Far Away

The trees that once flourished delicate cherry blossoms were now packed with green leaves, indicating the arrival of summer. Our sleeves were folded as we walked through a tall field under the fiery sun. 

Sweat was dripping from my forehead, but Momo insisted that we harvest medicinal herbs because they could end up being useful during our journey. And since we don't have modern drugs here, I agreed that having these seemed like a dependable option.

I could see Mina kneeling in the distance, as she carefully picked up some herbs from the patch of grass. I slowly approached her, to help her out since I had already gathered many of the herbs Momo asked me to. But the reality is that lately it's been hard to stay away from her, as my feelings grew day by day.

"What type of plant is that?" I asked, bending beside the girl and smiling at her. I placed a hand over my eyes to shield them from the harsh sunlight. 

"These are wild mints," Mina answered, as she placed a few of them inside a basket that.

"I'm gonna help you out with these so we can leave as soon as possible," I said, assisting her in pulling the mint herbs from the ground. "I can't stand the sun anymore."

I picked up a few of the herbs from the ground, and when I was about to put them inside the basket, Mina did the same, and our hands collided. She slightly jumped from the sudden contact and looked at me. 

Entirely driven by impulse, I held her hand against mine as I gazed intensely into her eyes. My hard was beating so fast that I couldn't control my breathing correctly, and Mina's cheeks were undeniably red.

Her delicate hand beginning to tremble, but her eyes wouldn't interrupt the contact with mine. Even in battles, Mina never wavered, but somehow this was enough to make her shiver. 

I gently caressed the top of her palm with my thumb and smiled at her, not thinking straight anymore. The only thing that mattered was how all my senses were in absolute euphoria, and I could sense that Mina felt the same way. How lucky I was to meet her.

The gap between us was decreasing as I slowly moved my face closer to hers. Mina glanced at my lips before quickly shifting her black orbs to look into mine again.

I closed my eyes. I didn't care what would happen after this. Right now, I just needed her. 

"What are you guys doing?" Asked Sana, and her voice felt like a cold shower interrupting us. 

It was like I snapped out of a trance. I instantly became overly conscious of what I was doing, so I quickly retracted my hand away from Mina's and distanced my face.

"I-I... I was just checking to see if Mina was having a heatstroke," I nervously lied, unable to look at either of them in the eye. 

"Now that you mention it, her face is quite red," Sana answered, kneeling in front of Mina and placing her hand on her forehead. "It's pretty hot too... we should probably call it a day and leave." 

The confirmation that Mina's face was hot lead to increasing temperature on mine. It's probably been a while since I ever blushed this much, but thankfully I could attribute it to the sun. 

"Y-Yeah, I agree," I said, grabbing the basket from the floor and running off to where Momo was. 

The priestess was leaning back against a cart we acquired to carry our supplies. I put the basket on top of it, trying to catch my breath. 

"Are you okay?" Momo asked, looking at me with concern. 

"I-I'm okay!" I reassured her, clutching the fabric near my heart to check how fast it was beating. 

I can't believe I nearly just kissed Mina. And she didn't seem like she was going to pull back either. The implications of this were both thrilling and scary to me. Deep down, I understood that we couldn't be together, but I wasn't strong enough to stop myself. It was like there was some force pulling me towards this girl.

Sana and Mina arrived a bit after me, the kitsune looking suspiciously at me, while the samurai wouldn't even glance in my direction.

"I guess we'll get going now!" Sana said, and her body became embellished with an intense yellow light before she transformed into her giant fox form. 

Momo attached the cart to Sana's body and then climbed on top of her. I followed closely behind, but Mina sat on the wagon instead, sighing as she leaned against one of the bags.

As the sky grew darker, we passed through a field with glowing fireflies that mirrored the golden stars. If my phone was still working, I would have taken a bunch of pictures.

There was undoubtedly a magical charm about the nature that was yet untouched by men. Even though it was a period tormented by conflicts, there was still something peaceful about this simpler life.

My train of thought was interrupted when the sound of desperate screaming filled the air, and Sana abruptly stopped moving. I immediately grew tense, and looked back, searching for Mina's eyes. She was highly alert and already stood on the cart, with her hand on top of her sword.

"Brace yourselves," Momo said, her brows frowning in tension. "Something is coming."

The next thing I heard was a thumping noise of something enormous hitting the ground, followed by more screams. My mouth hanged open, as I stared horror-struck at a monstrous snake that slithered our way, causing the ground to erupt and sending people flying.

"Get Nayeon somewhere safe," Momo yelled, quickly picking up her bow. 

Before I could do anything, Mina pulled me from the top of the kitsune and dragged me to hide behind a large tree. Sana ran towards the beast, and Momo drew an arrow. It became embedded in a light blue color before she shot it, hitting the snake in its eye.

The monster screeched in pain and violently thrust its body forward. Sana managed to swiftly get out of the way, but our cart full of supplies ended up being destroyed. 

"Stay here, I have to help them," Mina said, putting her hands on my shoulder. "Try not making any rough movements, because the snake can sense them. We need to finish it off quickly... there's a village nearby, and we need to protect the civilians."

"B-But what can you do against something that big?!" I retorted, my eyes widened by terror.

"You underestimate me!" she snapped back, unsheathing her katana and going in the serpent's direction before I could say another word. I thought my heart could explode at any moment, as I watched her form getting smaller in the horizon. 

Upon seeing the samurai, Sana and Momo dashed to join her, and Mina quickly jumped on top of the giant fox. I felt extremely powerless, as all I could do was observe my friends fighting this monster from a distance.

Momo kept shooting arrows, but they were far too small for the outrageous size of the serpent and didn't seem to do much damage. Sana breathed out cyan flames that scorched a part of the reptile's body, causing it to yell in pain. 

They approached it furthermore, and Mina brandished her katana, slicing a part of the snake's body. It would be a euphemism to say I was impressed at how they were managing to deal with this creature. 

I heard the grass moving nearby, and I noticed that one of the people who were thrown off by the snake were still alive, and my first instinct was to rush towards them to see if they needed my help. 

"Are you okay?" I whispered to a man who was bleeding, biting my lip and trying not to flinch at the scene. I ripped off a piece of my sleeve and wrapped it around his wound, in an attempt to stop him from losing more blood. 

"NAYEON, LOOK OUT!" I heard Mina's voice screaming, and when I looked back, the giant snake was frantically gliding in my direction. 

It all happened too fast. Sana raced after the monster and Mina dived in front of it, shoving me to the side before I was hit. Blood spilt in every direction, soaking my clothes. My horrified eyes immediately began tearing when I realized the blood was coming from Mina's arm, which had been pierced by the serpent's fang. 

"MINA!" I screamed, holding her tightly in my arms as the snake withdrew its fang, preparing to attack us once more. I never felt this desperate before, and I shut my eyes tightly before crying out again, "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

That moment, even though my eyes were closed, I could see a light so intense that it felt blinding. It was like some powerful energy was running through my body, and when I opened them, the snake had dissipated into thin air. 

"What happened?!" Momo yelled, kneeling beside us in ragged breaths.

"How did the snake just disappear?" Sana asked, reverting back to her human form in the blink of an eye and bending near Mina so she could watch her closely. "Is Mina okay?!"

"I-I don't know... I don't know! She's not opening her eyes, and she won't stop bleeding, Momo, what should we do?!" I answered, glancing at Momo for reassurance. 

"Her wound doesn't seem life-threatening," Momo replied, still out of breath as she analyzed her arm. "The problem is the venom, we need to stop it from spreading."

She quickly ripped a part of her kimono and wrapped it around Mina's arm, right on the top. "This should prevent it from reaching the rest of her body," she explained, then glancing at Sana. "You need to remove the poison." 

Sana nodded and without hesitating, leaned her head closer to Mina's arm. She placed her mouth on the wound and began sucking out the poison from her veins. 

"Won't the poison hurt her instead?" I asked, my brows furrowed. 

"Sana's half-kitsune... it would take a lot of poison to actually harm her," Momo explained. 

"Mina may seem tough, but she's still a delicate human," Sana said, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I did everything I could... it's all on her now." 

I gently cupped Mina's pale face as it laid on my lap, watching my teardrops fall over her. "I'm so sorry, Mina... please, you have to get through this," I whispered.

"We can take her back to my house," I heard an unknown male voice speak, and when I looked in its direction, I recognized it was the man who I tried helping, laid down on the grass. "You saved my life... and saved the village from what could have been a terrible fate... it's the least I can do."

"She has a fever," I worriedly said, placing my hand on top of Mina's burning forehead. 

"Her body is probably fighting the venom that persisted in her body," Momo answered, her eyes red from crying.

"She's a strong girl, I'm sure she'll be back to us in no time," Sana said reassuringly, smiling at me and placing her hand on my shoulder. 

The man whose life I saved was named Yuta, and he ended up being the son of a mansion lord. They offered their house until Mina was totally healed, as a way to thank us.

We also managed to retrieve some herbs that weren't ruined by the snake and utilized them on her. But she still hadn't awakened, even though hours already passed. 

The notion that Mina was so close to death was horrifying, and I felt guilty for disobeying her. But I couldn't just let that man die without at least trying to help him.

"There's something I want to talk to you about," Momo suddenly said.

"What is it?" I asked, wiping my swollen eyes before looking at her.

"I still don't understand how that giant snake simply... vanished," Momo answered. "Everything became surrounded by a light so strong that everything became white, and when I could see again, it was gone."

I furrowed my brows. "I don't understand what happened either... I just screamed for help, and then it disappeared," I stated. 

"The thing is... I could feel the goddess' energy," Momo sighed, appearing perplexed. "And the light unquestionably came from... you... I've never seen anything like that."

I didn't quite understand what she was implying, but my brain was too tired to even function at this point. 

"What's your point, Momo?" I asked, sounding unintentionally irritable.

"I don't have one, really," she replied, shrugging. "But there's something about you. Ever since I met you, I could sense powerful spiritual energy from you."

"Maybe she has some sort of power?" Sana asked, frowning as she was lost in thought. 

"What?" I retorted, shaking my head. "No, I'm completely normal... I've never had powers or anything like that."

"Maybe the goddess decided to help Nayeon when she cried for help," Sana said. "Whatever happened, I'm just glad about it. If it wasn't for that, we might all be dead by now."

The three of us immediately glanced at Mina when we heard a groan coming from her direction. The girl was slowly opening her eyes, and I couldn't stop a smile from forming.

"Mina," I whispered, my voice filled with happiness as I watched her orbs feverishly observing mine.

"I knew you'd make it out of this," Momo said, grinning at her friend and letting out a deep breath like she'd been holding it before.

"Mitang...!" Sana spoke, smiling with watery eyes and gently caressing the girl's temple. "Her forehead is still incredibly hot."

"Isn't there any medicine we can give her?" I asked, clenching my hands in tension. 

"We could try finding something in the village," Momo answered, placing her hand in her chin. 

"Let's go then!" I replied with no hesitation when I felt someone pulling my sleeve. 

It was Mina, and she was staring at me with her eyes slightly closed. "Please don't go," she softly pleaded, clearly still feverish.

I widened my eyes, surprised by her actions as I felt my face heating up. She wanted me to stay by her side? I know my heart shouldn't be racing in a moment like this, but I wasn't able to help it.

Momo also looked surprised, but Sana grabbed her hand and began dragging her towards the door. "It's okay, I'll go with Momo instead. Take care of her, Nayeon," the half-kitsune said. 

I nodded and watched the two girls leave the room. My gaze then shifted to Mina, whose eyes were closed again. 

"It's okay, Mina, I'm here," I whispered, caressing her hair and hoping it would comfort her. 

"You have a nice smell," she suddenly murmured, and it almost looked like she was talking to herself, apparently caught in a daze. 

"W-What?" I asked, clutching my heart and blushing. "I thought you didn't like my perfume..."

"That... was a lie," she slowly responded, her voice somnolent.  

I wasn't used to Mina being this honest, and it made my stomach flip in somersaults. This girl didn't even realize the effect she had on me, as she deeply fell into slumber. 

I was left wondering why all of this was happening. Ordinarily, our paths never would have crossed. But for some reason, I ended up here and met her, out of all people. Could this all really just be a crazy coincidence? 

Myoui Mina, who at first was just an annoying girl I had to put up with. With every day that passed, my heart slowly became dyed with her colors. It was so apparent now. 

I was falling in love. And the only thing I wanted to do was to protect her, the same way she's been protecting me. I placed a small kiss on her forehead, vowing to stay by her side all night long.