"Crim?" Malachi whispered.
"Did she fall asleep?" Haru asked.
"Woof!" Uru chimed in.
I opened my eyes slowly, lifting my head up to see five pairs of eyes staring at me. I tilted my head in confusion, unsure as to who they were for a few moments. I closed my eyes again, putting my head back on whoever's shoulder I was resting on.
"Damn, she's tired," Quillian pointed out.
"Let's take her to her flat. We'll figure out what to do after. The doctor said she's supposed to rest for a few days," Akihiro reminded.
Who are these men again? Hmmm....they're cute though. I let my mind drift, the slow walking movement helping me drift back to sleep. When I woke up again, I felt more refreshed. I lifted my head, realizing I was still on Malachi's back.
"You awake now, Crim?" he asked.
"Hmm? I fell asleep?" I yawned. I glanced over at Yoshi who was walking next to us.
"Ya. When Malachi reached us you were fast asleep. You woke up briefly, but you just stared at us and went back to sleep." Yoshi grinned, looking amused.
I blushed and looked away. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little tired," I admitted.
Itsuki looked over his shoulder to glance at us. "We don't blame you. You're supposed to be resting," he reminded.
"We're almost at your place, Crimson," Haru announced.
I noticed Aki and Quillian were at the front of the group, talking amongst themselves. Haru and Itsuki were in the middle, and Yoshimitsu, Malachi and I were at the back; Yoshi was on my left while Urufu was walking next to us on our right.
"You all can just call me Crim," I announced.
"Or Crimstorm if someone pisses her off again," Malachi offered.
I grinned, resting my head back on his shoulder as our group walked down the hill of my neighborhood. We were only a few minutes away from my place.
"Have you guys found a place to sleep for the night?" I asked.
The guys were silent and from Yoshi's grim expression I knew that was a solid no.
"You guys can stay at my place for now," I suggested.
"Mr. Bipolar ain't gonna like that," Quillian chimed in.
"You guys stayed with me for five days while he did whatever he wanted. He should have been watching me, not leaving you guys to. He owes you," I grumbled.
James was doing a rather poor job at showing his affection and love for me the last couple of days. What happened to the oh-so-caring boyfriend who wanted to prove he loved me?
"Are you sure though? There's six of us," Aki reminded, looking at me over his shoulder. He had a blank expression on his face, but failed to hide the concern in his low voice.
"I'm sure. I'll talk with James when we get there. Well, if he's home that is."
"He left when we did, but said he'd try calling you," Haru acknowledged.
Quillian let out a frustrated huff.
"If he was smart, he would have noticed Crim's phone was in the guest room."
I cursed in Japanese, realizing I'd left my phone. "I guess I need a new phone. It's not like I had many contacts on it anyways."
I was lucky to have four contacts in there; three of which I knew the longest.
"Woof!" Uru barked, speeding up to walk next to Quillian and began jumping up and down.
I lifted my head to stare at Quillian who stopped to pet Uru before pulling something out of his pocket. Malachi and the others stopped and my eyes grew wide with happiness seeing my phone in his hand.
"You brought it!" I exclaimed.
"Couldn't leave it. Doesn't matter how few contacts you have, Crim. If it's important to you, it deserves to be in your possession," Quillian announced with a small smile on his face. "I'll give it back to you when you're in bed resting."
I frowned. "I don't need to rest."
Thanks to the power nap during our walk I did feel a little better and my feet didn't hurt as much as before. All six pairs of eyes looked at me, even Malachi turned his head to give me a raised eyebrow.
"Woof!" Uru barked in defiance.
I groaned, rolling my eyes. "You guys are stubborn," I grumbled.
They all had some form of grin on their faces before they began walking again.
"Once we get back, I'll heal your feet for you, Crim," Haru softly volunteered.
"You don't have to. They'll heal in a few days."
I knew healing took a lot of energy from all the times James used his techniques on me. I didn't want to overexert Haru for no reason. It would hurt to run or paint for too long, though.
"I don't mind. I've been healing for years. It does nothing to me," Haru expressed.
"Haru can heal us all and still be able to run five miles. He's a pro," Aki pointed out.
"Yup. He can heal your feet in his sleep. Don't worry about it." Yoshi smiled reassuringly.
"Okay. If you don't mind." It still felt weird for all of them to be so kind to me.
"We're here," Aki announced.
We moved into the building and once we reached my floor, Malachi let me down in front of the door. Aki had my keys and gave them to me to open the door.
"I'm home," I announced, entering the room. The lights were still on which meant James was home.
"Crim you— what are these guys doing here?" James asked, walking into the living room with a towel draped over his wet hair. My eyes scanned him up and down, realizing he'd just finished showering and looked to be going to bed.
He wasn't looking for me. He just went home?
"WOOOF!" Uru rushed in and sat in front of me protectively. I turned to the door, where Aki was holding it open still.
"Come in, guys. You can sit on the couch for now. I should have a few futons in storage. We have a spare room that can fit at least three of you. The rest can fit in the living room once we move the couch," I explained.
The guys entered, taking off their shoes. Each gave me a half bow before thanking me for my generosity. James glared at them, then his eyes locked on mine with a questioning look. I gave him a sweet smile, walking back to the door to close it while Aki took his shoes off and bowed to me.
"Arigato, Crim. We're in your debt." His words were earnest.
"No, thank you guys for taking care of me like your own. I appreciate it," I replied and ushered him to go sit down.
James waited for Aki to join the others before he walked to stand in front of me.
Uru barked and began to growl, making James take a step back. She calmed and sat at my feet. Her eyes remained on James, eyeing him carefully.
"Firstly, we agreed, no pets." He pointed to Uru who began to growl again, taking offense to his words.
"She's not a pet. She's my familiar," I announced.
"She's STORM's familiar. Not yours. This isn't an adoption center," James countered.
"Watch it, Mr. Bipolar." I heard Aki snarl, looking pissed.
I had to glance over to see the others all watching us with unpleasant expressions. I knew they were only sitting there to be courteous, but I could tell they wanted in on this soon-to-be dispute.
"She's in my care for now. You don't get an opinion on that or have a choice in the matter. Let it go," I grumbled.
James groaned, pinching his nose. "Why are they here?" he demanded.
"They can't get a hotel. They're staying here until they can find somewhere to go."
"This is our place, Crim," he emphasized.
"I realize that. But they are in need of assistance and it's Japanese culture to attend to those in need. Chinese culture is no different in that regard," I reminded him.
"They don't count," James argued.
I took a deep breath to tame the anger inside me. I was already exhausted and seriously just wanted to lay down. Couldn't James realize that?
"James, I'm not in the mood to argue. It's late. I'm not even supposed to be up. Let's talk about this in the morning."
"They're not staying here, Crimson. I'm not letting six guys stay here for the night!" he complained.
"James. Where were you the last five days?" I needed to know. I’d had enough of his childish behaviour.
"Why does it matter where I was?" James grumbled.
"Well, your 'roommate' as you called her was unconscious for five straight days and your ass went to training and drinking with friends when she was fighting death. Kinda sounds rather inconsiderate in my opinion," Quillian drawled.
He was leaning against the back of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. Aki leaned next to him while Yoshi, Haru and Itsuki were sitting on the couch and Malachi was seated on the arm of the sofa.
I turned my gaze over to James who was glaring at Quillian for clearly ratting him out.
"There's nothing I could have done," James defended.
"Nothing you could have done? James! There's something called moral support!" I shouted.
"You were unconscious! You wouldn't have known if I was there or not if that ass didn't rat me out," James countered.
I knew Quillian was going to say something just by instinct. I meet his gaze, noticing his eyes were now red like James' and he opened his mouth to fight back.
All I needed to do was give him a 'do not fight my battle right now' look and he closed his mouth, giving a little pout which was honestly really cute.
I turned my attention back to James. "Really? That's what you have to say?" I crossed my arms and tried to ignore my pounding headache.
"Crim, this has nothing to do with the fact you’re letting these strangers stay in OUR home!" James shouted.
"These STRANGERS sat next to me when I was on the verge of death! This group of men stayed by my side when my father urged me to leave his damn house! These strangers didn't go home after being cast away like they were nobodies, but spent all evening searching for me! But my own boyfriend couldn't even stay by my side for five minutes because I was unconscious. Listen to how that sounds, James. I guess since that doesn't count, the fact you never once defended me and you came home, showered, and were ready to sleep instead of being worried or looking for me, doesn't count either!" I yelled.
James stood there with a scowl on his face, but he didn't argue, looking away which only made me angrier.
"They are staying, James. I've done so many favors for you. You've let your friends come over multiple times and I allowed it without a second thought. The LEAST you can do to show some gratitude is let them stay here until they can find somewhere to sleep."
James ruffled his hair and glanced back at the men who all looked like they were on the verge of punching someone or something.
"WOOF!" Uru jolted, crashing into James' crotch.
He cursed, falling to his knees hissing in pain. The guys snickered and Malachi burst out laughing. I grinned but quickly masked my amusement. Good job, Urufu.
"Damn fucking wolf familiar! UGH! Crimson!" James groaned.
"I'm not budging on this, James. Harden your balls and suck it up for tonight. I'm tired and seriously need to sleep. We can make a better arrangement in the morning," I declared.
He groaned, rising to his feet and stomped to his room like a child.
I rolled my eyes and closed them for a moment as I ran my hand through my hair. I feel horrible. Maybe another nap will help.
"Crim? You okay?" Yoshi asked.
I opened my eyes to see their worried expressions. Uru came back over to me and began whimpering in worry.
"I'm fine, I think I'm just gonna go to bed," I confessed.
Quillian walked toward me, immediately pressing his hand on my forehead. He frowned. "You're burning up."
"I'm fine," I reassured him.
I noticed the others’ concerned expressions when James walked out of his room. He came out dressed in his usual drinking attire.
"James, where are you going?" I called out.
Quillian moved to the side to let me approach James, who paused to grab his keys.
"I'm gonna get a drink and head to my parents’ house for the night," he announced.
"What a loser," Quillian mumbled under his breath.
James looked like he was gonna snap back, but I raised my hand.
"Really, James?" I said in Japanese. I knew the guys could probably understand me, but I was too pissed off to care. I felt like shit and he didn't seem to care at all.
"I'm not sleeping in this house with six men. We can talk about everything else later. You said you wanted to rest," he huffed in Japanese.
"Why are you acting like this?" I snarled, crossing my arms.
"Why are we even arguing?"
"What happened to my James who always made sure I was okay and promised you'd make us a real thing?" I whispered.
He stared into my eyes and gave me a sympathetic look. "I've just been stressed, Crim. Just...we'll deal with it later. And I'm not sleeping in a house with that wolf who tried to bite my balls." James pointed at Uru who began to crouch into a defensive position, widening her stance and looking ready to try again.
"Fine! Go." I moved to the door, opening it for him and using my hand to gesture for him to leave.
He didn't delay further, walking out. "I'll come by later tomorrow," he whispered.
A thought came to my mind which made me wonder about the guys and their concern about secrecy.
"James, hand," I gestured.
He gave me a confused look but extended his hand.
I placed mine on top of his. "Promise you won't tell anyone the guys are here. That includes your parents," I ordered.
"Seriously? Crim, are you asking me to do a magic oath for these douc—" he began, but I raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes. "Fine! I vow to keep the knowledge of Storm Yuna's guards’ whereabouts a secret to remain hidden from everyone else. I will honor this pledge with my magic," he proclaimed reluctantly.
I felt my hand grow hot in response and a small pink magic circle formed between our palms and spread out. Within seconds, it vanished, but I felt the toll of the magic usage. I ignored the dizziness and nausea that came with such a spell, standing my ground.
"Thanks, James. I'll see you tomorrow," I sighed. I was gonna close the door, but James placed his hand on it to prevent me from shutting it.
"Just...make sure you rest. You're seriously pale," he whispered.
"I'll be fine, James. Make sure you get home safely," I mumbled, closing the door behind him. I sighed, pressing my head against the door and closing my eyes.
"Crim?" I heard Malachi call out. His voice sounded far away and even with my eyes closed, the world was spinning.
"WOOF!" Uru barked before she began to whimper, but that too sounded far away.
Why does he keep doing this? Why do I keep putting up with it? I'm just so tired.
"Quil! Catch Crim!" I heard Haru suddenly shout, but it seemed to echo in my head which continued to pound and pound. I didn't realize I was falling until I felt something wrap around my waist. Everything was spinning and my body felt extremely hot.
"Haru! She's burning up."
"We need to cool her down. Her body isn't used to using magic and she's used it twice today," Haru instructed.
"Malachi, fill the bath with cold water. She needs to cool off fast or she's gonna get worse," Aki added.
I pressed my face against what I assumed was someone's shirt.
It didn't smell like cherry blossoms like Malachi, but more like strawberries.
"You’re gonna be okay, Crim. This is just a little side effect. Just relax." I heard Quillian's soothing voice. It was different from his usual harsh tone and made me relax immediately.
I couldn't stop the tears that stained my cheeks, feeling horrible about everything.
"Why am I such a burden? Why does James keep hurting me? Do I deserve it? He didn't even care," I cried, unsure whether I was talking out loud or thinking these thoughts.
"Crim, it's okay. James is a jerk." I heard Yoshi’s voice from somewhere to the right.
I felt myself being lifted up in strong arms as I continued to cry quietly.
"Quil, its cold. You're not going in there too, are you?" Aki asked.
"Don't care. A little cold isn’t gonna kill me, even if I hate it. She needs to cool down and I would rather one of us held her. She's in my arms so it makes sense I do it."
"Crimson, this is gonna be very cold, but because your body is burning up it won't hurt. I promise," Haru reassured me.
I didn't care, I just wanted the pain to stop. I knew my internal wounds would remain, but if I could just sleep in peace, I could go back to being my strong self tomorrow. I tried to nod, but I struggled to move my head.
"She gets it," Malachi assured.
I felt myself being submerged in water with just my head above the surface, but it didn't feel cold at all. Maybe just a pinch, but it did have an effect, making me sigh in relief. I heard Quil curse while he held me against him.
The room was quiet and the spinning in my head began to lessen. I felt something cool touch my forehead and my headache began to slowly fade too.
I moaned in relief, relaxing in Quillian’s embrace as the water finally began to feel chilly against my feverish body.
I struggled to open my eyes, to see the guys and show my relief, but the dark pull of my mind was stronger and my mind was drifting before I realized.
These strangers had shown me more compassion, love, and care in the last six days than my family and boyfriend had shown my entire life. That alone moved my heart and made me realize how blessed Storm was to have such men in her life. It made me wish they would stay so I could show them just how much their love meant to me.
I wanted to learn more about each of them and learn their strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, I wanted to protect them. I knew I didn't have magic of my own, but I wanted to ensure their safety and never allow their hearts to be shattered again.
These were my thoughts as my mind drifted and I hoped I remembered my internal vow when I woke up, so I could stand by them.
"Arigato," I whispered weakly.
"You're welcome, Crim. Just relax. We'll take care of you. Promise," Quil whispered.
Before my conscious was claimed by oblivion, I saw the same Kitsune-like creature I had once before. Her pink eyes locked onto mine, holding a level of wisdom and clarity. Her tails waved side to side and she watched me carefully. She nodded her head and I knew she'd heard my vow. She'd hold me to my word.
I didn't mind. This place would be the guys’ temporary home, and I would learn everything about them. My so-called relationship with James was withering away, but my gut told me one thing.
One man's loss was another man's treasure.