Shima had been sorely beat in the sparring matches, and had barely been able to fight the girl he had been pitted against without the aide of his fiendoglyphs. He hadn't been the best hand-to-hand fighter when he worked with True Cross, either, but he had been able to hold his own to a certain degree.

A demon walked up to him and handed him some burn oil- a product often used and made by the fiend demons, but that had been readapted for use by other species and demons- before sitting next to him and extending a hand in greeting.

"This is how humans introduce themselves, yeah?" the boy's accent was strong and thick, with an elegant looping to the raising and lowering of the voice, similar to what Shima knew to be a Russian's voice.

"Yeah," Shima nodded, stretching his sore arm out, "Yeah, in some countries it is."

"What do you mean, 'in some countries'? Is there a difference between the greetings of one country and another?"

Shima put his hand down after they shook, "Yeah. In the East and the West there are differences."

"Ah," the boy took Shima's rescinding arm, beginning to apply the burn oil to it, "Hold your arm still, I need to treat your wounds."

"I can take care of it," Shima moved to take the burn oil, "The burns are only on my arms-"

"Yes, but they are the result of overextending your use of fiendoglyphs. As such, it is best to have a demon apply the oil, it reduces the movement and use of the area."

"Why is that important?"

The boy continued applying the oil, and Shima saw him tracing small runes into the oil, the runes making small marks in(on) his skin, the colors(color) of freckles.

"These marks will seal your hands, so the only way energy can escape is by directing it through a fiendoglyph."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that after you burned your hands on those glyphs, your own energy began escaping through the burn wounds. These marks seal the burns and the skin that grows from healing, keeping your energy from leaking out and killing you."

"What the hell?"

"That's one way of putting it, I guess," the boy laughed, "How did you get these burns?"

"You weren't there?"

"I was in the medics' barracks. We don't always watch the spars in the Main Barracks."

"That makes sense," Shima sighed, "Basically, I got my ass kicked. By a girl, of all possibilities."

"What do you mean by a girl? Does that matter?"

Shima shrugged, "It just sucks, is all."

The boy grew quiet as he finished dressing the wounds.

As he stood to leave, the boy scolded Shima.

"If she beat you, she is your better. You can either strive to learn from her and enhance your skill, or complain about being beat. Just know, that the soldier who complains in Gehenna is the soldier sent to be our cannon fodder when a war comes to blows."

As Shima eyed the boy strangely, he continued, "And as the person to treat your wounds, I have also become your better, as you couldn't do it yourself. Learn from this, and don't(do) bring it upon yourself to cease mocking your elders. Alright?"

Shima nodded to the Russian boy.

"Alright."


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