Chapter XXXIX – To Care For One Another

Chugging a full glass of water after having finished his morning run, Arthur headed upstairs to get changed for school.

“Strange. . .” he mumbled to himself, noticing that Sophie still hadn’t left her room. He heard her stay up late, so he let her sleep in.

Once he was done changing, he put on his backpack and was ready to head out. By then Sophie should’ve already been ready as well, but there was no sign of her.

Approaching her door, he knocked three times. “Sophie?”

“I’ll be right there,” she said but sounded in pain.

“You alright?”

“Yeah!” she yelled out opening the doors.

Sophie looked a bit paler than usual, and the bags under her eyes were covered by light makeup. It wasn’t allowed per school rules, but girls broke them on occasion hoping it went unnoticed.

“You sure?” he asked worriedly, being somewhat suspicious of her.

“I told you I’m fine,” she moved past him but got grabbed from behind. “Huh?”

“Let me carry your bag for you,” he demanded with a soft tone.

“Oh, thanks. . .” she gave a soft smile as she handed it to him.

Arthur knew something was off since she wouldn’t have accepted had there been no proper reason. Still, he decided to keep quiet and see how she feels along the way. However, he got his answer before they even left the house as Sophie collapsed onto her knees from sharp stomach pain.

“Sophie!” he yelled out dropping the bags and crouching down next to her. “Why are you telling me you’re fine when you’re not. . .”

Arthur sighed as he watched Sophie grit her teeth and squint her eyes all while averting her gaze.

“Fuck that hurts. . .” she wanted to say it was nothing again, but that level of pain wasn’t something she could brush off lightly.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Arthur said grabbing her behind the knees with one arm while the other held her back.

“What are you doing?” she asked surprised, wrapping her hand around his neck as she got carried like that for the first time, apart from the time she got thrown by him onto the couch playfully.

“Getting you back to bed.”

She kept watching him as he approached the stairs.

“I can walk. There’s no need to tire yourself out. . .” she blushed slightly.

“You’re light as a feather. Don’t worry about it,” he smiled at her before starting to walk up the stairs.

She held onto him tightly, realizing just how stronger her brother has gotten. It felt comforting.

Reaching her room, he placed her down gently and sat down next to her.

“Is it just your stomach hurting?” he asked for more details.

She nodded in pain.

“Period cramps?” he asked to make sure.

“No. . . Something else is messing me up,” she whispered quietly.

Arthur could tell it was serious.

Taking out his phone, he opened his text chat with Ari.

Hey, tell the teachers that Sophie isn’t feeling good so she’ll miss out on school today. – Arthur

Next up, he opened Irene’s chat.

I’ll be missing out on school today. Sophie’s feeling sick, gotta take care of her. – Arthur

“What are you doing?” she looked up to him.

“Telling Ari and Irene that we’ll be missing school today.”

“No. . . You should go. I’ll just stay in bed and rela-” she got interrupted by a surge of pain.

“I’ve already made my decision,” he shook his head but gave her a warm smile. “I’ll be taking care of you for today. However, I won’t message Grandpa, so we don’t have to worry him unless this proves to be out of our control.”

“Thanks,” she said averting her gaze once more.

“Lift your shirt and take off that skirt,” he asked with a straight face, making Sophie’s eyes go wide.

“What are you saying?!” she yelled at him flustered, finding a new source of energy.

“Quiet down you idiot. . . I want to check where the pain is coming from. . .” he looked at her unamused.

“Oh,” she went quiet. “Still. . .”

“What are you shy about now? You run around in a shirt and underwear all the time late at night. . .”

“It’s weird when you ask though!”

“Your skirt covers half your stomach. . . Just do it and stop making it weird.”

“Fine. . .” she sighed and did as he asked.

She looked at him nervously as he rubbed his hands together to warm them up a bit before placing them on her lower stomach.

Pressing gently, he looked up to check for her reaction. “Does it hurt here?”

“Maybe?” she answered unsurely. “Truth is, everything hurts right now. . .”

“Hmm. . .” he moved his hand slowly across her abs, pressing down on her abdomen.

She cramped in pain and grabbed his wrist instinctively. “Fuck!”

He removed his hand and gently placed his other one over hers with the intent of comforting her.

“You okay now?” he whispered.

“Yeah. . .” she mumbled as her body eased up a bit, letting go of him. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” he said caressing her hand. “Place your head down on the pillow and either look up or close your eyes. Basically, whatever makes you most comfortable and relaxed. I’m just going to try and figure out the cause of your abdominal pain.”

“Where’d you learn something like that?” she asked, nervously laughing a bit.

“Just trust me.”

She laid down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to question him.

Looking at her laying down, he knew something was seriously messing her stomach up. Placing the tip of his fingers onto her stomach once more, he refrained from pushing hard, seeing as she twitched right away.

“It won’t hurt,” he whispered gently.

“I trust you. . .” she whispered back but he noticed she was ready for the worst as she gripped the sheets under her.

Arthur closed his eyes and focused on the flow of Qi. The energy that linked the two felt tainted and familiar. While he was no medical expert, and greater healing was beyond him, lesser effects on life were something he could affect. He would often infuse his Qi into the target to either ease up the pain, suppress and reduce symptoms of a disease, or cleanse the body of any toxins or other impurities within them. Severe diseases and other magical conditions were out of his league and required proper healers.

After a few minutes of sitting still, just barely shifting his fingers around, he finally found the origin of her pain. Sophie was surprisingly quiet.

Food poisoning. . . Quite severe too.

“What did you eat last night?”

“I ordered some fried chicken. Why?” she looked towards him. “You think I have food poisoning?”

“Just relax and let me finish up.”

“Okay. . .” she mumbled closing her eyes again.

Could be it. . . Still, I’m shocked she hasn’t thrown up at least twice already with this level of impurity. No wonder she had a hard time falling asleep last night. Damn, her tolerance for shit is indeed quite high. . .

Arthur referred to both mental and physical pain she kept enduring over the years. Her body constantly kept adapting to it and grew more resilient. It spoke volumes in regards to her constitution. But everyone had a breaking point.

Arthur closed his eyes again and began cleansing the impurities within her by channeling his own Qi into her abdomen. Unlike when he did it to himself, when unlocking the clogged channels, to her it felt like a tingling sensation. He could see her struggling not to move around as it probably tickled a bit.

Few more minutes passed as Arthur exhaled deeply.

That should do the trick. . .

With the amount of Qi and the quality of it that he possessed, that was the best he could do as of now. Still, he managed to cleanse most of it and in doing so significantly reduced the amount of pain she’d feel throughout the day.

“You’ll be fine now,” he said, gently grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

She got up into a sitting position with her right knee bent upwards. “Huh? The pain is gone. . .”

“Don’t move around. While it’s better now, the pain can still kick in. You’re probably going to feel extremely tired the entire day, so you might just sleep it off entirely.”

Had he not done that, she would’ve ended up hospitalized for at least two to three weeks. Her body was full of toxins that kept irritating her stomach and intestines, causing painful inflammation.

“Was this some weird alternative medicine?” Sophie asked curiously but intended not to pry if he kept quiet about it.

“Yeah, I researched it a bit since it piqued my interest.”

“That’s really cool. . .” she smiled at him before laying back down.

Arthur smiled and kissed her on the forehead before getting back up.

“I’ll be leaving you for a few minutes, I wanna go buy some chamomile tea. It’ll help you out.”

“Don’t we have some in the house?”

“Sadly-” he began talking but was interrupted by another phone vibration, the previous one being during the time he checked up on Sophie. “Sorry, phone. . .”

He noticed he had a few messages, some from Ari and some from Irene.

Ari – Is she alright? What’s the problem?

Ari – Art?

Ari – I’ll tell the teachers, but I’m coming over after school. . .

He sighed looking towards Sophie with a smile. “You got a great friend.”

“I know. . .” Sophie smiled turning her head to the side.

Her stomach hurts a bit, so I’m having her stay in bed. Nothing too serious. – Arthur

He switched to Irene’s chat.

Irene – Want me to come over right now?

Irene – Hope it’s nothing serious. . .

Irene – I’m free after school as well if you want me to come.

While he did want to see her, Arthur knew she had plans to have lunch with her uncle during the evening.

Don’t ditch your uncle. . . Ari’s coming over anyway, so she won’t be alone. Besides, I’m here. . . – Arthur

Within seconds his phone rung again.

Irene – Damn. . . I was hoping you’d forget. Gonna suck not having you at school. . .

“I’ll get going and be back soon.”

“Alright, and say hi to Irene for me.”

“How’d you know I was texting her and not Ari?”

“Who knows. . . Maybe your eyes told me,” she kept being ambiguous.

“Stay in bed. . .” he said leaving the house slowly.

During the day Arthur kept taking care of Sophie, managing to get her to eat some light food that wouldn’t upset her stomach further. He’d sit around talking to her, made sure she was warm and tucked in. He even watched two movies with her on her laptop while she was awake. Her favorite part was the massage he gave her for sore muscles. For the rest of the day she stayed asleep, taking small naps until woken up by minor pain.

She opened her eyes and saw Arthur sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed. He was scrolling through his phone, seemingly reading something.

He changed so much. . .

She kept watching him in silence with a soft smile on her face. Part of her wanted to burst into tears but she held it together.

How long has it been. . . Doesn’t matter.

Throughout the years Sophie was forced to be independent and responsible. With her parents gone, Grandpa constantly at work, and Arthur uninvolved in her life, she had to take care of everything on her own. There were countless times she went to school sick, sometimes even collapsing on her way home due to exhaustion. When they knew something was wrong, she was forced to stay home with Arthur. Grandpa couldn’t stay cuz they couldn’t afford it. However, Arthur never took care of her during that time.

She treated herself, even forced herself to make food for him. He always ignored her needs and would use it as an excuse to skip school and play video games all day. Arthur of course knew that she’d keep quiet about it since she wanted to be the best sister possible. Sophie even cleaned the house during those days because she knew that Arthur would get in trouble if he sat around all day doing nothing. That didn’t stop him from using her as an excuse to avoid punishment. Something along the line “I was busy taking care of Sophie, so I didn’t have time to do that. . .” which would work from time to time. They’d argue on any other occasion. When Arthur became severely depressed, and even started taking medication, their grandpa gave up on insisting he does stuff and just let him do his own thing.

It was like her wish was granted. Now she had a brother that deeply cared for her, as he wouldn’t leave her side for more than a few minutes, and even then it was for her sake.

How long does he intend to stay by my side? I should-

She started to get up, but before she could Arthur looked towards her. “Don’t even think about it.”

“But. . .” she averted her gaze towards the floor.

“Rest properly. Ari will be here soon as well. She might help you be a bit more entertained. I know I can be boring from time to time,” he awkwardly chuckled.

Sophie turned to her side, facing away from Arthur. “Shut up. . . You’re far from boring,” she couldn’t hold herself back anymore, as few tears started to form.

There was nothing she could say. She was too happy at that moment. Though, it did come with a sense of guilt. Sophie felt bad that she enjoyed the new him as much as she did because it felt like she was glad the accident happened. However, deep down she would’ve preferred to keep on suffering and have Arthur never go through that pain in the first place, but at the same time, it changed both of their lives for the better. This left a very conflicting feeling within her. The path Arthur chose to walk in the past was too dark, and would inevitably end in tragedy.

“Oppa. . .” she whispered with a weakened voice. “I love you.”

“I love you too Soph.”

While there were plenty of things that didn’t add up regarding his changes, Sophie kept refusing to pry despite knowing how strange it was. She formed plenty of theories as time passed, some even included a form of reincarnation or connection to one of his past lives that would’ve led to such drastic changes. However, Sophie promised herself she’d never force the subject.

It was obvious. All of a sudden Arthur morphed into a hard-working man. His memory and comprehension became astounding, and he even possessed obscured knowledge that he previously had no opportunities to learn, martial arts included. Even someone like Sophie who knew nothing about fighting could tell that Arthur’s level of skill was that of a devoted martial artist. All this was without mentioning the newfound knowledge about alternative medicine.

Regardless of what caused the change, the Arthur that she loved and the brother that loved her was none other than the one that sat right next to her at that very moment. Nothing else mattered to her. Ever since he woke up, the two formed an unshakable bond, and her trust in him only grew exponentially. Every time he’d show something new about himself, she’d accept it instantly and enjoy the comfort of knowing she was that much safer. For the first time since her mother left ten years ago, she didn’t feel lonely. Even if their father stayed before his death, for the next six years, he was often drunk and absent.

Right now, Arthur was more than just her brother. He was her other half that would serve as her protector against the world, and she too would do anything for him. Ari often teased her about slowly developing a brother complex, but she knew it was based on immeasurable respect.

Eventually, Ari arrived and the three hung out, chatting about random stuff. She brought along a homemade soup made by her mother. Sophie was thrilled to be surrounded by people who cared about her and eventually fell asleep. Arthur knew she’d be ok.

“Thank you for coming,” Arthur said quietly as they stood at the front door. “You sure you don’t want to stay the night?”

“Yeah. . . I have things to do before school tomorrow. Just wanted to drop by before then. . .” she averted her gaze slightly with a coy smile. “Thanks. . .”

“Hmm?” Arthur mumbled looking at her confused.

“Thank you for taking care of my best friend and helping her out when I couldn’t. . .” she looked back into his eyes slightly blushing. “I know she’s your sister and all, but I can’t help but be thankful for it.”

“Thank you for being there for her when I wasn’t,” Arthur smiled.

Ari grabbed hold of her hand and slowly approached Arthur, surprising him as she lifted herself onto her toes and planted a hesitant kiss on his cheek. Flustered she took a few steps back, avoiding eye contact for a bit.

“You’ve changed so much,” she said quietly. “Please continue taking care of us. Oppa. . .”

While surprised, hearing her call him Oppa for the first time made him chuckle. “Don’t worry Ari, I will.”

Without saying a word, she waved her hand towards him while turning her back to him and proceeded to walk home.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.