Three days after the failed assassination attempts, Rise woke up from his lengthy and semi-peaceful slumber. It was strange… he remembered feeling something cold brush against his neck, then meeting Mr. Abrams. The shorty was there as well, but Mr. Abrams knocked the two of them out. When he woke up again, his teacher began immediately interrogating him with a few asked questions. Unable to sense any reason for needing to lie… and furthermore, viewing ‘lying’ in and of itself as a despicably weak act that was entirely beneath him… the wild – haired boy answered every single question with absolute honesty. Finally, there came a point where he needed to transform back into his human appearance. But straight after doing such a thing…

His body trembled – or in actuality, it was more accurate to correct himself by saying that his internal organs and muscles all throbbed in an intense bout of pain, back in the woods. His throat burned, the boy’s body numbed, and his internal organs all felt as if countless little needles were piercing each and every one – transforming them into fleshy pin cushions.

Under such an intense feeling of distraught, he quickly sought aid and care from his teacher, but then…

That teacher disappeared without waiting even a second longer to hear about the poor Rise’s deadly condition, and in the same instance, Rise blacked out!

He fainted again…! And it was strikingly obvious, clear as day even, that Mr. Abrams was the source behind his continuous blackening out. That bastard knocked him out again!

How could he withstand this indignation??! He needed to give that stupid homeroom teacher a piece of his mind!

But first…

.

.

.

Where was he?

Noel: “So the Wild sleeping beauty finally decided to stop playing dead, huh? Took you long enough. Hehe, and here I thought you were gonna be bed - rested for the entire school semester.”

without daring to relax his guard any further, the Wild boy swiftly turned his head in alert.

...He never sensed him! But...how?! Of course, Rise could ALSO pull such tricks off, but why can this 12 year old brat do the same?!

Then… as his face contorted into indignation – he faintly remembered everything that transpired between the both of them. His eyebrows furrowed, his lips frowned and his hands tensed – ready to row claws at a moment’s notice. Although they shared the same enemy prior to this, Rise was filled with unacceptance! Comrades? Allies? Such foolish nonsense! They may have both fought common enemies, but that was all there was to it…! They would never accept fighting side by side with such a dangerous ‘threat’ who each one knew nothing about - and he especially didn’t trust this brat who acted like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was thickly coated in that deadly pungent stench of blood!

But, just as his awareness shot up to its maximum, preparing his emotions and resolving to eliminate this fool before he tries anything funny…

Noel: “Hmph! All it took was one tiny slit near your throat to incapacitate you for this long. Mr. Abrams already removed your ‘sleep’ spell he cast. But he also pointed out that the poison took its toll on your insides. To get bested in one move… How pathetic.”

…Poison? No, more importantly than that, this little punk… was he insinuating Rise was weak? HE was calling Rise out for being a weakling back then?

…

This twelve year old didn’t know his place.

Rise: “GRRR, what did you say?! I dare you to say that again! Who was it that lost to their opponent after getting covered in holes?! I may have been caught off guard, but that was it! YOU had all day to go against him. What’s your excuse?”

Noel: “...It’s true. *Shrugs* My appearance was highly unsightly and I looked very much like a sieve… for lack of a better word. HOWEVER! He was in FAR worse shape than me. If I was a sieve...then he was a SPONGE!”

Rise: “...What? Was that supposed to be a criticism?

(What the fuck? What’s that supposed to even mean?)”

Noel: “Tsk, tsk. Rise, I’m ashamed of you. You’ve never seen a sponge before? Since that’s the case, then I’ll just tell you straight out – Sponges have bigger holes than sieves! Therefore what I’m trying to say is… I gave him much larger wounds in comparison to my insignificant cuts!”

Rise: “They sure didn’t LOOK insignificant, considering an entire chunk of your right shoulder was missing... Haha! Ohh, I see – I see! Acting so smug now, this is your way for covering up your embarrassment for losing…! After all, I BEAT my opponent - fairly easily at that. Yet, what about you?”

Noel: “That doesn’t mean anything. Your adversary was weak. Even a super powered chicken could rofl-stomp him into the ground. You think that is supposed to mean anything when you almost got your head lopped off in one strike against MY opponent? You can’t compare even after I nearly did him in!”

Rise: “GRRR, It. Was. A. SURPRISE ATTACK!! I could’ve easily dodged him in a real fight – and then--”

Noel: “That WAS a real fight, fool. There are no do-overs in combat. You lost, and I won.”

Rise: “I KNOW there are no do-overs, moron! Besides, you CAN’T have won when my opponent was incapacitated but yours was left standing! I won!”

Noel: “He was ONLY still standing because Mr. ABRAMS had to stop me from killing-er, be-beating him back then…! And you lost to his first strike THREE TIMES that day, including the two times he sent you flying in the forest! So, I won by default due to Mr. Abrams’s intervention!”

Rise: “What? How does that make any--”

*Knock – Knock – Knock*

…

*Creeeakkk*

Winney: “Noel~ you boys have visitor- oh? … Oh! The other patient is finally awake and fully functional! I’ll go and get another doctor to check your body out in a bit. For the time being – entertain your guest!

...WUCE!!!”

After the strangely flirtatious and sweet nurse, Winney, took her leave, a thin figure wearing a hoodie and light freckles covering his cheeks appeared at the entrance. They seemed to be struggling with themselves with whether or not to enter the room. This type of indecisive behavior set a certain somebody off.

Rise: “Grrah! Hurry up and decide already!! Do you want to ENTER or RUN AWAY like a coward?!”

?: Ye-Y-Yes! I – I’m so terribly sorry!

*Enters*”

There was a slight tension in the air… different, however, from the lingering traces of the pair of patients’ previous squabbling.

No. This tension originated from the meek fourteen year old visitor who just couldn’t decide on what to say as the first words to escape from their mouth.

Unlike Rise, Noel’s response to this indecisiveness was a stark contrast.

With an honest smile, he said:

Noel: “Don’t worry about forcing yourself or anything. Just… take your time and adjust your own emotions properly. Stabilize them. You can speak to us whenever you’re ready. There’s really no rush.”

Rise: “Hmph! Softie. *Whispers*: With that type of mindset, you’d never survive in Villain Haven.”

Noel: “Hehe, it’s a good thing I’m becoming a Hero and not a villain then. Isn’t it? *Smiles at stranger*”

Rise: “Grr… hmph!”

The mysterious student's just gazed at the two of them with a look of incredulity. Rise stirred up their heart strings whenever he spoke with that vicious and moody mouth of his. The wild child really made this person feel tense and timid to the absolute maximum their mind could withstand. But, the other kid…

Firstly, he was much younger in appearance. Second, he was kind, patient and considerate. That ‘softness’ the angrier male spoke of, it was what actually managed to calm this visitor down some. Their rapidly beating heart slowed its pace back to normal levels and their anxiety waned. The strange visitor, was ready to speak.

In hindsight, none of this was planned by the two. Such behavior was merely the only way they each deigned to project themselves during social interaction.

It’s just…

They quickly realized that the synergy they shared when interacting with people they knew nothing about, really gave off the awe-struck impression of a naturally born ‘good-cop and bad-cop’ duo.

One fed the carrot, but only after the other ruthlessly beat with a stick!

If they wanted to – it wasn’t impossible to read the other’s facial expressions to gain a hint at what that person was about to say, and prepare an emotionally contrasting follow-up response, nigh-immediately. This type of ‘routine’ could actually become something effective in squeezing information out of complete strangers!

Of course, this wasn’t their real intention – so upon realizing what they’d done was as effective as that police interrogation method, rather than share impressed gazes with one another; they instead, convulsed in disgust.

Who’d want to be in sync with this guy?

Eugh - how repulsive!

---