"Now this is a bit awkward."
Due to the constant injuries one suffered during ability duels, the infirmary was not too far from the sparring arena.
It was why, in just a few steps, Luvi reached the infirmary, to get himself fixed. But found that Miriam had chosen to come here as well.
And why would she not be here?
The injuries on her neck were not light and the swelling might impede her breathing, so coming here as fast as she could was the right choice for her.
But, this made the situation a bit weird between them. And Miriam intended to remain silent for now, not wishing to communicate with Luvi any further. But her mood was ruined the moment Luvi said his line.
There was no way she would respond anymore. Not now or ever in the future. Luvi was dangerous, like those girls have said to her.
Though, her thoughts came to a pause when she recalled Luvi's last word in the sparring arena. 'Ask Rose.'
From what she knows, Luvi and Rose used to be friends.
"How did this happen to your face?" The nurse came and was horrified to see the state of Luvi's face. Which was horrible to say the least.
"A training accident, nothing more."
"Hmm." The nurse didn't believe it. But looking at Luvi's smiling face, she didn't intend to ask anything anymore.
But it didn't mean she wouldn't look up who Luvi was training with. And the same was true for Miriam.
So after patching Luvi's face with bandages as well as antiseptic, she went back. Intending to look up who Luvi was fighting with.
As for Miriam, her injury was also serious, but it still can't compare to Luvi's, so she somewhat forgot about the other party that came before Luvi.
On the other hand, Miriam, who witnessed this exchange, seemed annoyed for a bit. "Didn't you say, you were going to speak out the truth?"
Miriam recalled how Luvi had said that he would accept all the blame that would come his way. But now, in front of the nurse, he lied as if it was natural.
Which made Miriam's mood a bit worse. The apologies of Luvi from before disappeared from her mind as she thought he was going to play another game.
"I said, I would gladly be punished if you complained. But from the nurse's reaction, I don't see she is aware about either of us. Meaning, you didn't choose to complain for now."
"I wonder though, why didn't you accuse me yet? It would have been easy."
Luvi was curious, this was a bit unexpected. When he had initially entered the infirmary and seenMiriam. He thought the nurse would come and scold him, before she did anything while the disciplinary staff waited for his patch up.
But none of it happened and it would seem the nurse had made up her own mind while treating him. Making Luvi understand that she didn't know what had happened in the training room. Which was odd, considering that Luvi really assumed he would be punished for this.
"I…" And at Luvi's question, Miriam didn't know how to respond to it.
Yes, why didn't she say out loud what happened in the sparring room?
He harmed her, making her experience a kind of pain she never ever had experienced in her whole life. A pain that caused her to lose her sense of reasoning as the fear of death creeped up in her heart.
It would be unusual for her to forgive Luvi. But while she was rushing to the infirmary, her mind kept repeating the events in her mind, including everything she had read on the internet.
Then she recalls a particular line.
"The youngest of the Prathan awakened with the worst talent." An archived forum filled with a bunch of adults making fun of a young child.
And in that forum there was a single person who was defending the youngest, all alone.
"Why do you guys care so much about him? He is just a kid, leave him be."
Just leave him alone, this is what the guy kept repeating, but the forum members didn't stop and kept enjoying the fact at how the youngest of Prathan Family was talentless.
Which caused this particular individual to become more and more irritated, using curses and bad innuendos to fight against the whole forums, before his account was deleted by the admins.
And now, I know Luvi in real life. She understood that the person defending young Luvi might have been Luvi himself.
'Just leave me alone.'
This was the cry of young Luvi in that forum. But no one did listen. To most of the world, Luvi was a spoiled rich kid who got what he deserved. But people failed to learn who he was in actuality.
They just judged him based on his background, then when his look changed, earning scars on his face. The people started to judge him on his looks.
So after thinking for a while, Miriam chose to say some words that she didn't in the heat of the moment before.
"Did you know why I actually approached you?" Miriam asked, being calmer than before.
"Well, you did say that, along with some embarrassing stuff." Luvi laughed, as if the event in the sparring room never happened.
Which Miriam ignored, for she had learned, everything Luvi did was fake. Who he was in reality, neither she knew, nor did she expect Andy, Luvi's only friend, to know.
Luvi was a man made up of false templates, which went to explain why he was so hollow and unpredictable, whenever she met him.
Also, the other reason she ignored Luvi was simple, the "embarrassing stuff" Luvi mentioned were really embarrassing and she doesn't wish to recall it once again.
"All I needed was some help and a friend I can actually talk to without fearing their inner thoughts." A simple answer and yes, her main reason to approach Luvi was so that it becomes easier in future to employ him into her group.
Which may or may not become one of the most influential companies under the backing of Heavenly Stains.
Though, her other reason which was the real reason all along was simple.
She was lonely and needed a genuine friend.
"Didn't you befriend Rose during our last meeting?"
"Rose… of course not. She was direct in letting me know that she is only interested in my ability and nothing more. Which I appreciated, but that would not be true friendship, just a simple transaction."
"Hmm… Sorry for that, she might have learned that from me." Luvi said with some embarrassment. Recalling his cringe days when he used to manipulate other students around him to do some dirty deeds.
Which might have rubbed off on Rose, in the wrong way.
"You two used to be friends… right? It would seem she knows a lot about you." Miriam didn't know when, but the hate for Luvi in her heart slowly died down.
At some point, she somewhat understood why Luvi did what he did. It might not excuse away his crime against her, but it gave her some understanding on who Luvi was and why he did certain things.
Which is why, like many others, she was curious about this bizarre young man.
"Yes, we were. When I was 12, I used to imagine me and Rose getting married and having a family of our own. She was the closest friend I had at the time. Though, I was too embarrassed to say any of it in front of her." Luvi laughed as he recalled his past.
Choosing to say some embarrassing things, just like Miriam did before.
"But, things changed when my ability awakened. She changed."
"Then one thing led to another and I learned some more things about why she changed."
"Followed with me leaving my home."
"Of course, before everything was over. I did go a bit overboard to learn why she changed." Luvi smiled with some embarrassment.
*****
Rose was in a good mood today, her talks with Miriam seemed to be going well, which means that she has achieved her goal to some point.
And with how Luvi really is, she expected that something might have already happened.
So she took a light shower with an expensive shampoo she very much loved.
"I wonder if the academy would give me a reward for getting rid of Luvi?"
She was sure that whatever Luvi did from now on, he would be kicked out of the academy for it. And with no protection from his family anymore, there won't be anyone suppressing the news, like they did before.
As for how she was so sure about it?
The reason was simple.
Rose touched the scar under the right side of her chest. A scar with giant bite marks on it. A scar that never went away, a scar that still stings from time to time.
Making her recall the day when Luvi showed his true nature to her.
Which is why she hates him and also the reason why she is so scared of him.
*****
On the other hand, FIX, who was watching the whole series of evert through some spy drones in the shape of little animals, hiding in the corner of the arena.
She was left speechless.
There were times when she wished to intrude on this fight and stop Luvi. But, she has chosen to believe in him.
And how wrong she was, she only understood now.
"That young man is truly… unstable."
She understood that something was wrong with Luvi for a long while. But only now did she learned how dangerous Luvi actually was.
"I need to talk to him, personally."