I extended my hand to help him up.
"Haah, Looks I can't beat you Leo, haha!"
Rio took my hand with a smile as he got up.
"It was close."
"Haha!"
I stretched my arms wide and yawned,
"Well, I'm going to sleep, what about you?"
"Yeah! I'll do the same!"
Rio and I headed back to our dorms after putting our weapons away.
"When did you grab all those weapons by the way?" I asked
"I had the dagger in my pocket before we started!"
I was more of questioning the sword, but I guess it's fine.
"Well, night."
"Good night, Leo!"
We headed into our respective rooms, and I laid on my bed.
Haah, I see what Taku meant now... Rio really was a genius. Before the mission started, I had been sparring with Taku or Ian nearly every day. I had only been able to trick them a few amount of times but I'd never win any of the time.
It was probably because they just had a ton more experience than me, they'd had been training since a young age after all. They've probably seen most of the feints and tricks if I had to guess. Though, how did Ms. Brent trick them then? Hm...
But never mind that... Rio had only joined us like 1 or 2 times before the mission and he didn't even spar with any of us. Though I don't know what he did in his free time I do know that he was learning quickly. Even when I was fighting him, he was getting better.
Haah... I might lose next time...
I closed my eyes and slept.
---
I woke up early the next morning.
Haah, I stretched my arms wide and yawned.
It was a bit earlier than when I usually ran so I decided to chill out for a little bit.
I was going to just lay down for a few, but I went to the living room instead. I sat on the couch and leaned back.
Haah, this is comfier than my bed... I wonder when I'll get my requested items.
Hm... I hadn't actually seen any of my classmates other than Kazu, Taku and Gene since I woke up. Usually, I'd have seen at least one of them in the living room or something.
Speaking of Gene, I wonder if he's awake yet? Eh, maybe I could go check but we're not that close I don't think.
"Huh? Leo, you're awake?"
Kazu walked into the living room, he sounded a bit down.
"Mornin."
I waved to him as I sat up a little.
"Good morning." He said as he sat across from me on a different couch.
Hm? He seems a little off today...
"Are you going running with me in a few?" I asked
"Haah, Sorry but I think I'll have to pass, I've been trying to get everyone feeling better."
"Ah, it's fine. Feeling better?"
"Mmm, you probably don't know since you rarely are anything other than calm haha."
Eh? Was that a diss?
He continued to speak,
"After the Ogre incident everyone has been feeling depressed or scared or anxiety, something along those lines."
Ah... I never really thought about that. Since Taku or Rio didn't show it, I figured they were over it already, maybe they were trying to ignore it? Hm... If I didn't have this 'Peace of Mind' skill, would I be the same as everyone else? It's definitely something for someone to think about, but not for me.
"Oh, yeah, that... Good luck."
Kazu looked at me in my eyes.
"Now that I think about it, can't you help me?"
Huh? That seems like a lot of work though? I just want to relax...
"Yeah! Can't you help calm everyone down with me?"
Uh... Maybe? But I don't really want to?
"I think they'd need a motivational speech rather than me, right? How'd you deal with it?" I responded.
"To be honest, I still haven't fully 'dealt' with it... But I know if I let this drag me down then I'd never get anything done, so I'm trying my best to ignore it. But! I also think that sometimes all people need is a song! Come on! Let's go!"
He grabbed my hand and started to lead me away.
Um... Why am I being forced into this?
---
The first place he took me was to the infirmary. We were checking on the still-unconscious Gene.
"Haah, he's still unconscious, I wonder when he'll wake up..."
Kazu looked a little down.
I exhaled a deep breath.
"Probably soon enough. It's good enough that he's not dead."
"Yeah... Thankfully."
He continued to speak,
"Hey Gene, we're all waiting for you to wake up. So, get up soon bud."
Were they that close? Or was he just that nice? He genuinely looked sad at seeing Gene unconscious.
"Well, let's go try to cheer up some of our classmates!"
He left the infirmary and I looked at the sleeping Gene.
Haah...
"Alright, alright
This is just the pinnacle, you'll be alright"
I sang quietly in his ear.
My singing helped Rio while he was sleeping. So it might help him too. I don't know.
Since Kazu helps Rio a lot, I'll try and help him out, this is all I could do for you.
I followed Kazu and headed to the next person.