Alice woke up in a bed at the hospital across from Belle and Yoshi. They all smiled at each other. Alice checked her pockets for the phoenix vitals and saw 3. She swore she took 4, but she wasn't worried about that right now. She walked over to Yoshi's bed and injected him with the vital. All his wounds began to fade away and his skin and body all returned to normal. Even his arm grew back. Alice was so unbelievably happy she ripped off Yoshi's mask to kiss him immediately. Afterward, she noticed that the scars and burns on his face had also disappeared with the rest of his wounds.
Belle had never seen Yoshi's scarred face before, so she was confused at how shocked Yoshi and Alice were. When Yoshi looked in the mirror, he stared at his face for a while before gliding his fingers across his cheek. He couldn't believe it. His whole life he had grown up with that face, but now Alice healed him. He began to cry tears of joy. Alice thought they were tears of sadness and hugged him to comfort him. This only made it more confusing when Yoshi grabbed her and kissed her out of sheer joy.
Willow forced Yoshi and Belle to write to her about how they were tortured. It was in this that Alice found out what had become of Seiko. At first, she was surprised and empathetic towards Belle for the trauma, but then she realized how little she cared about Seiko. Was it perhaps because they were never friends? All Alice knew about Seiko was that she was a weirdo who followed her around. She really started to wish she could have gotten to know her better, but she didn't feel bad, because she wouldn't have met Belle or Yoshi if she didn't die.
A few days later, Yoshi was in the gym, doing sit-ups. He still chose to wear his mask, even though his face was healed. He still lacked confidence without his mask.
Today, Alice was busy. She had juat officially been promoted to paradox class. Even though she tried to decline because she failed to match up to Sapphy, Taiyo gave her the pass because she believed Alice was a little under Willow's level, which would still make her a weaker paradox rank. Because of this, Alice has had to undergo several tests over the last few days.
So, he decided to work out alone today. He decided to take his shirt off because it was getting too hot. A girl noticed his sexy eyes and jacked body. She was a young lady with long purple hair that covered one of her sharp golden eyes. She had purple heels as well as a revealing dress that exposed her arms, cleavage, and thighs. Out from her head stuck out two small dragon wings, and out from her back stuck out two larger dragon wings. She walked over to him and sat on the floor next to him.
"Hey." the lady said. "My name is Sylvie, dragon keeper."
"I'm Yoshi, also a dragon keeper. What's with your wings?"
"Oh, me and some of my friends were experimented on by Yerlen. Now, we're stuck like this."
"Oh... I'm so sorry. I know how it feels."
"Yeah, I bet. Aren't you the boyfriend of the one jackal lady?... Well, she's the only jackal in the school."
"Yeah."
"Oh, nice. She became paradox rank, correct.
"Yep. She's so amazing and talented."
"I must ask, what rank are you? I'm aether."
"Uh, echo."
"Really. I thought you would have been at least aether. Do you get dommed by Alice?"
"Uh... what?"
"Oh, well, it's just a little surprise Alice would be dating someone so much... weaker than her. I mean, what do you do to even out her table?"
"Well, I cook for her...clean... talk to her... I'm the leader of our squad."
"So, you're a wife? Little more than a maid and a therapist. And how does that work? How are you so much weaker, yet you get to order her around?"
"I feel like you're trying to interrogate me."
"Oh, beg my pardon. I just wanted to ask what would you do if Alice found someone better than you?" You know she has the potential to become zenith class. Even if people fear her, her command will be indomitable. Men will line up for her one after the other to get her influence and power. What do you bring to the table to that a zenith class won't have access to? What, are you gonna be her little pet? Maybe an 18th husband."
"..."
"I think you should break up. That way, you save Alice the trouble of lugging you around. Anyways, good talk. Always nice to meet a fellow dragon keeper."
Sylvie began to walk away. As she did, she looked satisfied with herself. Yoshi threw a dumbbell in front of her, nearly crushing her foot.
"Why did you do that?"
"You came over here acting like you wanted to talk, but all you did was try to tear me down. Alice and I are together because we make each other stronger. It's not about ranks or power—it's about trust, respect, and love. I might not be as strong as Alice, but that doesn't make me weak. It doesn't make me less important in our relationship. And finally, keep my girlfriend's name out of your mouth. Don't try to assume what type of character she has without even meeting her. You don't know Alice like I do."
Sylvie paused, a smirk still lingering on her lips. "You're awfully defensive for someone who's supposed to be confident in his relationship."
Yoshi took a step closer, not backing down. "If you think trying to get into my head will work, you're mistaken. Alice and I have been through too much together for me to be swayed by someone like you. So if you were trying to intimidate me, or make me doubt myself, you failed."
Sylvie's smirk faded slightly, replaced by a more thoughtful expression. "You're not as easy to rattle as I thought."
"And you're not as clever as you think," Yoshi shot back. "Now, if you've got nothing else to say, I'd appreciate it if you leave me to my workout."
"Fine, whatever." Sylvie began to walk away. Yoshi returned to his workout, but then she turned back to him. "Oh, also, I'll be joining you guys for your senior year."
"What?"