12 Roses

13 | An Old Lady's Smile

"Yuta..." you groaned, holding a wound in your side that you had gotten when you tried saving Panda, Toge and Maki from the battlefield that was once your school grounds. "You need to leave."

"I'm not leaving you guys here," he insisted as he placed his hands over Maki, Panda and Toge, his cursed energy looming over them.

You sighed, somewhat irritated by his stubbornness, and began forming small domes of vines over Maki, Toge and Panda. "They're going to heal in there... And the vines'll keep them safe."

"What about you?"

"I'll heal myself when they're done... Just—"

"I'm not leaving."

You clicked your tongue. "I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say... Just win."

He stared at you with parted lips, then nodded and jumped off the balcony where you hid, the curse that remained by his side following after.

You sighed and leaned against the wall as the vines began closing up, catching a glimpse of Toge before he was encased in the plants.

You had studied under Ieri when your vines proved to be less effective in battle than other cursed techniques, although you managed to make them strong enough after some time, along with Maki teaching you how to use various tools.

After a while, one of the cases of vines receded and Toge slowly sat up.

"You should... keep lying down..." you said breathlessly.

His head turned and his eyes widened, grabbing your arm and pulling you closer to him, noticing the blood dripping through your fingertips as you continued to hold your wound. "Mustard leaf."

"I'm fine," you assured.

Then he began waving his arms in the direction of the other knots of vines.

"They will be fine." You smiled, placing your hand on Toge's cheek, wiping away dry blood from the corner of his mouth. "Good fighting out there."

"Mm..."

You then squeezed his cheek, earning a pained grunt from him. "I told you I'm fine. Besides, if we need to find the others for help, just look in the vines."

•••

Your eyes opened and you realized that you had dozed off, although Toge was determined to stay awake, holding you close enough that he'd be able to tell when you woke up.

"The snow stopped," he told you pointedly.

You nodded and stood, holding out your hand to help him to his feet. "Let's go."

Without the storm, it was not as cold and the snow covering the ground wasn't as daunting as it was before. With the way it coated the trees and covered the ground, it was really beautiful.

Not that you were about to tell Toge that. He seemed to be angry at it.

You weren't really the greatest pair to be searching for someone, with one of you unable to hear nor speak clearly, and the other unable to speak at all.

Still, the old lady seemed to believe that you could. Somehow.

You tripped again, this time falling right into the snow. For someone who rushed through a shop four days a week, maneuvering around stands of plants and bags of seeds, with stacks of heavy pots in your arms, you were quite uncoordinated.