To heal the wounds of the survivors,

Asclepius descended on the earth.

Asuhi opened his eyes and was immediately unfamiliar with his surroundings. Strange to think that nothing seemed right, when he was the one that arranged them there to begin with. It was his room, yet he felt like he had never been in this place once in his life. The fixtures of his dorm—his posters, books, and desk—seemed unlike his, and the air was thick with static and heavy with anxiety.

It took him a minute or so, but Asuhi eventually sat up. He felt sluggish and the clothes on his body were still damp from the rain water. A small groan of exasperation escaped him, and he struggled to lift the comforter off of himself. His eyes found solace in a sunny spot, however. A small gap in his curtains let a sunbeam pour in, one that was colored a faded yellow-gray. Asuhi gazed upon the daylight, and let out a deep breath as he brought himself back to reality.

And when it hit him that yes, this was reality, he almost screamed. He jumped up from his bed and scrambled to the couch, checking to see if the third year was still there or if it was just a dream. He would be surprised either way, because it either meant that he was dreaming the entire time, or that he really had invited the older student to stay in his room, which seemed dream-like all on its own.

Asuhi gawked at seeing Kyoma's sleeping form in full. It was still hard to observe in its entirety, but the sunlight that managed its way into the room helped Asuhi to see more clearly. And Kyoma Kuzuryu, he decided, was quite tranquil in his sleep. His long-lashed eyes were closed, casting dim shadows over the rest of his face. The trademark paint marks on his face, clothes, and arms were completely washed off, with only the fading remnants of a colorful star visible on his right cheek.

There were slight, circular shades of violet beneath Kuzuryuu's lower lashes, and Imizu wondered if those were gained from the storm, or if the third-year just had a hard time sleeping at night. Either way it was not too pleasant, so he could only hope the several hours of rest they gained was enough to curb the exhaustion in his face. Gingerly, the boy reached out to touch the other's shoulder, but retreated in the same motion. He can rest for a bit longer, he thought kindly, in the meantime I'll go get dressed.

He rummaged through his drawers to find a clean, dry version of the uniform he was still wearing. While he would have had no trouble stripping off his clothes in his own dorm, Kyoma's presence made him bashful and as a result, Asuhi nearly tripped over himself on the way to the en suite bathroom.

He shut the door as quietly as possible and began fixing himself up. The dirty clothes were peeled off his skin, making gentle sloshing noises as they collapsed on the tile floor. Following that was the sound of towels rubbing dry any part of his body that was still wet from the storm water. Then he placed his new clothes on, fixing and adjusting the tie, lapel, and jacket in smooth, sweet motions.

Imizu stared at his reflection for a few moments before fixing his hair and brushing his teeth. And after spraying some of his favorite cologne (floral smelling cologne, much to others' dismay—they claimed it was "girly" but he felt that being clean was not limited to females only) onto himself, he deemed himself presentable and headed back out into his room so as to stir Kyoma awake.

However, the third year was already rousing himself from sleep, and he sat up on the couch while stretching his arms. Hearing a few satisfying pops, Kyoma sighed out with relief as he hunched over on his knees and buried his face in his hands. "Ugh," he had begun to say. "I feel awful." His voice was still clogged by morning sickness and icy bitterness, and he covered his mouth when his dry throat started up his coughing again.

Asuhi gulped. It was now or never. "Good morning, Kuzuryu," he greeted respectfully, bowing his head down as low as it could go towards the upperclassman. The blond seemed unaffected by this, which was better than him reacting negatively in all aspects.

He simply replied: "Morning."

"Um, how do you feel? A little better, r-right?" Asuhi couldn't help but stumble in the other's presence. Even when Kyoma was sick and sitting down on his couch, for some reason Asuhi felt like he was being looked down on. The vulnerable look in the artist's eyes from the previous night had disappeared completely, and he continued on with that callous stare that made Asuhi feel paper thin and just as breakable.

Luckily, Kyoma was sedate in this moment, and gently looked away from the other's timid gaze. "Sort of," he replied. "I feel like shit. And I—" he interrupted himself with sudden, violent coughs that made him groan tiredly as a result— "am sick as all hell. Ugh," he muttered, seemingly embarrassed about something that Asuhi couldn't figure out what.

Still, he tried to be of some help. "I was thinking that you should see the nurse," he murmured, looking down at his own two feet. "Y-You must be in pain and...I'm not a doctor so I can't help."

"You're not a doctor," Kyoma agreed. "But that's okay. Listen, I—" more coughs appeared, and this time the older student stood to his feet to better get a hold of himself. Asuhi backed up instinctively, a bit intimidated by the sheer height that the other suddenly had on him. There was an obvious difference—seven inches or seventeen centimeters, however one would like to look at it—in their height from his estimated perspective, and the thought of it made him self-conscious with his slow growth at his age.

It was just another thing that Asuhi was inferior with when it came to others. But this biting insecurity was nothing new to him, and he tried to reassure himself that Kyoma didn't care about how short he was, either. His eyes, for one, seemed fixated on something else entirely, and the dull crimson color was barely different from the disparate shade of red it took on the previous night. The artist faltered.

"Let's go, please," Kyoma muttered. "I-I think I might fall over."

The word please was not something that people thought Kyoma was capable of saying. His rough mannerism and way of speaking always drove others away, and always made him seem capricious or harsh in their eyes. But the way he almost pleaded with the younger student just now made him appear otherwise.

It made him look soft, and Asuhi wasn't quite sure if he was comfortable with that or not. Was this Kuzuryuu's true nature, he wondered? Or was the male feigning niceties just now, or forced to make them due to his strenuous condition? Either way he relied on Asuhi for the time being, just as he did last night, and didn't seem particularly miffed about the situation in the least. Rather, Asuhi got the feeling that Kyoma sort of liked this arrangement—and maybe he had been relying on himself for far too long now.

And Asuhi, in turn, had been relying on others a little too much. He had been wishing on the stars he constantly stared at, and only one of his desires ever came true. But as he stood there—helping the third year student walk along his room—he saw that another one of his dreams was being realized right in front of his eyes.

A brand new bit of courage took him over, and he smiled softly as he guided Kyoma out of his room. When they entered the hall, they could see that it was empty except for the occasional straggler or janitor, and the pathway to the school infirmary would be clear and concise. He breathed out a sigh of relief, and brought the other in tow as he walked forward—one hand delicately grasping onto the end of Kyoma's sleeve, the other dangling loosely at his side.

The thunder had disappeared but there was still a drumming inside his chest. And their fingertips brushed against each other once more, forming just a small spark of electricity that was cruelly similar to the lightning that struck the earth last night.

Oh, Asuhi thought. I wonder what this feeling is…?

...

The school nurse was quite shocked to see Kyoma in the state he was, and asked if he had happened to get into a fight with another student yesterday. The inquiry shocked both of the males present. Asuhi was surprised because he also heard rumors that Kyoma was a delinquent that picked fights with other students. Kyoma was surprised because, obviously, he had never thrown a singular punch in his life, not even when he suffered at the hands of his fellow "students".

(But that was different. That was not a memory made at Mikagura Academy. That was a faraway insult that still stung him icily to this day. He had to bite down on his lip and prevent saying something out of turn. God, he thought to himself. What's with all the adults in this world? Why are they all like this?)

"No," he answered curtly. "I got caught in the storm, that's all."

"Oh." the nurse was sheepish at her brash assumption, and tried to play it off as something insignificant. She had the boy sit down on one of the beds while she brought out some medicine to further heal him. "This will help with the pain. I can take care of your injuries without a problem." She, like everyone else at the school, had a special ability that manifested itself freely within the academy's boundaries. Related to a certain occupation or club, the school nurse was one whose power was to—obviously—heal wounds or any sickness that the students or faculty members contracted. While her ability was not complete, she compensated any gaps in her power with normal, over-the-counter medicine.

Such as the kind she insisted Kyoma take, and he stared at the bottle of medicine hesitantly. She poured his amount needed into a cup, and nudged it in his direction. "It's okay," she said teasingly. "I'm not going to poison you!"

"That's not what I was worried about," he resisted giving into her taunts, even if he felt his blood boil beneath the surface of his own skin. "I was just...checking." He took his medicine, and shivered at the bitter taste. Asuhi smiled sympathetically—he knew that feeling well and hated it just as much—and looked between the patient and the nurse.

"He'll be okay, right?"

"Oh, Imizu, I nearly forgot you were there! Yes, he'll be fine. After I patch him up he should be good to go...but I recommend avoiding any activities that could overwork him. I see those dark circles and bruises all over you." she pointed to his eyes and then to several bruise marks on his exposed arm with a disappointed look on her face. "And I don't like them. So to make sure that those don't get worse, you're not to go to class for a while, Kuzuryu."

She glanced between the two students, and muttered underneath her breath: "It's not as if you go to class anyway, from what I hear."

"Fine by me," Kyoma murmured. Whether he heard her biting comments or not, he didn't seem to care. Then he added on: "As long as I can still paint, then I'll be fine."

"There you have it, then." The nurse took out a bandage from her pocket, and placed it over the small cut on Kyoma's face. "Healing Touch," she whispered underneath her breath, bringing her ability to life with the hushed sound of her voice.

Immediately, the bandage on Kyoma's face began to glow with a bright, green light, and the light spread from the bandage to his entire body. It enveloped him in an earthy aura of light magic, and he closed his eyes as the healing washed over him like water in a stream.

When it ended, the glowing stopped, and Asuhi could see the effects take place immediately. The various bruises and cuts that once decorated Kyoma like ornaments in a tree disappeared soundly—as well as the remnants of dried blood and pinched skin. Only faded lines remained where the worst of it was, and even then they were starting to go away in their entirety. The dark circles underneath Kyoma's eyes reduced heavily, and the exhausting violet color faded into something light lavender and hardly noticeable.

Imizu held his breath at the display. It was so beautiful, that nurse's ability, and so benevolent in nature. She seemed impressed with her own work, and wrote some things down on a clipboard before speaking. "You're good to go, Kuzuryu. Lucky for the two of you that classes were cancelled today, otherwise I'd have to write Imizu up for being late."

Teal eyes widened in awe, and their owner was equally amazed. "Classes were cancelled? Really?"

She looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Yes, of course. Why are you so surprised? You know what time it is, don't you?"

Asuhi looked to Kyoma who was equally baffled, but then shook his head. "No, but it's early, right? Still morning?"

"Oh, boys," she sighed. "It's already eleven o'clock! Classes start at seven and you know it. The storm was so wild that the Headmistress said it was okay for everyone to take the day off." She eyed them warily, then asked: "Why don't you know this? Don't tell me you were sleeping in this whole time!"

And even though Kyoma and Asuhi had no time to come up with a veritable answer, they were completely in sync when they responded to her. "We weren't," they said, lying through the pearly whites of their teeth.

We weren't.

...

The two of them parted ways after that, with Kyoma being much more eager to break contact than Asuhi had hoped he would be. They barely managed to say some farewell words before the older student disappeared down the hallway, melding into the usual traffic of students that appeared there.

When the younger boy could no longer see him, he turned on his own heels and headed back to his room. He left his phone in his dresser, he realized, and without it he would be left in the dark about the school's news and activities—he might even be missing a text from Eruna or Yuto! The thought of it made him blush, and he desperately hoped that they weren't blowing his phone up as he pondered it.

Yet of course, as he entered his room he could hear soft vibrations of his phone in the distance, going off like he set a world record or created a viral video earlier in the week. Having done neither of the things in question, he simply took out his phone and checked his messages.

Ten were from Yuto, five were from Eruna, and two were from the academy's messaging and news broadcasting system. They were certainly from Haruka Toishi, the representative of the Broadcasting Club who was in charge of the school's communication system when it came to small things like this. "Classes cancelled for today," her messages read, "due to inclement weather. Schedules are to resume normally tomorrow."

Dismissing the knowledge he already garnered from the school nurse, Asuhi read Yuto's messages, next. They were vibrant texts that asked him to hang out and text him back "ASAP". Sadly a majority of those texts were sent two to three hours ago, and Asuhi never had the chance to respond promptly. He hurriedly mustered a reply—an apology no doubt—and said that he would meet him during lunchtime.

Finally, Eruna's texts were more casual, wishing him a good morning and asking him if she left her umbrella in his dorm. He stuttered reading it aloud to himself, because he wasn't sure how to tell Eruna that he ruined her umbrella completely, throwing the skeleton of its broken wires into a nearby trash can in the storm last night. Instead, he simply said that he didn't see it, but he hoped that she had quite the good morning, as well.

With his business sorted out, Asuhi was ready to start his day. He had his phone, his backpack, and his telescope ready to go. He stared at himself in the length of the mirror in his room, and wondered if he was changing in a way that he couldn't see. He hoped so, because his eyes were the same starry-blue, and his hair was still dyed like the milky twilight. His height remained ever so short, and his frame was thin and demure in the strangest of ways—if he was to remain static in his physicality, he hoped that at least some part of his mentality or emotionality was changing in return.

But that must have been the case, for he felt a current of bravery run through him—he felt the aftereffects of goodwill and righteousness from last night's events ring strongly through today, like the chimes of a bell that rang throughout the air endlessly.

When his phone buzzed, he realized that it was from Haruka Toishi again, and it was addressed to all students. "Lunch social in the cafeteria today," it read. "All first years please attend! This is not an optional event!"

Imizu blinked, wondering if he ought to bother himself with this gathering. While he was no stranger to the Academy's various social activities and club parties, he knew that he was nothing short of shy, and intermingling with people beyond his social capacity was extremely tiring. But there was nothing else he had to do for the day, and the night had not fallen yet so he didn't have the excuse of going stargazing.

With those facts piled on top of each other, Asuhi decided that he should attend this little social event, and see what madness would come out of it. That resolve burned his stomach as he marched on to the cafeteria, and the whole way there he only thought of a single person, much to his dismay.

Similar to the Rookie Tournament at the beginning of the year, Mikagura Academy occasionally had events where first years would pair up with second or third years, and the duo would teach other new battle techniques and square off in a doubles competition. The lunch social was a good excuse to inform all the first years about it, and while most of them were completely excited about it, Asuhi was devastated.

It seemed that all the older students he knew were getting paired off in one way or another. Yuto seemed apologetic as he already let himself be paired with Usamaru, the latter whom was absolutely adamant that his club president serve as his partner in the doubles competition. Usa's mismatched eyes shared a similar gleam of delight for once, and he screamed at Yuuto's acceptance of his offer as if he had already won the whole tournament.

"Yes! I got Akama to be my partner! There's no way we can lose now!" Usamaru pumped his fist into the air. "And just when my power started manifesting, too! It's fate!"

"If you keep screaming like that, I'm gonna leave you for Asuhi or Tonkyun," Yuto threatened, but then laughed at the idea of it. "Ah, I actually can't do that. Sorry, I already signed our names in together and everything. Plus, Tonkyun decided to go with Nyamirin, so he should be fine." Akama's silvery eyes grew wide with worry, and he looked at Asuhi with great concern.

"Oh, but you don't have a partner, now, right? Think you'll be okay without the drama club?"

"I think so," Asuhi muttered, barely meeting his gaze with Yuto's discerning stare. "I-I could probably ask...H-Himi, or Minatogawa…"

"Um," Yuto said whilst rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "I hate to break it to you, but Himi is already paired with Meika. And last I heard, Eruna went with Minatogawa since she felt bad for him and since Seisa rejected her first offer." The news and gossip was recited expertly, as if Yuuto had a knack for the broadcasting club this whole time, instead. "So you're gonna have to—"

"—Find someone else." Asuhi finished the sentence in a dull voice, a bit disappointed that his friends and acquaintances already had other people to fall back on. But he supposed that if he had woken up earlier, he could have been partnered up with Yuto from the start and not have to worry about it. Why did he stay up so late, again? Why didn't he go to bed on time and wake up for breakfast like everyone else?

These questions reverberated in his mind, and the obvious answer did not appear before him just yet. Yuto waved goodbye to his friend, before being pulled away by his nagging club members that were celebrating a premature victory. As his earthen image was ripped out of sight, Asuhi felt his walls crumbling down.

Who would he pair up with? Or would he have to be excluded from this tournament? It seemed mandatory and if he didn't find a partner soon, he would be assigned one randomly with the school's system. But the idea of working with a complete stranger made him feel dizzy, and suddenly the cafeteria crowd became too overwhelming for him. The boy staggered to find an empty seat, and sat in one of the benches close by the windows, breathing in and out as he tried to find himself once more.

"Imizu." A voice called out to him, but he couldn't respond just yet. He held up a shaky hand to signal to the other to stop for a moment, and with the other hand he covered his mouth as he tried to quell his trembling body. It would not do well to have a sudden panic attack over something so insignificant, but he wouldn't be able to stop it even if he wanted it to. He cursed his own weakness, and found relief when his chest opened up again and his breaths became less forced.

"Imizu?" There was a hint of genuine fear within the voice, that which was masked by the plain concern and worry.

"Yes," he gasped out, not looking at the person who spoke to him in the first place. "S-Sorry, I was having a...well, I was—"

"—I know." The voice continued on, unaffected by the anxious display in its entirety. "You good?"

"I'm fine now." The boy was trying to reassure himself, more than anyone else. "W-What is it?"

"Did you find someone to partner up with in the tournament already?"

"Huh?"

"I'm speaking clearly."

"W-Well, you are, I just needed a second to think...um, no, I haven't. Everyone I wanted to pair up with has someone else already…"

"...I see."

"Yeah, but it's fine, they'll just put me on a team with a stranger, probably. I-I'll be okay."

"I doubt that, somehow."

"But—"

"Imizu," the voice became more serious, and it seemed to loom over the younger boy with a shadow of its own. He felt chills crawl up his spine, and his eyes remained affixed on the floor in front of him.

Were his ears deceiving him? What was going on?

"Imizu," the voice repeated itself, and then became earnest. "I'll be your partner."

He looked up, and expected to find some stranger that somehow knew his name, but was still utterly kind to him because the voice was so comforting. He expected to see Shigure, maybe, as the third year student was relatively nice and easy going when he wanted to be. Maybe he even expected to see Kumano from the drama club, as she was more sympathetic than she looked and even took a liking to him at times.

But instead, he looked up, and found that he was immediately caught off guard by the scarlet eyes that bore into him like molten lava. They tried to burn him, those eyes, but it didn't work because Asuhi's own irises were green and blue in one pretty color—a representative of the calm waves and playful sprays of the ocean. Water and fire met in one turbulent gaze, and the seas caught ablaze and the flames splashed like puddles between it all. Two different entities meeting in a similar, simultaneous movement—all which resulted in leaving Asuhi breathless and mystified, utterly disbelieving of the situation in front of him.

It was Kyoma he was staring at, and he wore an expression more serious than death when he stared at Asuhi. He repeated himself once more, with a voice that was not as cruel as his eyes were being. "I'll be your partner, Imizu."

I won't leave you to dry out.

After the humans had been saved,

Asclepius returned to the heavens above.