POV: Rai Shinsei
Following behind Aria, who hummed a rather relaxing tune, I struggled to find an answer to whether she was bold or oblivious as the inquisitive stares of the several passing female students were beginning to affect me mentally.
I can't figure her out.
I don't know what's going through her head right now, but I'm certain that she's not thinking straight.
Aria, whose beauty rivals that of a goddess, is inviting a sullied, ordinary-looking male such as myself into her own dorm, not to mention, she's an esteemed noble while I'm just a mere peasant.
The difference in our status quo is like night and day.
Even if we were to put our birth status aside, at the end of the day, I'm a male and she's a female.
Surely she has to understand that there's nothing casual about inviting the opposite gender into a private area such as her dorm of all places, right?
Gazing at her from behind, her carefree humming answered all of my concerns as my eyes depressed with a frown.
Yeah, I should have known.
She's in her own world right now.
"Aria, I appreciate your offer, but I need a new set of clothes as my sweater is nearly drenched in my own blood, not to mention that I would also like to take a shower… preferably in my own dorm, so I'll just-"
Amidst expressing my thoughts, Aria turned around with a menacing glare, silencing my utterance as I swallowed dryly, afraid to speak before her as she stifled a giggle at my apprehension.
"I should have an extra hoodie that you can borrow and as for your shower, I'm sure you can wait until I finish healing you, right?" Aria asked with a threatening smile as I sighed, unable to think of a way to escape from her as not only was she a prominent noble with enough power to silence me, but we eventually arrived outside of her dorm as I found escaping to be pointless now.
Room 24.
Entering inside of her dorm, I was befuddled, my mouth agape beneath the covering of my blood-soaked sweater as the floor plan of Aria's dorm was much different than what I expected.
Unlike my own dorm, where I was forced to share a room with Arthur, Aria and Sarah had their own room as the quality of the dorm itself seemed more luxurious and spacious compared to my own, raising many questions within my mind as Aria closed the door behind me.
Is this what you would call favoritism?
"What's wrong?" Aria asked as she stepped into her room while I continued to observe the interior of her dorm incredulously.
"It's nothing…" I replied as I was tempted to check out her kitchen until I noticed her signaling me to enter her room, prompting me to step inside as I was met with a furnished, yet, immaculate room that fit the very description of your average teenage girl with the exception of her bed, which was unmade with a few clothes scattered across it as I noticed a small picture of a young Aria and an old man who was none other than Joseph, resting meticulously on her desk as it was framed with utmost care.
"Rai, you can take a seat in the chair. I'm going to grab some medical supplies just in case we need them." Aria said, pulling my attention away as she stepped inside her bathroom while I seated myself, envious once more of Aria's dorm as I recalled a few instances where I was forced to wait for Arthur to finish his hour-long shower sessions, which to this day, I am still unable to get a grasp on his unusual behavior.
They even have their own bathroom…
With a sigh of dejection, I leaned back into her chair, closing my eyes to filter out my rumbling stomach as I removed the collar of my sweater from over my nose, allowing the fresh, cool air of Aria's room to soothe my battered and bruised face as her photo with Joseph inspired me to ponder on my future, which was altered the moment I had enrolled into a hero academy.
Ten years ago, I made a vow.
A vow to destroy the Hero Association and yet, I'm unable to imagine a future where my ambition is realized.
As Ryan said, in terms of physical strength, I'm near the peak of my limits for my age, but at the cost of neglecting my Aspect, my Aspectual Power has diminished significantly.
That fact is undeniable and overall…
I'm weaker than I was two years ago, despite my built-up body and immense experience in terms of combat.
In a world where Aspects reign superior, physical strength can only amount to so much, as well as hand-to-hand combat.
As of now, I don't stand a chance against an Executive, nonetheless an S-Class hero.
Rejecting my Aspect was a mistake that I should have never made as it only set me further back from achieving my dream, but in the end, it was none other than my own Aspect that indirectly killed Iris, inducing an everlasting trauma that to this day, I'm still unable to overcome.
And here I was trying to act as if I was any better than Sarah.
Frustrated, I chortled as I found my own hypocrisy amusing until I felt a sudden warm, reposeful sensation as the once restless, agonizing pain that coursed through every crevice of my face gradually faded away with every passing second as a gentle golden light was the source of my relief.
Aria?
It was an ethereal experience as this was my first time ever being healed by light.
Relishing in the alleviating sensation, I felt as if I was in my mother's embrace once again, bringing forth a memory of her that I had long forgotten as my pursuit to fulfill my ambition forbade me from remembering it.
It was a memory of my mother healing me as I was struck with a tenacious cold.
Burning with a fever, I found myself struggling to breathe, making my life utterly miserable until my mother used Aspectual Restoration to relieve me of my suffering and as I felt my symptoms vanish, she comforted me within her embrace as my eyes grew heavy and soon, I fell asleep within her arms.
"Rai?" Aria called out, her tone laced with confusion as I opened my eyes, unaware of how much time had passed as the agonizing pain that I once felt within my face was now negligible.
"You're crying." Aria added as I felt tears trickling from my eyes, urging me to wipe them with the sleeve of my sweater as Aria stared at me anxiously.
What an unpleasant memory.
"Are you alright?" Aria inquired as I nodded.
"Yeah… I'm fine." I replied, wincing in pain upon standing up from the chair as I felt an excruciating sharp pain course through my right forearm, alerting Aria as her eyes widened with concern.
What are the chances…
"Are you sure?" Aria questioned skeptically until I assured her with a nod.
"Alright, if you're fine, can you go wash your face so I can apply some bandages? Since Atticus used attacks empowered with his own aura, I was unable to fully heal your outer injuries because of my lack of insight into Aspectual Restoration, so I apologize for that." Aria asked as she handed me a towel, but within her eyes, lingered suspicion as I nodded before stepping into her bathroom, which was also larger than my own as I let out a dejected sigh before washing my face carefully with my hands, wary of my right arm as I thoroughly scraped off the patches of dried-up blood with the aid of warm water.
Finishing within a few minutes, I turned off the sink and looked into the frameless square mirror placed on the wall before me, leaning forward as I used my left arm as support while I stared at myself and noticed a few light bruises across my face along with a few gashes, which were nearly healed.
Even though Aria's Aspect has the greatest natural affinity for Aspectual Restoration, it seems she was right about her lack of insight as with her potential, she would be capable of restoring an entire limb with minimal effort, but it's no surprise that her insight is fairly low as it's already rare enough to find an Aspector who has insight into using Aspectual Restoration, let alone Two-Way Aspectual Restoration.
After I finished observing the faint injuries across my face, I tried to push myself back in order to stand straight, but in the moment that I applied force, I inadvertently used my right arm as I felt a sharp, excruciating pain course through my right forearm once again, causing a groan of pain to accidentally slip from my mouth as I clicked my teeth in frustration.
I had my doubts earlier, but now I'm certain that one of the bones within my forearm is fractured.
It seems I've underestimated Atticus.
I was planning on finding Jennifer afterwards to heal my wounds fully anyways, so I'll take my leave now before I overstay my welcome.
With a deep breath to ease the pain, I turned to find Aria standing in the doorway of the bathroom as she blocked my path with a forbidding expression.
Great.
Of course Aria had to notice.
"Aria, I'm grateful that you went out of your way to heal me. I truly am, but-"
"Your sweater. Take it off." Aria deadpanned as her demand left me utterly perplexed.
Huh?
Maybe I misheard her.
"What did you say?" I asked, questioning my own sanity.
"I said take off your sweater." Aria ordered sternly as her absurd demand created an awkward silence.
So I didn't mishear her.
"Aria, with all due respect, there's multiple reasons why I can't do that. As for one, you are of nobility while I am nothing more than a peasant. If anyone were to see the two of us-
Amidst my explanation, Aria's glare intensified, forcing me to succumb to her ridiculous demand as in the presence of nobility, my options were severely limited.
Although what she's demanding is wrong in many ways, is it worth creating even more unnecessary problems in the future?
If I simply follow through with her absurd demand, then I wouldn't have to worry about any consequences, but regardless, why do I have to go through this?
First it was Iris, then Joseph and now Aria.
Why is my fate intertwined with such a family?
With a sigh of defeat, I began removing my blood-soaked sweater to the best of my ability with my left hand alone, but upon removing it, I noticed Aria's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of my bare torso, creating an awkward tension within the air as I felt somewhat uncomfortable of having a beautiful girl staring at my body with such intent.
Hah…
I haven't felt this awkward in awhile.
Before enrolling into this academy, I went under a strenuous training regiment and amidst my suffering, I gained invaluable experience for combat as the one who trained me in order to fulfill my ambition was none other than my master, Nyx.
She was a gorgeous woman who could seduce any man with a single glance, but despite her alluring beauty, she had a foul mouth as to top it off, she was also a perverted, yet mischievous woman who would tease and harass me at a moment's notice.
Compared to the humiliation I had received from Nyx, revealing my bare chest to a girl shouldn't have affected me in the slightest and yet, it somehow did.
Whether it was because we were the same age or because I felt a nostalgic attraction towards Aria, indecent thoughts began to arise within my adolescent mind, breaking apart my usual poised composure effortlessly as I wanted nothing more than for this unpredictable day to end.