Chapter Text
Giyū stayed in the room. She longed to feel the sunlight and to watch nature simply exist. She did not leave the room nor did she peek out of the window.
She slept against the wall—when the nightmares didn't plague her mind and force her awake with screams and wails—and only kept Onēsan's kimono wrapped around her for warmth. She barely eats, except for the bowl of rice every evening when Sabito forces it in her hands, and water is still something she tries to avoid most days.
The days passed by in a blurry haze with her illness still affecting her so badly. Maybe two weeks have passed? A month? She can't tell; and she doesn't really care.
"Hey! Are you awake?"
Giyū blinks sluggishly, lifting her head from where it lay limp against the wall. Had she fallen asleep?
Her eyesight came back at some point after she started to drink water. She was able to see the green and yellow patterned kimono and the black hakama pants and the curly peach hair, rather than pink, that fell down the boy's shoulders. The eyes were what shocked Giyū. They were pale lavender and looked so very kind.
Sabito stood in front of her, holding a tray. His beautiful eyes sparkled at the sight of Giyū awake and a bright smile grew on his face, crinkling the scar that marred the right side of his face from the corner of his mouth to his ear. Giyū blinks again before focusing on the bowl Sabito forces in her hands.
She bites back a snarl at the sight of soup instead of rice. She can't stop her eyes from narrowing.
"Do you not like soup?" Sabito asks when he spots the heavy suspicion. Giyū pauses, still staring at the soup.
Soup is the easiest thing to drug at the—it's also the easiest thing to forcefully feed someone. Giyū shakes her head, leaning back against the wall.
"Oh... well, if you drink it quickly, you won't taste it as much. I also brought you some water too." Sabito shrugs before sitting across from Giyū. Giyū blinks slowly and watches the boy cross his legs.
Sabito grabs the second cup from the tray and takes a long sip. He blinks when he realizes Giyū hadn't started eating and was only staring at him.
"Did Urokodaki-san give you something to eat already before he left?" He asks as his eyes go wide, looking panicked. Giyū blinks again before tilting her head. She opens her mouth to speak, but winces when only a garbled croak leaves it. She shakes her head instead of trying to speak again.
Sabito sighs in relief, confusing Giyū even more. Why was he so panicked?
"That's good. I was busy training up in the mountain, so I didn't know if Urokodaki-san had already given you anything," Sabito says with a wide smile. Giyū tilts her head further. Training? Training for what?
That word has been spoken about every so often. Or at least, as often as Giyū was coherent enough to hear it. Giyū wants to know what he's training for...
Giyū flinches back at the sight of hands reaching for her mouth to punch it shut. She brings the soup closer to herself with a small shudder. She escaped that—and no one will hurt her if she asks a question... but it's better to be safe than sorry.
The hot soup warms her numb and cracked hands through the bowl. Giyū sighs quietly and focuses back on the liquid.
"If you drink it quickly, you won't taste it as much," Sabito's previous statement rings through the bees lazily buzzing in Giyū's head. She bites her lip before taking in a deep breath, lifting the bowl to her lips.
She only manages to swallow a quarter of the soup before she can't bring herself to drink anymore. Sabito's beaming smile makes her chest feel fuzzy and soft; like that one fur blanket the elders had back home.
Sabito leaves and Giyū falls asleep after drinking the water. She isn't drugged.
_____
Sabito had said Urokodaki had left for a couple of days, up to two weeks. He didn't know much more than that, and Giyū really didn't care. It meant they were the only two to be in the house Giyū has yet to even see.
Sabito also says that he'll be training every day outside, but he'll bring her food and water in the morning, noon, and evening. Giyū's been drinking the water in the morning and still only eats during the evening. Unfortunately, every evening meal is soup now.
If Giyū needs anything, she can always walk outside to get Sabito. Giyū stays in her room and stares at the ajar door instead. But... she's also been looking through the cracks in the wooden blinds.
She can't see anything, but streaks of sunlight... but every once in a while she'll see small specks of shadows falling through the light. Giyū is content with simply gazing at the slivers of the sunlight she wishes to feel on her skin.
Unfortunately, her body says otherwise. It's beginning to hurt after four hours of holding it in. Giyū needs to relieve herself. Badly.
Sabito had told her it's been around a week since she was given back Onēsan's kimono, and it's been a day since Urokodaki left for his trip. Giyū's body is finally catching up now that she's drinking water and it needs to go.
Sabito won't be back for another three hours. Giyū will have to—Giyū will have to go outside to find him. Giyū has to leave the room.
What if this is the trick? A long, long trick? Wait until she can trust—wait until she drinks the water—but it's been a week. Would they really wait that long?
Hands grabbing her hair—pulling her out of her hiding spot. Leather straps and the device that shocks her. It hurts. It hurts so much. Please. Please stop. Stop it. Stop it! Stop—
Giyū lurches forward onto her hands and knees. She whines quietly at the sudden movement of her tense joints. She hasn't moved from her spot in days.
She'll go outside. The room—it feels like that—and she doesn't want to remember—the bees in Giyū's head pick up their buzzing, making her thoughts scatter. She takes a couple of deep breaths and ignores how dry and wheezy they sound.
Giyū takes one, big deep breath and slowly presses her feet against the ground. She winces at the burning pain from putting pressure on her bandaged feet, but she pushes on. Giyū almost collapses to the ground when her knees buckle and her bladder cramps, but she stumbles back and slams herself against the wall for support.
Her vision swims and her head becomes a cloud instead of bees, but she simply closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She doesn't want to go outside. And her body agrees. Even if she wanted to, she doesn't think her body is capable of walking right now.
But, her body also needs to relieve itself. She has to go outside. Or maybe—Giyū opens her eyes and turns to stare at the window.
She hasn't heard any kind of commotion that villages have. Either this house is at the far edges of a village, or completely away from people. She can—will Sabito be able to hear her if she calls for him?
Maybe, maybe. It's worth a try—it has to work, actually. She really, really needs to go.
Giyū slides her body against the wall, her knees buckling with every step and her feet throbbing and burning in pain. She falls to her knees with a painful thud when she reaches for the window, but manages to catch herself with the wooden latticework.
Some of the cuts on her fingers from her mirror shard rip open, but she ignores the blood running down her palms and her arms. Giyū lifts herself up onto her knees before she reaches for the latch to open the blinds. Her hand doesn't even get close to reaching it.
The bees in Giyū's brain start to buzz more incessantly and her throat starts to burn. She scrunches up her face to try and stop her eyes from getting blurry as she stretches her arm the farthest it could go.
Please, please, please. She doesn't want to make a mess in a room that isn't hers. Please. They've been—they've been so nice...
Giyū sniffs and hiccups, the tears finally falling. She tries to wipe them away, but they continue to fall.
"Hey! You're awake! Do you—" Giyū turns around with another hiccup.
Sabito stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Giyū with wide eyes. Giyū clenches her eyes shut before she furiously rubs away her tears.
"W-what—what's wrong?! Are you okay?" Sabito rushes forward while Giyū turns to sit back on the ground.
She opens her mouth to speak, but a cry leaves her mouth. She shakes her head before rubbing her eyes again.
"I-I need—I need to go—bathroom." Giyū speaks quietly, the bees buzzing and stinging her face into a red and blotchy mess.
"Oh... oh! You—you could have called for me! How long—" Sabito blushes bright red before clearing his throat. "How long have you been waiting?"
Giyū sniffs again before she shakily holds up four fingers. Sabito winces and seems to bite some kind of invisible sour food, because his face scrunches up.
"Can't—can't walk... Legs—they—my legs can't—" Giyū cuts her explanation off with a small cough. She hasn't talked this much in a very long time. It hurts a lot.
"Okay. I-I'll help you." Sabito walks forward, only for Giyū to flinch away. He freezes with wide eyes before he slowly holds up his hands.
"Do—do you want me to help you?" Sabito asks instead of walking forward. Giyū stares at him with wide eyes, sort of shocked.
Everyone always just dragged her to—but he's asking for her permission... Is he just wanting to help? Will he drag her if she doesn't answer? What if he just pushes down to the ground after helping her up?
Giyū's bladder cramps again and she presses her thighs together. She's forced out of her spiral and takes a deep breath. She needs help. She has to—trust. Trust. She has to trust Sabito.
"...please..." She croaks out in a hoarse whisper.
Sabito sighs heavily, his shoulders relaxing, before he walks forward again, slower this time. He crouches next to Giyū and carefully and slowly reaches for her arm. Giyū still flinches and has to fight every fiber of her being so she wouldn't try and rip her arm out of his gentle grip.
Sabito slowly pulls her arm over his shoulders before he wraps his other arm around Giyū's lower back. He glances at her when she starts to hyperventilate quietly.
"Alright... I'm gonna stand up in one... two... three!" Giyū whines loudly at her screaming legs as Sabito forces her to stand up with him. She presses her face against his shoulder and sniffs, trying to keep her tears at bay.
"The bathhouse is gonna be outside and to the left. I'll wait just outside until you're finished, okay?" Sabito says with a reassuring smile. Giyū sniffs again before lifting her head to stare up at the boy. She glances at the opened shoji door and shuffles her feet.
She doesn't want to go outside. They might be waiting for her. They might grab her and force her—
Giyū takes a deep, shaky breath before she slowly nods her head. There were never any kids there. This isn't a trick—it shouldn't be a trick. This isn't a trick. This shouldn't be a trick. This isn't a trick. This shouldn't be a trick.
Giyū repeats the words over and over in her head as they take slow steps towards the door. Her breathing comes out fast, and she almost collapses every couple of steps, but Sabito keeps her securely on her feet. She stops when they reach the open door, trembling in exertion and fear.
The main room was decently sized. There was a fire pit entering the middle of the raised wood floor. It had a black cauldron above a small fire, giving the darkened room a warm light. The front door was slid open and all that could be seen from where Giyū stood was white.
This isn't a trick. This shouldn't be a trick. This isn't a trick. This shouldn't be a trick. This isn't a trick. This shouldn't be a trick.
They continue walking until the end of the raised platform where Sabito steps down first before holding Giyū's weight as she basically falls off the edge. She bites her lip at her feet suddenly hitting against the ground, nearly causing her bladder to nearly go.
"S-sorry! Are you okay?" Sabito asks, tightening his grip around Giyū's back in his worry. Giyū nods her head before she takes a step forward.
There aren't anymore big steps like the previous one and Sabito helps her to the fusuma door without much of a problem. Giyū still stops before the entrance even though she really needs to relieve herself.
White. That is all she sees. It looked like someone had covered the ground and the trees with white sheets.
Her eyes ache and nearly burn out of their sockets from the sunlight hitting the white landscape. She doesn't blink, not when she's finally gazing at what she longed to see for so long. Outside.
"Ah—you don't have shoes," Sabito's statement almost makes the bees inside Giyū's skin jump out. She turns her head and stares wide-eyed at the peach-haired boy. She blinks again before glancing at her bandaged feet.
She shakes her head and shuffles her feet to take a step into the snow. "B-bathroom. Please—now."
Sabito's face scrunches up, but he keeps in step with the injured girl. Giyū winces with every freezing step, but she pushes on. She has to.
_____
Rays of sunlight pierce through Giyū's eyelids, burning her eyes to ash. A garbled whine leaves her slightly aching throat before she rolls over to bury her face right into the pillow. She doesn't really care about the lack of air as she brings up her blanket to cover her head from the sun. She moves her head without opening her eyes, sighing softly at the somewhat stifled air beneath the blanket.
After Sabito brought her back to her room, she sat on top of the futon so he could redress her feet and dress her hands. She didn't leave the futon when he left to make her some godforsaken soup and water, and she didn't leave when he left after she drank half of her soup and her entire cup of water.
She stayed onto the futon before she finally decided to crawl beneath the blanket and fall asleep. It felt so much better than sleeping upright against the wall... and a lot scarier, but—
A low hum slowly carries over from the partially opened bedroom door. It wraps itself around Giyū with a slight off-pitch and a cracked voice, but still warm and gentle. Giyū blinks her eyes open and stares at the dark fabric of the blanket.
_____
A gentle hum softly carries over and wraps itself around Giyū's lump of blankets. Her ocean blue eyes, bright and shining like the Sea of Japan, slowly open before squinting shut at the soft rays of sunlight carried through the opened window. Giyū turns her head and buries her face into the blankets she always surrounds herself with.
The hum continues to stay crystal clear despite its softness, carrying Giyū through her half-awake dreams. Her voice comes out quiet and rough from sleep as she starts to hum along. Onēsan is home and very happy. Ryōichi-nīsan must have come by to say good morning.
Giyū sighs quietly through her nose. With the sunlight keeping the small room pleasantly warm, the soft humming keeping everything in a gentle lull, and the soft blankets keeping her safe, Giyū falls back asleep.
_____
The bees start to sting the back of Giyū's eyes. She turns her head and clenches her eyes shut with a shuddering breath.
Don't cry. Don't cry. It's not the same, and it never will be. So, why is she so upset about it?
Giyū slowly sits up and brings her hands up to her eyes, rubbing them furiously. She sniffs before lowering her hands. The opened window allows the bright sunlight to illuminate the entire room. The shoji door is open and Giyū can't faintly see, and smell, smoke billowing in the main room.
Her stomach growls like the dogs at—and her mouth waters at the delicious smell. It smells just like—
"Salmon and daikon..." For the first time in three weeks, Giyū actually wants to eat some food.
Giyū slowly leans forward onto her hands and knees, Onēsan's kimono sleeves falling to completely cover her bandaged hands. She quietly crawls forward until she gets to the open door.
Sabito was leaning over the fire pit, carefully cooking the salmon. Giyū blinks slowly and sits back onto her legs, watching the boy cook.
_____
Giyū peeks her head up and watches from outside the window. Onēsan hums brightly while she stirs the miso soup.
The salmon is simmering in the other pan and the diakon sat, waiting to be cooked. Giyū licks her lips, but doesn't reach forward to snag a few pieces.
Onēsan works too hard for her to sneak some food. Besides, it's amazing to watch Onēsan cook when she has so few ingredients.
Giyū stands on the tips of her toes to get a better angle. Her eyes sparkle with wonder as Onēsan turns to grab the bowl she had set aside.
Navy blue eyes glance up before blinking rapidly at the sight of the black-haired girl. Tsutako giggles quietly behind her kimono sleeve and smiles at her younger sister.
"Would you like to help?"
_____
"Oh, you're awake! Good morning!" Sabito's cheerful greeting snaps Giyū out of her memories. She jumps, whipping her head up with wide eyes before she quickly remembers where she was. Her face burns and stings red from the bees stinging it and she quickly averts her gaze.
She hums quietly in a return greeting, her tongue somehow too tied up to speak. She messes with Onēsan's kimono sleeves as she stares down at her lap.
"I'm almost finished cooking," Sabito states with a smile before his shoulders tense. "A-ah, if y-you're hungry, of course!"
Giyū nods her head immediately with wide eyes. It's been... she doesn't know how long it's been since she's had salmon and daikon. However long it's been since Onēsan was—
Giyū flinches at the thought before she hits her head against the shoji door she sat next to. Her temple throbs at the hit, a piercing pain travelling through the rest of her brain, but she takes it without so much as a flicker of emotion across her face.
It's true though. She hasn't had salmon and daikon since before Onēsan had been—
Giyū lifts her head again to slam it even harder against the door. Bad thoughts. She doesn't want to think about that.
Something soft blocks her head from hitting the door before her eyes register the green and yellow colors in front of her. "Hey! Don't do that! You'll hurt yourself, you idiot!"
Giyū flings herself back, slapping away the hand from her face. She falls backwards from the sudden momentum and the back of her head smacks the floor with a loud crack. She whines quietly and grabs her head with both of her hands, curling on her side.
"Are you okay?! I-I mean, I'm sorry!" Sabito waves his hands around, wanting to reach down and help Giyū up, but knowing she would only react horribly to being touched.
Giyū breathes in deeply and squints her eyes at the peach-haired boy. Sabito winces at the glare, but crosses his arms with a huff before he turns his head.
"W-well, you were still being an idiot! Why would you purposely hit your head against the door?!" Sabito exclaims loudly, smothering his concern with his hot-headed nature. "It isn't manly—I-I mean... w-womanly to do that!"
Giyū slowly blinks before tilting her head. She slowly sits up, rubbing the back of her head with a small sigh.
"Thoughts—" She winces at her cracked voice and quickly clears her throat "—bad thoughts."
Sabito blinks before he turns his head to stare at the tiny girl. His arms slowly lower in his surprise and slight confusion.
"Bad... thoughts...? W-well. Hurting yourself to get rid of bad thoughts isn't right. Don't be an idiot about it. Just think about something else or do something to distract yourself," Sabito states with an eye roll. He turns around and makes his way back to the fire pit, intending on finishing the food.
Giyū stares at his back with wide eyes. Distract... herself? Does that work? Her thoughts are like the bees buzzing inside of her; they don't stop and they can't be ignored. But, could she just... distract herself?
Would Onēsan have told her the same—
Giyū adjusts herself back onto her knees before she grabs the shoji door for support. Her legs and her arms shake as she slowly stands up.
Distract herself. She can distract herself. Yes, she can.
She breathes in deeply and starts to shuffle forward once she's sure she won't collapse onto her face. Giyū nearly stumbles and falls when she tries to step down from the wooden platform.
"H-hey! Careful! You'll fall into the fire!" Sabito exclaims, reaching a hand out as a safety net in case Giyū actually did fall into the fire. She huffs out a breath when she collapses back onto her butt, successfully hanging her legs over the wooden platform on the other side of the fire pit.
She looks up with wide eyes, dark and exhausted, but holds a gleam of determination in them. She points to the salmon before holding out her hands.
"What? What is it? I'm cooking salmon," Sabito asks, confused and someone entranced by Giyū's determination. She sighs and rolls her eyes before waving her hands towards the food. When Sabito just stares at her like she was crazy, she huffs in offense.
"H-help. Lemme help," Giyū forces out of her throat. Sabito blinks before he continues to stare at the black-haired girl—this time in shock.
"O-oh... Oh! Y-yeah! Yeah, you can help!" Sabito snaps out of his shock and beams brightly at Giyū.
Giyū's cheeks ache and her lips crack from the stretch as she smiles back. It was small and clearly something Giyū was unused to, but it was genuine. Sabito's face flushes red before he quickly focuses back onto the salmon to distract himself.
"W-well, I can start on the soup if you want to cut the vegetables. I suck at it. Can you do that for me?"
Giyū nods her head once in determination. She'll cut the vegetables into perfect slices. Her favorite food deserves nothing less.
_____
Ocean blue eyes watched as soft flurries of snow danced through the air and the breeze to peacefully rest against the white covered ground. The sky was completely black from the clouds and the moonless night sky, shrouding the stars from view.
Giyū sighs quietly, hugging her knees closer to her chest. It was a really pretty night.
"Do you like the night?" The sudden question startles Giyū so badly, she almost fell forward into the snow. A hand quickly catches the collar of Onēsan's kimono before she could fall.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Sabito helps Giyū balance herself before he smiles awkwardly. "I thought you could hear me... sorry."
Giyū stares up at him with wide eyes before she gives him a shrug and faces the outside. Sabito sighs in relief before he goes to sit next to the black-haired girl.
"Do you like the night?" Sabito repeats the question. Giyū blinks before facing forward to gaze at the night scenery. Does she like the night?
Nighttime meant cuddling under all of the blankets she and Onēsan owned during the winter, watching the stars from their window. It meant hot pot every week and sleeping all day. It meant learning how to sew with the elders.
It also meant the demons that killed—and the dogs—the mean people. The needles—
Giyū shakes her head with a far-off gaze. "Bad—Bad things happen a-at night. Don't like it. Not anymore."
"...what happened?"
Giyū tenses at the question. What happened? Why would he want to know? A trick? To see if she really was the person who ran away from—
She stares at Sabito with wide eyes, watching for any kind of sign, anything to tell her the boy was trying to play a trick. Gentle lavender eyes stared back with a soft gaze, understanding and patient.
The bees start to sting at her throat and eyes, making Giyū sniff quietly. She rests her head on her knees and breathes out shakily, a cloud of white huffing out. She stares at the sleeves of Onēsan's kimono, her hands trembling.
"...no one believed me..." She whispers brokenly, her cheeks burning like a flame is licking at her face from her tears. "Called me a liar—called me... I am not—I am not c-crazy! Called me—Onēsan and Ryōichi-nīsan died. K-killed by some monster—and they blamed me. They all blamed me and called me—wasn't me... Wasn't me!"
Giyū bites her lip, stopping the sobs from escaping her mouth. She ignores the blood that spills down her chin. She clenches her eyes shut and all she could see is red.
Red soaking the snow and the kimono. Red soaking her hands and falling from her legs. Onēsan, completely lifeless with no arm and no heart.
She shakes her head, reaching a hand up to tug at her matted and tangled mess of hair. A hand, just starting to form callouses grabs her hand before it could cause any harm and squeezes it tightly. Giyū raises her head with wide eyes, sniffing quietly.
"I believe you." The declaration makes all the air in Giyū's lungs leave. She stares, uncomprehending. Sabito pulls Giyū's hand to his chest, resting it over his heart, and stares back with honest eyes.
"I. Believe. You."
Giyū can't breathe. No air is entering her lungs. She only stares. Believe... her? He believes—
She starts to shake her head, finally breathing in to get some air in her lungs. "You don't—you can't—how? How can—"
Her voice stutters and breaks into a sob. Sabito just tightens his grip around her hand, turning to face her fully.
"You haven't taken off this kimono since we have it back to you. I don't know you, but I know you love your sister. I believe you," Sabito says solemnly. Giyū's eyesight blurs into smudges of white, pink, and green. She brings her other hand up in an attempt to wipe away her tears.
How can he believe her? How can he say that when he doesn't know her? He doesn't know her name; he doesn't know about—he barely knows about her sister! How can he? How can he?!
Giyū sobs quietly before she falls towards the boy. She presses her face against Sabito's shoulder and weeps quietly.
Sabito tenses beneath her before he quickly brings his hand up to hug the broken and grieving girl. He sighs quietly and closes his eyes.
She looked close to his age... how can her life be so horrible? Demons... he'll kill as many as he can. Kids like them shouldn't have to hold this grief. No one should.
_____
The snow crunches quietly beneath silent feet; the only blemish against the pure white Earth. Sakonji slowly walks up the hill placed just before his house.
Two weeks have gone by and he's finished with his investigation. An unfortunately successful investigation. He's travelled all day and well into the night to come home.
He should have waited for the poor child he's taken in to heal a bit more before he left. What he found out... he shouldn't have left Sabito to take care of her.
Sakonji sighs heavily, weary and exhausted. Demons are a stain on life, but those monsters cannot hold a candle to the worst of humanity.
The child—Tomioka Giyū from what the elders of that horrible town had told him—witnessed the murder of her older sister and the sister's fiance the night before their wedding. The town blamed her for it and declared Giyū insane for stating a demon had attacked them.
She apparently had the wounds to prove something else attacked, and she was nine years old at the time. How could a nine year old child brutally murder and dismember two adults without any kind of weapon? How could a town just stand by and send a nine year old child to a mental asylum where she's faced horrors worse than what a demon can even do?
The town had claimed it had been a year since they sent Giyū to an apparent distant relative she had no knowledge of; a doctor at the asylum. She managed to escape after a year and somehow ended up on Mt. Sagiri.
Sakonji has no idea how the child escaped. He doesn't know how the child survived such a horrific ordeal. It makes his heart break that such a small child had to go through it all.
Her paranoia and terror towards him and Sabito when she had awoken after a two week coma made him fear the worst. Unfortunately, he was correct.
The poor child... she should have been taken care of. She should have been given a childhood without the torture and the false blame. Her sister had been killed in front of her by a demon, barely 17 years old and being the only motherly figure Giyū had in her short life.
Sakonji stops at the top of the hill with a deep sigh. He glances down at the undisturbed nature around him, watching the snow fall silently.
He pauses when he sees the fusuma door to his house open and something poking out. Human feet. Sakonji continues to walk, his steps slightly picking up in speed.
When he reaches his small home, once again full with children, he pauses one more time. His heart sinks with grief, but fills with warmth and relief.
Laying across the floor with their feet peeking out of the opened doorway were Sabito and Giyū, cuddling close for warmth. Giyū's face was flushed red and there were clear tear-tracks down her cheeks and her eyes were swollen, but she was sleeping peacefully. No nightmares, or screams, or whimpers.
Sakonji watches them sleep, warm eyes hidden behind his mask. She is healing, and while she may never be fully healed from what she endured, she will get better. Sakonji swears he will spend the rest of his life making sure she gets better.
Maybe he will take her under his wing. Teach her and train her. She may not be capable of becoming a demon slayer, but it can help her. Give her something to do.
Sakonji steps closer before bending down. Giyū doesn't so much as mumble when the old man carefully picks her up in his arms. She snuggles her freezing face closer to the new source of warmth with a soft sigh and Sakonji nearly melts at the sight.
Yes, maybe he'll ask her. After she starts to regain some of her strength back. Maybe...