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“Does it still hurt?" Shu asks, holding Kaelix's hand in his.
Both of them are currently sitting in the medical wing. Zali left to check on someone else, so they were left to their own devices.
"...I can manage." is what Kaelix responds with.
Shu looks down at Kaelix's hands- still charred, slightly red in some places too. He runs his thumb over one spot, at which Kaelix winces. Shu sighs, muttering a quiet apology before speaking again.
"I know you can manage it, you just don't have to. Allow yourself to ask for help, alright?"
"...Sorry." Kaelix says, as he tries to avoid eye contact. Shu puts his other hand on his cheek, making him look up.
"Hey, we told you to stop apologizing for everything. I just want you to take better care of yourself." He says, while caressing his thumb over Kaelix's cheek.
Kaelix sighs, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. He looks more calm now, which makes Shu happy.
"Shu, you're still here?"
"Oh, Doctor Zali!" Shu turns his head around to see Zali enter the clinic. "I didn't want to leave Kaelix alone, you know!"
The doctor chuckles at that. "I know you're worried about him, but you should probably get back to class. I don't think you would want to anger Miss Millie."
Shu freezes. He forgot about his lessons with Millie. "...Do you think I can still make it?"
"Shu, you can teleport. You can make it in a matter of seconds, but please go already."
Shu looks back at Kaelix, who has now opened his eyes and is looking back at him. "Just go. I can't really do anything with Doctor Zali around, can I?"
The sorcerer chuckles. "Alright, fine. I'll visit you after classes." He says while getting up, and kissing Kaelix on his forehead, which makes the boy blush slightly. They both wave to each other as Shu teleports away.
"Now..." Zali says, sitting close to Kaelix. "Mind telling me what happened on that field? Shu looked really panicked bringing you here."
Kaelix starts to fidget with his gloves, holding them in his hand. Zali gives him a sympathetic look. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I can just wait for Shu to come back.”
“...No need to drag him more into this. It’s just…it will take me some time to explain.”
“I have a lot of time to listen.” Is what Zali says, and so Kaelix sighs and starts to explain.
—
It was supposed to be normal training. Just some defense stuff with Miss Meloco, and then a little competition to see who can defeat more souls, nothing fancy.
After finishing the defense magic lesson, Miss Meloco instructed them all to form groups of four, and so Kaelix joined Shu, Rosemi and Petra. The competition has started.
It was going smoothly- they defeated a lot of low tier demons and souls, and his whole group was about to go to another area to collect more...Until they heard screams from an area closer to them.
Petra immediately went to find Miss Meloco, while the other 3 went to check out the situation.
It didn't take them long to find why they heard so many screams- a high tier demon has appeared, which is confusing by itself, because the school should have protection against those types of demons...But they ignore that for now, as their current focus is getting the students that were attacked away from it.
Rosemi is the one distracting the monster– using her nature magic to stop it in place by wrapping vines and roses around it– while Shu and Kaelix help their classmates get to safety.
That part went smoothly– they managed to get everyone to school, with Shu teleporting the others. They were about to get Rosemi and safely leave too, but then some kind of attack hit them.
Kaelix gets pushed back with surprisingly little damage. He’s dizzy for a couple of seconds, but that’s about it. He then looks around for Shu, and freezes.
Shu lay's unconscious a little further away from Kaelix, with more damage than him. He can see scratches on the sorcerer hands, some of them bleeding slightly. There’s also a bigger wound on his right shoulder.
With the corner of his eye, Kaelix can see Rosemi try to hold back the demon, but it breaks free almost immediately, and then notices the boys. Without thinking, Kaelix puts himself in front of the sorcerer, his blue flames materializing almost immediately.
The demon approaches quickly, at which the mage uses his flames to make a sigil. The moment the demon tries to attack them, the sigil activates, a burst of flame flying at it.
Kaelix holds both of his hands in front of the sigil. He can already see his blood dripping onto the flames– it has been some time since he used one of the more powerful spells– but he doesn't care. He won't let the demon get his sorcerer.
He holds the spell for at least 3 minutes when he starts feeling light headed. His hands are bursting with pain, but he doesn't stop, still holding the flames steady.
Some seconds pass, then he sees a flash of purple in the sky. He internally lets out a sigh of relief as Miss Meloco appears, attacking the demon with her umbrella, finally defeating it.
Rosemi walks up to him as he calls off the flames and erases the sigil, with worry written all over her face. Before he can say anything, the dizziness hits him like a truck, making him sway. He feels someone catch him from behind– that someone is Shu, which slightly surprises him, wondering when the sorcerer regained consciousness– and then the last thing he remembers is seeing Shu and Rosemi's worried faces over him, before he feels himself lose consciousness.
—
“...And then I woke up here, with Shu watching over me.”
Zali looks over the burns again, now slightly healed. “That explains everything.” He then sighs. “I'm just glad Meloco came in time. Using so much magic– especially in your case– in such a quick time is dangerous. A little more and you might have ended up with more… permanent damage.”
“...I know. I wasn't thinking at that moment… It just felt like I had to do something–”
“I understand.” Zali cuts in, making the mage look at him surprised. “I would have done the same in your place, especially if it was the people I love.” He pats Kaelix's head. “Just be more careful next time, okay?”
Kaelix smiles at the touch. “I'll try to.”
“Good. You can rest now.” Zali gets back to his desk. “Shu's gonna be stuck in classes for a couple more hours.”
Kaelix nods and lays back on the bed, while Zali continues writing his report. He sometimes looks back at the resting boy, with a fond smile.
—
Kaelix wakes up to the lights in the room dimmed slightly, and he hears a couple of shushed voices. He grumbles and turns around, making the people present pause for a second.
“Ah, Kaelix is awake!” Shu declares, immediately approaching him. The mage sits up, blinking away sleep. Beside Shu stands Rosemi and Petra, with Zali still sitting at his desk.
“What time is it?... Shouldn't you guys be in the dorms already?”
“Shu insisted on staying here, and we didn't want to leave him alone.” Rosemi says, and Kaelix sighs.
“I didn't want to leave my mage alone, you know?” Said mage blushes slightly at how naturalit comes for Shu to call him his. Sometimes he forgets that yeah, they are actually together and it's not just one of his dreams.
“Well, now that Kaelix woke up-” Zali says, making the kids turn around to face him. “You guys can take him back to the dorms. If something happens to his scars, just call me.”
“Will do! Thank you Doctor.” Shu and Petra answer at the same time, while Rosemi helps Kaelix get up from the bed.
“Think you'll be fine with teleporting?” Shu asks him, at which Kaelix shakes his head. Just thinking about it makes him feel nauseous. “Alright, we'll walk.” The sorcerer takes his hand. They all say goodbye to Zali and leave the school.
—
When they reach the dorms, Kaelix is exhausted. Apparently, sleeping for half of the day was not enough for his body. Shu looks at him with concern when he notices his slower movements.
“Everything alright?” He asks, making the girls turn back to look at them.
“Yeah, I'm just. So. Fucking. Tired.” He sighs. “You think I can skip tomorrow's classes and just sleep for the whole day?”
That gets a chuckle out of everyone. “I think they will understand if you don't show up. We can cover for you in the worst case.” Petra answers.
“And I expect that Shu won't want to leave you alone, so we need to cover him for sure.” Adds Rosemi, and Shu hits her shoulder for that. “Hey! I'm not wrong!”
“That doesn't mean you have to speak about it out loud!” Shu answers, and both of them start bickering. Petra and Kaelix look at eachother, giggling. They will never change.
They reach the dorms, the girls saying goodnight to them. When they reach their room, Kaelix practically throws himself on the bed, which makes Shu laugh. “I see that you weren't kidding about being tired.”
Shortly after, Shu joins him, laying on his back. “You know, I didn't thank you yet.”
Kaelix lifts up his head. “For what?”
“For saving me from that demon. You could've just left me there.”
“...Why would I even do that?” He asks, shocked. “I wasn't gonna leave you! Who knows what could have happened.”
“I know, it's just…” The sorcerer stays silent for a couple of seconds. “You overused your powers for me.”
So that's what this is about… “It happens. The worst didn't occur, and I'm fine, right?”
“But your scars-”
“It will pass. I've been scarred ever since I was young, and it changed nothing. Those scars will heal.”
Shu sighs, and turns on his side to face Kaelix. “I wish we found you sooner.”
“Better late than never, at least. Who knows where I would be if Ike didn't take me with him.”
“Fair Enough. Still… Thanks.”
Kaelix smiles. “Anytime, dear.”
They spend some more time chatting about anything that comes to mind, until Kaelix's tiredness takes over. He lays on top of Shu, listening to his heartbeat.
“Goodnight, my mage.”
“Night, my sorcerer.”