisa and Melinda gave me a hug, ecstatic to hear that. And usually the other guys gave their same reactions.
It was all interrupted when Shen walked in, she wore her night outfit. And she seemed groggy. Melinda, James and Allisa moved to block me slightly, they're still on guard around her.
"Oh, good morning." Shen called out to us, scratching her eye and making a small wave. "I'll have a cup of coffee."
"On it."
As quickly as she entered, she had sat down furthest away from us. Her body language quickly turned bored, staring at the table and tapping.
From then on, our day was uneventful. Like every other day recently, spending it leisurely to the best of our abilities.
I wasn't getting better with my stances, it was uncomfortable with my foot. Shaun was a damn good teacher though, however, he was a bit hesitant teaching me. Even more so when James and Melinda watched.
Near the end of the day, I was still struggling to get a comfortable stance. Shaun was standing on the side, squinting at my feet.
"I have an idea." He randomly said whilst walking to me. What is he talking about? "This probably will seem weird… I can see you're struggling a bit to get comfortable."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll try to help you get a comfortable stance. I'll just have to shift your stance."
"Uhm… sure?" Was he afraid of being seen as a pedophile for touching me?
We both stayed silent, he knelt and started moving my feet. It took a few moments, the awkward feeling in my feet slowly started to disappear.
"Okay, how does that feel?"
"It feels… better." I could feel my foot being slightly arched, and more weight relying on my other foot. He had me stand there for a while, and my leg started to burn slightly.
After some more time, we ended our small stance practice. Night fell, and I fell asleep with some struggle. And just as quickly as it came, morning shone through the windows.
"Man… it's so hard to walk around." I groaned as I walked outside the bedroom. Due to Melinda, my ear was having this static feel that was uncomfortable. It hurts slightly, but I can deal with it. "Oh… that's great."
Just in the dining area, Shen was in her suit, though there was a necklace she wore. The sun was beating down on her face, plus her skin was sparkling slightly.
"Not that excited to see me, huh?" Shen called out without turning around. I forgot that us animalkin have super hearing… faa…
"Why would I be excited? I can't trust you…" I responded without moving from my spot. "Due to you, I'm half blind currently…"
"And once again, Miss Yukina, that's you being weak. Not my fault."
"What kinda crap are you even talking about?!"
"...Listen, Kid, I won't do that again. I assume your family already told you about me. I am a vampire, but I rarely target others to feed. I just lost control that night."
What the heck is she even going on about?! There's still a damn chance for her to do that again— no, it can be so much worse!
"How the hell can I believe you then?"
"Come over here, let's talk then." Shen suggested, slapping the seat next to her. Then, held up her necklace. "This necklace reverts me back into a regular foxkin, I don't crave blood at the moment."
"... I'll just stand over here, no thanks."
"Even if I was craving blood, do you think standing over there would matter?" She questioned me, a slight toothy kind. Her fangs are too sharp- it's horrifying…