POV: Aria Akari
What am I looking at right now?
In the face of silence, I was astonished as I stared at Rai's torso, which was toned with muscles that I was unaware even existed as along with his tremendously built body, there were a numerous amount of scars marred across it, raising many concerns within my mind as in no world should a sixteen year-old boy have a battle-scarred body such as his own.
The scars were diverse, consisting of many gashes and cuts as there were even a few wounds that seemed to be from a gunshot, sparking my curiosity further as each scar was a testament to his relentless struggles.
"As of now, it's not my place to tell you, but when the time comes, I'm sure Rai will explain everything to you, although what I can tell you now is that Rai's life up to this point has been far from a normal one."
As I recalled the Headmaster's conversation, which I eavesdropped out of curiosity, I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as I tried to imagine Rai struggling tirelessly in order to get to where he is today.
Rai…
What kind of life have you lived for your body to end up like this?
Correcting my focus, I noticed that along his torso, there was bruising surrounding his abdomen and chest as my eyes then fell upon his right arm, which was swollen, but I was unable to discern the severity of his injury due to his bandages covering it.
As I gently lifted his right arm, Rai winced in pain as I then began unwrapping the bandages around his forearm to find that it was fractured as there were multiple grievous bruises among the swelling.
His arm is broken and yet, he's able to maintain his composure as if it was just a normal injury.
I guess with a seasoned body such as his own, it should be no surprise that his pain tolerance is incredibly high.
"You can sit back down in the chair. With this kind of injury, it may take me at least ten minutes to heal it. Also, hand me your sweater so I can wash it for you." I directed as Rai nodded and handed me his blood-soaked sweater before seating himself quietly.
After throwing his sweater into my washing machine, I headed back into my room after starting it and seated myself on the edge of my bed with a medical box beside me, prompting Rai to roll his chair towards me.
Upon his arrival, I gently grabbed his right hand and began healing his fractured forearm with my Aspect as I noticed his arm also bore a few scars.
"Rai, I've noticed you always wear bandages around your forearms. Is it because of your scars?" I questioned curiously, as Rai's eyebrows furrowed until he shook his head.
"It's not because of my scars. Truth be told, I was never one to care for appearances as the reason why I always wear bandages around my forearm is to honor my late father." Rai answered with a faint smile as I felt a sense of guilt clench at my heart from bringing up a sensitive topic.
"By late, do you mean…"
"Yeah. My father is dead." Rai answered grimly as I felt even worse for prying into his life.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I said solemnly, unable to think of a better response as there was a moment of silence until Rai sighed with a smile.
"I appreciate your sympathy, but there's no need to feel sorry for me. I've come to terms with his death long ago and besides, my father would be furious if he caught me moping around because of his death." Rai replied as the bruises along his forearm slowly began to subside.
"He must have been a great man when he was alive." I remarked with a smile, rousing a soft chortle from Rai until it evolved into laughter as his reaction startled me.
"Great may be an overstatement. My father was a childish man who would do anything in the spur of the moment as if he was free from all responsibilities. If it wasn't for my mother setting him straight, I'm not sure what would have happened to my hometown." Rai replied with a lighthearted smile as I was left speechless from the sudden shift in his demeanor.
In the little time that I've known Rai, there's one thing that I've noticed.
He barely smiles.
Of course, I don't expect everyone to radiate with positivity as everyone has different personalities, but even Rai, who has a more laid-back personality, has never once smiled naturally as in the moments he did smile, they felt oddly forced, but this time was different.
As Rai began to explain another story about his father, a genuine smile rested across his face, refusing to leave as I found his unusual happiness soothing, inspiring me to listen intently to his story as the once gloomy mood caused by my needless prying was now uplifted by the jovial mood of Rai.
He's not usually this talkative.
Most of the time, I find it hard to even hold a proper conversation with him as it feels as if he's trying to dismiss me.
It seems he's very fond of his father.
I wonder what kind of man he was.
Encouraged by his contagious mood, I found myself exchanging a story of my own after his.
The flow of our conversation felt as if we were longtime friends since for the first time, I was actually able to converse with Rai, whose existence felt as if it was an enigma up until today.
Eventually, I finished healing his forearm, prompting him to flex his hand as he moved his arm around in order to test the results of my healing.
"How is it?" I asked as Rai finished twisting his wrist around.
"There's still a faint soreness, but overall, I would say it's healed. Your Aspect truly works wonders." Rai answered with a smile of gratitude as I grabbed a roll of bandages along with adhesive bandages from within the medical box beside me.
"I'm glad you're finally acknowledging my skills." I voiced proudly.
"Now come closer so I can cover up the remaining wounds on your face." I added as Rai rolled closer towards me until he was no further than a foot away from me, but as I tried to place a bandage onto one of his bruises, I was irked by his wavy, long bangs that rested across his forehead, causing me to remove a black hair tie from my wrist in order to tie up his chaotic bangs as for the first time, I was able to see his face clearly.
I was never able to get a clear look at his face because of his bangs, but…
He's more handsome than I thought?
I was unsure if it was because of Rai's face being slightly wet from washing it, but for some reason, his facial features appeared more attractive than usual as I found myself captivated by his distinctive sky blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle along with his delicate eyelashes until my gaze fell upon his body, bringing forth an uncomfortable warmth within my face as I felt my heart nearly skip a beat.
Whether it be from the internet or even in person, it's not like I haven't seen the bare torso of a male before, but seeing one that's within my reach was a completely different story, especially from someone who shared the same age as me.
I never found the bare torso of a male as appealing as it was to your average teenage girl, who would typically lose their mind over a dreamy body paired with a face of a handsome male, but for some strange reason, Rai seemed to be an exception as amidst my composure crumbling, my heart began to flutter as my breathing quickened while my mind raced with unseemly thoughts that were unbefitting of a noblewoman such as myself.
Struggling to rid myself of the wild fantasies lurking within my mind, I was soon able to get a grasp on myself as with a deep breath, I began tending to Rai's wounds as I covered a few gashes across his face with adhesive bandages.
What in the world am I imagining right now?
He may have saved your life, but even that doesn't justify your emotions.
Finishing tending his wounds, I stood from my bed and placed my medical box on the counter of my sink within the bathroom as I then walked towards my drawer, where I began searching for the hoodie that I intended on letting Rai borrow, but upon finding it, I realized that Rai's frame was much larger than I had initially anticipated, rousing a sheepish giggle from me.
There's no way that Rai can fit this.
"What's wrong?" Rai asked curiously as I turned around and showed him the hoodie, which was a tacky yellow with a horrendous graphic design across it as it was a present from my grandfather, who has absolutely zero sense for fashion as Rai approached me and observed the hoodie for himself with a baffling gaze.
"Aria… you don't expect me to wear this, right?" Rai asked with an awkward chortle as he handed me the hoodie back.
"Of course not." I replied with a giggle as I placed the hoodie back inside my drawer and began searching for another one until I realized that every hoodie I currently had was too small for his frame.
Most of my oversized hoodies are dirty right now, but maybe I have some in the closet.
Closing my drawer, I stepped into my walk-in closet and began searching for an extra oversized hoodie until I noticed that the hoodie I was currently wearing was oversized.
Maybe…
"Here, try to see if this one fits." I said, stepping outside of my closet as I removed my scarf and began taking off my hoodie, but in the moment I finished removing it, I suddenly heard the front door of my dorm open from the outside as Rai and I traded a confused glance before directing our attention towards my doorway to find none other than Sarah, who dropped a duffle bag of her clothes onto the floor out of shock as she stared at us incredulously, her jaw slackened while her eyes seemed to question reality itself.
Ah.
"Sarah…?" I uttered, my tone trembling as a deafening silence filled the room, the composure I had once desperately tried to maintain was utterly destroyed while my best efforts were for naught upon imagining Sarah's perspective, allowing my flustered, yet sleep-deprived mind to conjure salacious thoughts that were far more worse than anything I had imagined earlier as I found myself a victim to a terrible misunderstanding.