It was a few hours later when I woke up again, feeling at least marginally rested now. The room was mildly darker than it was before, but it still remained in otherwise the same condition—Silky white sheets covered my lower body, my skin remained loosely covered by a medical gown.

  I let out a sigh of relief once my eyes settled on the chair where Carmine had been sitting, seeing a neatly folded pile of clothing waiting for me there. It was the same, soft-grey uniform that was worn around the school by most students. I could tell rather quickly that it was a set of clothing from my room as well, mostly thanks to the insignia etched into the right breast.

  “I’ll have to thank her later…” I thought as I lazily unraveled myself from the covers. I couldn’t help but shiver when I kicked my legs over the side of the bed, the floor felt colder than ice to my bare feet, and even colder yet when mixed with the painfully thin clothing I was wearing.

  I fought the chattering of my teeth as I stood up—My arms moved by almost reflex to hug myself, wrapping around my midsection to hold in any amount of warmth that they could while I hurriedly padded over to my clothes.

  A pleasant warmth greeted my hands when my outstretched arm fell upon the clothing, with a smile planted on my face I was quick to undress and pull the clothes over my body. The warmth was more than welcomed into my chilled body, it was like a kind hug, one that quickly set to work in soothing the remaining aches in my body.

  As soon as I finished buttoning my top together I turned to leave—Pushing away the curtains that blocked the view, I was almost immediately assaulted by the pungent smell of medicinal herbs. The scent was so intense that my eyes began tearing up before I could even cover my nose.

  “Jeez…” I grumbled out, sniffling through my plugged nose. With a hand waving frantically before my eyes, I took the room in. There were several other cordoned off sections, each of them appeared rather similar to the one I had been resting in. Albeit, I could tell they were all empty given the curtains hung wide open on all of them.

  Without much care for my still sore muscles, I sped past the handful of tables that lined the foremost walls of the medical ward. The door gave way when I pressed forwards into it, parting to reveal the opulent halls of the school once more.

  A thankful sigh escaped my lips once the pungent scent left my nostrils, quickly being replaced by the pleasant, almost flowery scent that wafted through this section of the school.

  The soft golden light that cast itself in through the windows told me how late it was—It already had to be nearing the end of the day, to the point that the bell should be going off within the hour if I had to guess.

  “I should just head back to the dorm…” I thought before turning and beginning down the hall. It didn’t take terribly long for me to figure out where I was within the school, even if I hadn’t known where I was it wouldn’t be hard to find my way around again.

  The halls were unnervingly empty while I walked; with absolutely no sign of life the grand halls felt oppressive. With the ever-present echoes of conversation and the cacophony of footfalls like a typhoon gone, it left the halls feeling unnervingly dead. There were only occasional, faint noises that I could make out. Most of them were the muffled murmurings of teachers giving their lectures, sometimes even a particularly loud laugh would break out from one of the rooms.

  Anxiety filled my body, some part of being in this hall that was normally filled from wall to wall with people while it was empty felt wrong. And, without truly realizing it I began walking much, much faster until I could reach my dorm.

  Taking the final turn into the hallway with the dorms I finally slowed, feeling the sense of disbelonging fade away rapidly. The feeling continued to fade with each successive step I took towards my room, finally receding entirely as I turned the door handle and pressed it open.

  Before I could even take in the room I felt a heavy weight slam into my chest, easily taking me down to the floor—However the series of licks and happy yips gave away who it was nearly as quickly as the tackle had hit me.

  “Akemi!” I cried out, my arms moving to cover my face from the fluffy assault. “I see you! I see you!” I cried out further, but despite my efforts she still assailed me with her requests for attention.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  A heart laugh escaped my lips, with my head gently falling back onto the floor while my hands wrapped around the over-excited Kitsune. I held the fluffy mass close to myself while my eyes wandered upwards, blinking a few times when a shadow fell over my eyes, approaching from within the room I just opened.

  “Glad to see you’re doing well, Kirin.” Lucia spoke, her arms crossed close to her body underneath her chest.

  “Lucia?” I asked with a raised brow. “What are you doing in my room?” I asked, quickly pushing myself to sit up.

  “Tulip let me in between classes, Miss Carmine told those of us who were there… that you’d be heading back to your room today.” Lucia answered—Much to my own surprise she offered a hand out to help me up.

  With a careful arm around Akemi to keep her held, I took Lucia’s hand—Graciously accepting her help in pulling me to my feet.

  “But… why are you here?” I asked, more than a little suspicious. “Why is she suddenly being nice?” I wondered silently.

  “To thank you?...” Lucia offered, almost sounding offended by my question.

  I opened my mouth a few times, but when words refused to come out I just let it shut slowly. Instead I turned my gaze down to Akemi, with one hand under her stomach my free hand moved to inspect the injuries I knew she had sustained.

  “How's your paw, Akemi?” I asked the Kitsune, gently squeezing the paw she had been limping on before. My lips narrowed into a thin line when she winced, leaving me to retract my hand and give her some more well-deserved scratches.

  “Not going to answer me?” Lucia asked, a more annoyed tone taking over her voice. I couldn’t find words immediately, instead a sigh escaped my lips—Leading to several uncomfortable seconds of silence.

  “I… I’m not sure what to say?” I finally forced out, meeting Lucia’s miss-matched eyes. Lucia looked confused for a moment, her eyes softening before her own words came out.

  “Sorry…” She sighed, shaking her head. “The people I’m used to, they would have been proudly proclaiming ‘You’re Welcome!’ before I could even thank them.” Lucia offered a faint, but honest smile after she finished.

  “I’m not exactly… used to receiving thanks,” I answered with a slightly awkward grin of my own. “Best I usually expected was not getting hosed down, or beaten if I did well enough.” I sighed out, shaking my head.

  “Well, thank you, Kirin,” Lucia said firmly, placing a hand on my shoulder as she stepped by me. “I wouldn’t be alive, and neither would any of the others if you hadn’t helped us. So, again, thank you.” Lucia reaffirmed her own words for good measure before she stepped away, beginning down the hallway.

  “H-hey! Wait a second!” I called out to her, turning around as she walked away.

  “What is it?” Lucia asked, turning her head to look at me again.

  “Could you help me train?” I asked, bringing as much determination out in my voice as I could. “Tulip is constantly busy with her classes… and, I feel like I need to do more to keep up with what Carmine and Levi are expecting of me.”

  “Why me?” She asked, bewildered.

  “You’re the one who inspired me to make a weapon using my magic. And… that’s what really worked, wasn’t it?” I offered sheepishly. Internally I had to wonder what really drove me to ask her this, surely Carmine could have trained me even more—But having more opinions had to help too.

  I watched Lucia’s face intently, the way that she visibly thought over the pros and cons of helping me. The few seconds that she was silent for felt like centuries to me, and when her mouth opened I felt like I knew her answer already.

  “I’m not sure what I could teach you, Kirin,” Lucia said with a rather neutral face. “We use different types of magic entirely, and… I’m not as skilled as you, I just have more experience.” Her tone never faltered while she spoke, but a soft sigh did however escape her lips.

  “Even if I’m lucky enough to be ‘gifted’ with magic, that doesn’t replace skill,” I stated firmly, offering the most approving nod that I could to Lucia. “But I get it. I… I’d like to at least spar against you sometime, and… maybe get to know you some more.”

  “We can at least do that, I’ll try not to be so rude during our classes now, too.” Lucia let a smile form across her lips, one that looked as genuine as they came.

  “Thanks, Lucia. I’m glad to know that you’re not as bad as I thought you were at first.” Both of us let out soft, heartfelt laughs for a few moments until Lucia turned again.

  “I’ll see you in classes tomorrow, Kirin. Sleep well.” Lucia spoke softly as she started away, raising a hand over her shoulder to wave.

  Once she turned a corner I let out a slow sigh, feeling the smile still planted across my lips. Akemi let out a soft yip, her trio of tails wagging furiously as she looked up at me.

  “What?” I asked, looking down at the Kitsune. But all she could do was let out another happy yip as I began inside the dorm. For a few moments I debated going to the Library, seeing what I could research on Unspeakables—But with exhaustion already rearing its ugly head again and my bed so close, I knew which choice I wanted to make.

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