Page 157 of A Soul to Touch

Her arm felt searingly hot and swollen, so much so that she thought lava was beginning to form in her veins. Ugh, and the throbbing was making it hard to think of anything else!

With one foot steady, the other was on its toe-tips as she bounced it up and down.

If Faunus comes back...Her foot bounced faster.If Faunus comes back, he can heal my arm, right?

She’d bear this wound if she had to. If he never came back, she would just accept it, but she couldn’t hold back the possibility that there might be a solution.

There was no way she’d let this get in the way of her life.

Although honourably discharged after something similar had been done to his calf, her father had continued to bait Demons and protect this house just fine. She wouldn’t throw in the towel that easily.

She had never been cowardly.

Death will come for me regardless, and I’d rather go out fighting.Screw living a long and semi-peaceful life.

It was just as useless as surviving.

What else would she do? Sit in this house and do nothing? She had no such aspirations. She wanted to make a difference in this world by killing just one more Demon.

And I won’t live in the towns just to go mad and rot behind those walls.To her, living there was like nothing more than cattle in the stocks waiting to be slaughtered for meat.

The throbbing in her arm was only because it was so fresh, but she inspected her wound again to make sure it was clean.I hope I don’t get an infection and go septic.

What a pathetic way to die.

What am I going to do tonight, though? I can’t fight like this right now.She stood and removed the pot of porridge from her cooking hearth top.

Then she stepped to the side and pulled strips of antiseptic-soaked cloths from the now cooled pot. She laid them over her arm, wincing at the stinging agony it brought. Her arm, somehow, throbbed even faster as the heat got to her wound.

She worked on bandaging her forearm properly to keep everything secure.

Once that was done, she served herself up some porridge and sat down with her eyes growing heavy. She’d lost a lot of blood, and she hadn’t slept much yesterday since she’d been cramping.

And being injured could really take it out of a person.

She played with her food to help it cool down, the entire time thinking she didn’t particularly feel like eating. Instead, she looked at the chaos within her home.

Her guild uniform shirt was on the ground where she’d dumped it near the door, ruined. She’d just burn it since she had others. Her pants were covered in liquid, and she wasn’t sure if that was her own or Demon blood. She hadn’t taken her shoes off – it’d been the last thing she’d thought about, all things considered.

It looks and smells like an infirmary in here.She sighed as she ate.I need to clean up before I sleep.

With her head pressed against her palm, Mayumi began to fall asleep under the weight and events of her night.

The sound of heavy footsteps crossing her porch had her suddenly alert. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, probably a few minutes? Her head had begun to fall towards her bowl on the table, and she almost gave herself whiplash as she reared it back.

“Who’s there?” she shouted, hoping to the heavens itwasn’ta certain Duskwalker.

When those footsteps made it to the door and began turning the door handle. Mayumi stood and then looked down at all the mess.

Fuck. Don’t be Faunus.

“It’s me, Mayumi,” she heard him call back just as the door began to open.

“Don’t come in here!” she roared, running to the door so she could slam it shut.

She didn’t make it there before she was face-to-face with his feline skull and massive body in the doorway.

Blue orbs turned stark white as he searched within the house. She noticed he took in a deep, curious breath right before it shuddered out of him.

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