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"Y-you! What are you doing!"
"Please, trust me! I do not mean any harm!"
Ocho was trying to back away, covering his stomach. The bleeding stopped a while ago, but the scar was still there and it hurt like hell. The pain pulsed every waking hour and it took some big mental effort to try not paying attention to it.
Across Ocho was standing Iruma, stretching his palm towards Baal's servant as if trying to prove he is not holding anything dangerous.
"I promise you, I can make it better", he said with a nervous tremble, "it must be hard having to endure so much pain. I want to help you"
The way he talked… Ocho wasn't used to seeing that much worry and kindness for him. The only times someone spoke in that voice to him was only to trick him and make fun of his gullible nature.
"...It was one of Babyl's dogs that hurt me", he hissed, "one of your teachers. How do I know that you are not gonna do the same? We are enemies after all"
He expected Iruma to get lost and not be able to answer this one. Perhaps crack up and confess that he was lying, and that Ocho did well figuring out his deception. Yet, Iruma's response broke his expectations.
"You see", Iruma's eyes were warm and gentle, like a hug, "the way I want to help you… It's actually a big secret. This is something I haven't shown to anyone yet, and I don't want others to find out about it"
"And what's in it for you?", black toothed demon snickers, "you are gonna make me run errands for you in return or something?"
"No, not at all. I am not expecting anything in return"
"Lies", Ocho's hand was still holding a farm grip over his stomach, "nobody does this shit for free. I bet that if you don't want to make me do something for you, then that means you want to make fun of me instead. Or it's a trap. I am not that stuipi---"
A sharp sting of pain made him bend in half and fall on the floor. It's only in a couple of seconds that he realised he has been screaming - and that his hand was being held by Iruma.
"Please, just let me do it!", Iruma was exclaiming, trying to reach through Ocho's crying.
The pain was so sharp and clouded his mind so much that he couldn't care anymore. The black toothed demon finally released the grip on his stomach.
Iruma started acting immediately. He unbuttoned Ocho's overall and lifted up his shirt; there was a moment he stopped, too terrified by the look of the scar, but proceeded anyway. It was hard to see what he did next, trying to fight fading consciousness and all, but soon enough Ocho saw blood dripping from Iruma's finger. The blue haired boy moved closer. He put the bloodied finger somewhere at the start of the scar and started drawing a gentle slow line along it. As it went over Ocho's hot skin, centimeter by centimeter, the pain began to dull down, and by the time Iruma reached the end of the scar, it was gone.
The mind for once in a while felt clear. Ocho tried to lift himself up,but felt heavy. Instead, Iruma wrapped his hands around Ocho's torso in a warm embrace, gently guiding him up. Once the black toothed demon was standing he glanced at his own stomach.
The horrible scar was gone. Not even a trace was left of it - his skin was as clear as ever, almost as if he was never pierced with a magical arrow. He knew Iruma was a human, and he knew humans were special… but he never realised humans were capable of that.
It took Ocho a couple of moments before he realised he was standing in front of his enemy half naked. He rushed to pull his shirt back and button the overall, trying to hide his own blushing.
"W-well, whatever you did, it worked. And whatever it is, you want to keep it a secret. So be it. I'll keep my trap shut about it. Now, what's the catch?"
"I told you", Iruma sighed, "there is really no catch"
"Then why did you do it?"
"I couldn't bear seeing someone in such pain. You were trying to hide it, but I could see it was really hard"
"But I am your enemy! I am one of those who want to capture you and your friends! Why would you try to help someone like me?"
"It doesn't matter who you are", Iruma looked Ocho in the eyes and put a palm on his shoulder, "you do not deserve so much suffering. Even if you are my enemy"
Ocho was taken aback. Nobody ever noticed when he was hurt, and when they did, they only took that as an opportunity to bully him. It felt weird, having his suffering be acknowledged by someone so unexpected, and especially from someone who was supposed to be his enemy.
The blush once more appeared on his face, but this time Ocho didn't try to hide it.
"...Thank you, Suzuki Iruma"
"Of course", what Ocho saw next was the most gentle smile he ever saw in his life. He couldn't help but smile back - although just barely, through a lot of shyness.
This moment of bliss didn't last long. The black toothed demon remembered what he did to this boy: how he made Iruma cry through Coco's Trauma ability. The guilt overwhelmed him.
"Listen, Iruma. There is something you have that needs to be healed too, and I also wanna help with that"
"Thank you, but I don't need it", Iruma chuckled, "I have no scars or scratches. I am doing fine"
"No-no", Ocho shook his head, "it's not physical, it's something mental. I… don't wanna tell what exactly, but I am not gonna do anything bad"
"...Alright", Iruma looked confused but not distrustful, "what do I need to do?"
Ocho moved closer and put his palm over Iruma's forehead.
"Just sit there", he started focusing his magic energy, "I will be done sooner than you realized it"
With these words, the black toothed demon entered Iruma's memories. He travelled back until the moment during the harvest festival, when the boy got affected by "Trauma". It looked like what he saw has also followed him into a couple of nightmares, and that he kept getting these dreams even now. Ocho once again felt a sting of guilt. He focused on the memories of trauma and tried to dull them off. He didn't want to erase them completely, but just a couple of details so as to make them less painful to come back to.
Once he was done, Ocho removed his palm from Iruma's forehead. The boy opened his eyes.
"Is that it?", he asked with a hint of doubt.
"Yeah. It's nothing too big, you are not supposed to feel much difference. But I still felt like it was important to do"
Iruma's head tilted, a bit like puppy's when it is confused.
"...Alright", he finally responded, "I trust you"
There was a moment of awkward silence as both weren't sure what to say. They started off fighting each other - and here they were, treating each other's major wounds.
"Well… About the whole capturing buisness", Ocho finally raised his voice, "I don't really feel like doing it anymore"
He stepped to the closest exit.
"Although I also healed something of yours, I still feel like there is more I could do to repay your… gesture. So I won't capture you today. And I'll tell Baal that I failed"
Ocho paused, feeling a lump of nerves in his throat.
"But remember, he is still out for you. And so are the rest of Six Fingers. Don't let your guard down"
Before Iruma was able to respond, Ocho ran out of the room and continued sprinting towards Baal's hideout. His heart was racing like crazy. If Ocho had a list of his favorite people, he would have Coco on the first place, Kirio on the third place, followed by the rest of the Six Fingers, and Baal somewhere at the bottom. The second place he kept empty - because it was his most favorite place. But now, perhaps, there was a very strong candidate for taking it. And perhaps, just maybe, that candidate was Iruma...