Wake-up kiss
The warm, rusty liquid slid down his throat and flowed into his cold, nearly depleted body. It wasn't a nauseating sensation, but rather a refreshing rain after a long drought. A vibrant, familiar vitality spread rapidly throughout his body as he swallowed, dispelling the heavy darkness and powerlessness.
Her white eyelashes trembled violently, and her heavy eyelids struggled to lift, her blurry vision gradually coming into focus. The first thing she saw was Giyuu's close, blue eyes filled with worry and determination. Then, she realized the source of the warm blood at her lips—the glaring wound on his wrist, and the way he carefully fed her blood.
“!!!”
The huge fear instantly overwhelmed the weakness of her body. She turned her head away as if she was burned, and struggled to sit up with all her strength. This action made her eyes go black for a while, but she didn't care. She grabbed Yiyong's bleeding wrist and said in a hoarse and broken voice:
"Giyu-senpai! What are you doing?! Stop it!"
Tears burst out without warning, more violent than any other time she'd cried. She frantically grabbed the spare bandages by the bed and, trembling and almost clumsily, bandaged the wound, as if it were the most precious porcelain in the world, and no further damage was allowed. Large, scalding tears fell on Yiyong's wrist, mixing with the still-dry blood.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I hurt you again... and made you use your blood..." She burst into tears, and self-blame and heartache almost drowned her.
Seeing her panicked and tearful face, feeling the trembling of her cold fingertips, Yiyong's heart finally loosened, and with it surged a huge sense of relief and overwhelming emotion at having regained what he had lost. The moment she tied the bandage for him, he stretched out his arms and, with an irresistible yet cherished strength, tightly embraced the slender, weeping, trembling body in front of him.
Bai's body suddenly stiffened.
"Don't... collapse suddenly again..." Yiyong's voice was low and hoarse, ringing close to her ear, with a hint of almost imperceptible fear and trembling, "Don't... let me see you lifeless again."
This embrace was so strong, as if he wanted to crush her into his bones and blood, as if he was afraid that she would disappear in the next second. The fear and cherishment he expressed in his words were like a key, instantly opening the floodgates of emotion that Bai had always carefully sealed.
All worries, all anxieties, all self-suppression collapsed at this moment.
She raised her head in his arms, looking at his face so close to her with tearful eyes, looking at the embarrassed but true self clearly reflected in his blue eyes. An unprecedented impulse drove her, making her make a bold move that she had never thought of before -
She raised her head slightly, and with resolute and desperate courage, she gently but firmly pressed her lips, which were stained with tears and blood, against Yiyong's lips.
It was a short, awkward kiss, even with the taste of salty tears. But it was like a thunderclap, splitting all the fog and declaring the most straightforward and passionate feelings.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Yiyong's pupils dilated slightly and his body stiffened for a moment, but the arms around her did not loosen at all.
At the door of the ward, the pillars who had been temporarily silent because of Bai's awakening and the interaction between the two fell into deathly silence at this moment.
Fuzukawa Miya's eyes widened, as if he'd seen a ghost (literally). He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Kanroji Mitsuri covered her mouth with both hands, her cheeks flushed, her eyes gleaming with tears of extreme excitement and emotion, and she almost fainted. Iguro Obanai's exposed eye was filled with astonishment. Haimei Gyoumei, weeping, whispered, "Amitabha... This is true love..." Even the usually calm Shinobu Kocho widened her violet eyes slightly, then gave a faint smile of understanding and blessing.
No one made a sound to interrupt.
After the kiss, Bai seemed to have exhausted all his courage and buried his hot face deep in Yiyong's neck. In his ears, he could only hear the sound of Yiyong's heartbeat, which suddenly accelerated and was as strong as a drum.
Then, she felt a warm big hand, with great care, gently caressing the back of her head, holding her tighter in his arms.
Yiyong said nothing, but this action was worth a thousand words.
He used his arms to declare to everyone his choice, his protection, and what this "inhuman" girl in his arms meant to him.
The sunlight shines through the window lattice and falls on the two people hugging each other, as if to give this shocking yet extremely sincere scene a warm and holy golden edge.
The lingering warmth on her lips and the steady heartbeat against Giyu's neck briefly made Shiro oblivious to her surroundings. That was until she tilted her head slightly out of shyness and caught a glimpse of familiar figures at the ward door—Mr. Busikawa's furrowed brow, Miss Kanroji's flushed cheeks, Mr. Iguro's silent gaze, Mr. Beimeishi's flowing tears, and Miss Butterfly's knowing smile...
“Woo…!”
Bai instantly jumped out of Yiyong's arms, like a frightened little animal, his cheeks reddened to the point of bleeding. He fumbled and tried to explain, "Th-that! Just now! I wasn't...we..."
She was rambling incoherently, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into. At this extremely awkward moment, a pitch-black crow flapped its wings and flew into the ward, hovering in mid-air, and issued a solemn and clear message:
"Lord, issue an order! Convene a meeting of the pillars immediately! All pillars, including Shiro Inji, gather at the headquarters immediately! Let's speak frankly and make a decision regarding Shiro Inji's identity!"
The message instantly turned the already tense atmosphere in the ward into something solemn. What was supposed to come finally came.
Bai's face suddenly turned pale. The combination of weakness from just waking up and the nervousness of facing the trial made her tremble slightly. A warm hand grasped her cold fingers just in time. It was Yiyong. He said nothing, but gave her a firm look, then took her hand and walked out first.
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