fanfic; the first miracle; part 2

[acperience]

▶ Part 1

—

For a moment, Minato is still, as his mind processes what happened. And then—

Damn it.

Which is a strange thought, considering that Minato’s never been one to swear, and yet it floats into his head as the sight in front of him finally registers.

“Walter!” He runs forward, again feeling as if his mind and body are separate, as the world around him is blank. It’s only once he reaches Walter, sprawled on the ground, that everything feels reconnected.

Walter is a mess of limbs, but fortunately, he seems to have avoided hurting himself for the most part. His struggle to stand is the first indicator that he’s still consciousness—his scowl is the second. There’s exhaustion in his eyes that Minato knows wasn’t there earlier, but Walter’s shaking arms as he tries to push himself up is by far the more obvious sign that he’s not about to run a marathon anytime soon.

Wordlessly, Minato helps him to stand, maintaining a hold on the other boy’s arms even once he’s upright. Walter seems annoyed at the help, but doesn’t protest. Not that it would matter—it’s hardly as if Minato’s about to let go and let his younger brother fall.

A few moments pass, as Walter presumably finds his balance again.

“I’m fine,” he says. If he’s grateful at all, he doesn’t show it. “Let go.”

Minato doesn’t. “Are you sure?”

Walter gives him a glare, before nodding. Minato allows him to take an experimental step, and upon deciding that Walter does seem to be all right, he slowly removes his hands. The moment he does, Walter begins heading off with his usual briskness, though his stride lacks its usual strength.

“Ah, Walter…” Minato says, reaching out for him. Walter stops, looking over his shoulder at Minato. “I don’t think you should see Lady Shirley today. You don’t seem well. You aren’t overworking, are you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Walter replies, his tone making it clear just how much he thinks of Minato’s opinion. “She’s expecting me.”

Inwardly, Minato sighs. He knew from the start that reasoning with Walter was probably futile, but it was worth a shot. Still, he’s aware of how devoted to his employer Walter is, especially given Shirley’s condition. Minato doesn’t know much about it, having only heard snippets from Walter and Shirley herself, but what he does know is that she’s ill. Rather ill, in fact, as her sickness is the same one that claimed the life of her older sister, or so Minato’s heard. Her state has only seemed to be getting worse lately, and so Minato can hardly fault Walter if he doesn’t want to spend a second away from her side.

No one in her family seems to want to say it, but Minato can take a guess—no one truly expects Shirley to make it through, save for perhaps Walter in his endless dedication. Minato, as well, would rather wish for Shirley’s recovery than accept that her fate is sealed.

In the end, it appears, there’s no helping it.

“Then I’ll come with you,” Minato says, before smiling softly. “I’d like to visit Lady Shirley, anyway.”

Walter gazes at him for a few moments, before turning and walking away. Minato allows his smile to grow a notch as he shoves his hands into pockets, before following Walter.

—

Strangely, it’s Shirley herself who greets them at the door.

With features similar to Walter’s, one could possibly mistake them for siblings—at least, more easily than one would think Walter and Minato to be related. Her smile contrasts with Walter’s frown, however, as, normally, does her frailty against his strength. Walter typically carries himself as if he were a soldier, despite simply being a servant for the esteemed Fennes family. On the other hand, Shirley’s sickness means that standing in itself is sometimes a struggle for her, and her own gentleness does her no favours in her posture.

Today, though, things are different. Minato can see that it’s Walter who’s forcing himself to stay upright, while Shirley stands at the entrance with life that she’s never had before.

“Good evening, Walter,” she says, smiling timidly at the boy in question, who nods. Though hidden by his usual stoic expression, Minato can see glimpses of relief in it as well. “And Minato too. Is… Is there something you need?”

Minato shakes his head. “No, I just thought I’d drop by…”

“Oh?” Shirley says, her smile brightening a bit. “Thank you, then. It’s nice to see you again.”

“You look well,” Minato says, smiling faintly back. Shirley nods.

“I’ve gotten much better these past few days,” she replies, clearly happy at the fact. “That’s why I thought I’d come and greet Walter myself—oh, and you, I suppose!”

Before Minato can respond, Walter interrupts.

“Lady Shirley,” he says, his voice firm but with all the respect one would expect from a servant. “You might catch a cold if you stand at the doorway like that. Let’s head inside.”

“R-Right…” Shirley takes a few steps back, gesturing for them to come in. “Are you coming as well, Minato?”

Minato thinks over this for a few moments. On one hand, he’s hardly averse to spending time with her and Walter. On the other hand, that means leaving Guriko alone at home for another while. Their parents do seem to be in a decent mood today, however, and Guriko does know how to avoid trouble when she so desires.

And though Minato doesn’t know exactly how she feels about Shirley—if nothing else, then she’d probably like to hear about how Shirley is doing.

“All right,” he says. “Just for a little while.”

As he steps into her house, though, he can’t help but wonder why he suddenly feels anxious about all of this.

—

As Walter gets to work, Shirley leads Minato to a lounge, where the two of them sit down. The first thing Minato asks is how she and her family are doing—and, ah, didn’t she have a boyfriend?

Minato’s almost positive that Walter stiffened at the mention of that, before he stalked off.

In reverse order, Senel—yes, her boyfriend, she admitted with much embarrassment—is fine. In fact, Shirley’s happy to report that he’s made quite a few friends, who seem to be a positive influence on him. Minato smiles at that and agrees—friends are always a good thing to have. Her family is also doing well, especially with her own recovery. No one’s quite certain as to how it happened, seeing as how neither her medicine nor anything else has changed, but either way, they’re all glad that she’s getting better.

“I guess fortune is just on my side,” Shirley says, smiling sheepishly. While she’s always been pretty, between her smile and better health, it’s the most beautiful Minato has ever seen her. Whatever it was that cured her, Minato is glad for it.

“That’s good to hear,” he says, before adding: “Walter’s been worried about you.”

Shirley shyly looks away at that. “He would be, wouldn’t he…? I wish he wouldn’t worry about me so much sometimes.”

“He cares a lot about you. It’s only natural he would,” Minato replies. Shirley smiles weakly.

“Well… I probably couldn’t ask for a better aid,” she says. “If only he and Senel got along better…”

“Boys will be boys.”

Shirley tilts her head. “But aren’t you only a bit older than him, Minato?”

“Still,” Minato says, smiling.

And he thinks of the relief on Walter’s face—the gratitude, even—when he saw Shirley at the door. How Walter has never said an ill word about the people in charge of his salary for as long as he’s worked for them. It’s not exactly the most glamorous job, as both Minato and Walter know, but Minato has known Walter to be nothing but content with what he does.

Minato gets the feeling it wouldn’t be that way under someone else. He doesn’t know why Shirley specifically of all people, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. Perhaps Walter’s simply drawn to her; either way, she’s someone important to him.

For both Walter’s sake and her own, Minato wishes Shirley all the best.

“Please take care of Walter,” Minato says, bowing his head slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Shirley blink.

“Ah… of course!” She bows her head the same way as well. “You too. Please take care of Walter.”

Minato smiles. “Always.”

Protect them.

Minato leaves earlier than Walter does, deciding against staying for his entire shift. When he returns home, he heads over to Guriko’s room, avoiding their parents. Guriko is happy to learn that Shirley is doing well, even if, as usual, her joy is muted in her expression. Fortunately, Minato can read it in other ways. She’s his little sister, after all—no one understands her better than him and Walter.

It’s past midnight when Walter finally returns, even though he normally doesn’t work that late. His steps are near silent as he walks through the halls, presumably not to awaken certain residents of the house, but Minato, wide awake even at this hour, hears him. He chooses not to say anything, though, and instead lets Walter return to his room like a phantom.

—

▶ Part 3