"Seriously, Raven" Fuwa said, shaking her head "How do you always end up in these situations? You can't just punch your way through every problem"
Raven winced, feeling the dull throb of pain radiating through her skull. She lifted a hand to touch the side of her head, only to wince again when she found a fresh lump "Ugh, who the hell hit me?" she muttered "And why do I feel like I got run over by a damn carriage?"
"It was that tall guy with the beard" Fuwa replied, her voice a mixture of amusement and concern "One punch and you were out cold. He didn't even seem mad... just, I don't know, amused... and I don't really know if I should tell you the rest..."
"What? What happened next?" Asked Raven intrigued.
"Weeell... the rest of the people started cheering and clapping... there was a little more fighting and then it died out" Then she hurried to tell her the next part "If it makes you feel better, the guy who knocked you out also took out three more guys!"
Raven's pride stung more than her head. She sat up, forcing herself to endure the pain as she glanced around. They were back at their room at the tavern, it seems like she got sucked punched and then Fuwa carried her back to this place. Raven groaned again, falling back onto the bed.
"Great. Now I'm that person who gets taken out with one hit and carried away like a damsel"
Fuwa giggled, clearly enjoying Raven's rare moment of humility "Hey, at least you learned a lesson, right? Maybe don't pick fights with people twice your size"
Raven shot her a glare, but it was more playful than serious "Yeah, yeah, lesson learned. Next time, I'll just use my magic to burn his beard off"
Raven for sure knew one thing. She hated to lose. All her life she has been losing one way or another, and that hasn't really changed not even after coming here. What's worse, she couldn't even remember that well the face of the hero that had defeated her, it would be hard to claim revenge like that. Even now, she got easily defeated by a random guy on the street, maybe in an even more pathetic way than when she got beaten by the hero.
'Maybe I need to shift my focus?' For a moment the cat girl felt like she skipped a heartbeat 'Was I wrong all this time? Fuwa did nothing and nothing bad happened to her?'
Raven lay there, her mind racing as she stared up at the ceiling. The events of the day replayed in her head, but this time with a new clarity. She hated the idea that she had always been fighting, struggling to prove herself, and constantly losing. It wasn't just about the random brawl or the hero who had defeated her before... this was a pattern that had followed her whole life, like a curse placed upon her.
"Fuwa..." Raven said with a confused tone.
"What?" She asked while she was humming a strange tune.
"Why is it I feel like I'm always losing?" The words of Raven surprised the hero candidate, she blinked a couple of times, at the beginning she smiled, but after looking at Raven to the eye she felt that she was talking seriously "You didn't even move back there, but strangely you won because of that"
Fuwa remained silent for a moment, then smiled softly "Raven... you cannot solve every battle with your fists, your weapon, or magic" Fuwa sighted, she wasn't mature enough to be having this discussion and she felt a little awkward but she kept going "My grandpa once told, sometimes, just standing back and watching is enough, you gotta learn when to step back, for what I understand... you have always had to fight for everything, so it may seem like crap, but sometimes violence isn't the correct path, I think I never understood that in my old world until I came here until I met you"
Raven's ears twitched at Fuwa's words, her sharp gaze softening as she absorbed what her friend was saying. It was an odd feeling.... having someone tell her that not everything had to be a fight, for a moment she, the aggressive and feisty beast, felt like a stupid brat. She had spent her whole life surviving by clawing her way through every obstacle, convinced that the only way to win was to be stronger, faster, or more ruthless than everyone else.
But Fuwa was different. Her world seemed to operate by a set of rules Raven didn't understand... rules, where you didn't have to fight every battle, where standing back, could somehow lead to victory.
"Standing back... and watching?" Raven repeated, her brow furrowed. It sounded so foreign to her, like something that went against her very nature "I've never done that, Fuwa. I wouldn't even know how."
Fuwa shifted, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sat on the edge of the bed "I know. It's hard when you're used to always being on the offensive. But sometimes... it's not about winning every fight. It's about choosing which fight matters, and how you handle the ones that don't" Then she pocked out her tongue "Silly Raven, you make me feel like an old hag telling you this kind of things"
Both sharing a laugh then Raven decided it was enough of head agony.
"『Aqua Heal』" She said and her body was covered in a mystique light blue glow... and it felt... good? Damn, it felt amazing! "Aaah... what is this!?"
Raven's body tingled as the cool, soothing energy of her spell washed over her. The dull throbbing in her head melted away, replaced by a gentle warmth that spread through her entire body. She hadn't expected healing magic to feel this... blissful... even some of her fatigue went away.
"What... what is it?" Fuwa asked confused "Oi I want some too!"
"What you are not even hurt" Raven said looking at her with suspicion.
"Stingy!"
"Shut up!" She placed a hand on her side and said "『Aqua Heal』!"
"Aaah!!" Fuwa exclaimed in a weird tone of voice "It's good! It's way better than before!"
"Hey don't moan like that or I'm not healing you ever again!" Raven moved her hands up and down annoyed because Fuwa was being a moron again "You! Perverted hero wannabe!"
Fuwa burst into laughter, her eyes twinkling with amusement "I can't help it! It feels too good! You've been holding out on me with that magic!" she teased, still giggling.
Raven crossed her arms, trying to look stern, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth "Well, if you keep acting like that, maybe I should hold out. Next time you get hurt, I'll just watch"
Fuwa feigned a pout, giving Raven a playful look "Oh, come on. You know you'd heal me even if I did something stupid"
Then Raven jumped from the bed and raised one fist to the sky.
"Okay let's go register into that shitty guild you want to join so bad!" She was in good mood, it was strange, after getting her ass handled by a random guy she could feel like this the next moment.
"Ayeeee~!" Exclaimed Fuwa imitating her but being way more cheerful about it than Raven.