In the dark office room, the soft, almost inaudible humming of the computer and the sound of the finger pressing against the keyboard keys were the only sound in the room. Due to the fact that the floor the young man was on was high up above the ground in the high-rise office building, the sound of the bustling streets and the engine of cars were entirely inaudible.

However, this silence provided the young man with naught but an opportunity to concentrate. It allowed him to ignore the stinging feeling that came from his dry eyes, allowed him to ignore the fatigue that he felt, and allowed him to ignore the repetitive nature of his job. As long as he don't think about it, he will have nothing to complain. It doesn't matter if working overtime is a problem. It'll only be for this project, or so he thought. In fact, this job is repetitive. He will have to continue working.

The young man doesn't even know when it will be when he shall leave the company and return home for the night. Heck, don't even bother. The sun will be rising soon. Might as well just stay and get some more work done.

***

In the brightly lit room in Loganel's dorm room, the windows were opened, allowing the natural lighting to spill in and the air to circulate. The gentle breeze blew so that the white curtains lightly danced as it was blown into the air and caressed Loganel's unconscious face, gently lifting his air and causing it to sway in response. The same wind caused the leaves on the trees outside by the window to rustle, and on the same tree, birds perched and chirped a melody of tranquility.

Slowly, Loganel stirred, twitching his fingers and slowly opening his eyes. He was met with a familiar but surprising scenery: the ceiling of his room. He blinked to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, and verified that he was actually alive and awake in the safety of his own room.

He slowly turned his head to look out the window. Since his room was on the second floor of the dorm building and him laying down in bed, the angle made it so that the only thing he could see was the blue sky and the tree that was right outside the window. The leaves on the tree gently rustled as the wind blew on it, and the two little birds that was perched on the tree appeared unfazed as they chirped their song.

"You're awake," Loganel heard a familiar voice say to him.

Loganel looked over at the source of the voice and discovered his sister, Laurina, sitting quietly on a chair with a book in her lap.

"How long was I out for?" he asked as he slowly sat up, using his arm to help himself push off of his bed. He could feel his arm trembling as he did so, and combined with the weakness he felt, he concluded that he must have been unconscious for more than a day and had not eaten.

"About three days," Laurina said with a smile on her face. "...You hungry?"

"A little," Loganel said, brushing the hair that covered his eyes to the side. However, it did not produce the desired effect since the hair returned to its original position. So, Loganel gave up and decided to just let it be.

"I'll go and make you something," Laurina said, standing up, setting the book on the chair, and slowly walked over to the door leading out of Loganel's room. "Can you stay by yourself for a bit?"

"Sure," Loganel said, seeing his sister off.

What time is it? he asked himself as he looked out the window. In the distant sky, the blue has already started to fade and replaced with a slight orange. Where are they? Did they carry me back?

Loganel sighed at the discomfort that he felt and sat there. His stomach emitted to him a dull pain as he awaited Laurina to bring him something to eat. In addition, his lips were dry, but judging by the fact that he was still alright despite being unconscious, Loganel believed that Laurina must've fed him some water while he was out.

Loganel felt light a bit light headed, but sitting upright and breathing fresh air relieved him. Time slowly went by, and finally, he heard the sound of someone entering his dorm suite.

Finally, he thought after being deprived of care for a while. Why do I hear multiple footsteps? Is it Juliana and Azura?

"You two can sit wherever you want," he hear Juliana's voice talking to someone.

Who is it? Loganel thought, as he stared out the window at the sky outside.

Slowly, someone approached his room, and they slowly turned the door open. Loganel slowly turned his head and looked over at them. He discovered that it was Juliana and Azura.

"Loganel..." he heard Juliana whisper in disbelief. "You're awake!"

"Hey," Loganel said in a weak voice that was almost inaudible.

"Where's Laurina?" Juliana asked, walking into the room and looking around in search of Laurina.

"She's left to get me something to eat," Loganel explained. His voice was coarse as his throat was dry. In addition, whenever he finished speaking, he needed a bit to gather his breath.

"We're about to eat soon," Juliana said to him. "You wanna go to the living room?"

We? Loganel thought in his head. "Sure," Loganel said to her.

"Azura, help me out here." Juliana walked over to Loganel, who slowly turned his body so that both his feet dangled off the side of the bed and touched the floor.

"Sure," Azura responded. She looked at Loganel, and then looked away shyly.

"Sorry if I smell kind of bad," he said. "I don't think I've taken a bath in the time that I was out."

"It's fine," Juliana said, bringing one of Loganel's arm of his shoulder. To Loganel's right, Azura did the same. "Let's go."

Juliana and Azura then slowly help support the boy's weight as they slowly moved out of his room and towards the living room.

"He's awake!" Tetsuya saw that the two of them was helping Loganel out of his room. So, he immediately walked over and offered to help, which he did by taking Azura's place.

With a guy helping out, they were able to help Loganel move to the living room couch, where he took a seat. Loganel exhaled deeply as he finally was able to relax. He felt Mazriel jump onto his lap, and he stroked the creature and smiled. With everything stable once again, Loganel looked around the room and saw two unfamiliar faces.

"You two are...?" he looked at Tetsuya and Sherriel with a confused look.

"I'm Tetsuya Kirishima," the brown hair boy introduced himself.

"I'm Sherriel Yzaldin," the elf with long, blond hair tied into a ponytail said quietly.

"They're currently in our party," Juliana added. "And you should thank Tetsuya. It was him that saved you and defeated the Cleaver in Ekeletas."

"Is that so?" Loganel looked at the brown haired boy and recalled how he had fell out of the sky.

"He's from another world," Juliana continued. "He's summoned to be the Hero to defeat the Demon King."

"Another world..." Loganel repeated in a voice that was only audible to him. He could feel something familiar from within him after hearing those words. It was as if it applies to him as well. "Thank you," Loganel thanked Tetsuya for helping him out of the Ekeletas Ruins.

"We were going to have a welcome party for Sherriel," Juliana said, "but I guess it'll also be a celebration party for you recovering."

"I'm just an add on..." Loganel whispered in a voice only he could hear.

Loganel suddenly felt a sense of frustration. He didn't know what had caused it but he blamed it on his body condition and the weakness that he felt. He looked around, in hopes of someone or something that could comfort him, but all around him, the others were discussing what to cook in the kitchen, leaving him sitting in the living room with only Mazriel on his laps, whose fur he carefully and gently stroked.

Sherriel looked over at the boy whose lonely figure gnawed at her conscience.

"Is it fine if we just leave him like that?" Sherriel whispered to Juliana.

"He needs the quiet," Juliana responded with a smile. "He probably just wants to be in the company of others. I think we should leave him on his own for the time being otherwise he might have a headache."

"Oh..." Sherriel said as she began to return to her job of cleaning vegetables. Her eyes lingered on Loganel's lonely figure for a moment, but after being persuaded by Juliana's reasoning, she returned to focus on her job at hand.

Loganel raised his head at the sound of footsteps approaching, and when he saw the door open to reveal Laurina, a smile crept onto his face.

"I'm back," Laurina said. "Why're you in the living room?" she exclaimed after seeing Loganel sitting on the living room couch.

"Hey Laurina," Juliana greeted her.

"You're back," Laurina smiled at the sight of Juliana. However, after seeing the large group of people, her smile partly vanished but was still visible. She then focused on Loganel. "I bought you some porridge," she said, raising a bag for Loganel to see.

She then walked over and sat down beside him on the living room couch and brought the bowl of food out of the bag.

"You've just woke up," she explained, "so you shouldn't be eating anything rough on the stomach. Here, open your mouth." Laurina brought a spoonful of the porridge that comprised of soft grains of rice with vegetables and some meat that were boiled for so long that they were extremely soft. Loganel unwillingly opened his mouth and accepted Laurina's feeding.

Things continued just like that, with Laurina feeding Loganel food and the others in the kitchen preparing their own feast. After a few minutes, the bowl of porridge that Laurina had bought was empty and Loganel was satiated for now.

"You should really go take a bath," Laurina said, "you don't smell the best."

"I don't think I can with my current strength," Loganel said, sighing as the fatigue and weakness plagued his body. Every breath felt like it took a tremendous amount of energy, leading Loganel to decline the suggestion for a bath.

"Fine," Laurina said, smiling. "I'll bathe you."

"What?" Loganel looked at her in surprise.

Meanwhile, those in the kitchen perked their ears and looked over at the siblings in the living room. Tetsuya was blushing a little at the thought of being bathed.

"No," Loganel declined.

"Why?' Laurina tugged at the boy. "You afraid of being seen by your sister?'

"Ugh..."

"It's fine," Laurina attempted to persuade Loganel. "It's not like I never seen any of that when we were younger."

"But that was when we're younger," Loganel protested. "Now it's different..." His voice became quieter as he finished his sentence.

"Let's go."

Laurina dragged him off of the couch, and ignored his objections. She carefully moved him towards the bathing room despite Loganel's struggling. However, after a bit, Loganel stopped trying due to the fact that he was feeling too weak to do so.

Unwillingly, he allowed Laurina to unbutton his pajamas, and strip him naked as she pushed him into the bathing room. She brought in a little stool, and had him sit in the stool as she turned the water on in the shower and tested the temperature. As she did so, her white shirt was drenched, making it cling to her body and see through. In the mean time, Loganel avoided looking and looked to the side as he tried to cover himself up with a towel.

"Drop the towel," Laurina said, which Loganel complied with after coming to the conclusion that he cannot resist her orders.

Laurina then began helping Loganel shower, humming a soft song in the same time.

"You're gonna get wet..." Loganel whispered awkwardly as he felt his sister's hands run through his hair as she applied shampoo.

"I'm already wet," she responded, casually.

Loganel suddenly felt his heart skip a beat as he blushed. "Don't say that..." he whispered.

"Really, this should've been Juliana's job," Laurina said. "She was supposed to be serving you as your maid. That's why father and mother sent her here with you."

"I'm sure she's tired after the day's hunt with the others," Loganel defended Juliana. His voice lacked any enthusiasm.

"I'm just kidding," Laurina smiled. "You know...if Redgilus was here, he would be doing this rather than me."

"Of course it would've been him," Loganel closed his eyes as Laurina turned the shower back on and let the water wash away the bubbles on his hair. "I'm sure he would've just dumped me in the bath and left."

"Haha," Laurina laughed, "you're right."

Laurina then continued to apply body wash to different areas of Loganel's body. Loganel could feel it as Laurina's fingers moved across his body.

"You've really grown," Laurina said after applying body wash to Loganel's back. "Your shoulder's are wider and everything."

"Of course I did," Loganel said.

"I wonder if that little thing had grown as well," Laurina teased.

"Wh-what?" Loganel stuttered due to what she had just said. "Ugh..to be honest, it's grown, but you know...it's not growing now."

"Are you sure?" Laurina gently poked Loganel's face with one of her fingers as she threw herself onto his back, pressing her body against his.

"Of course," Loganel answered.

"Are you really sure?"

"Can we stop with this question?" Loganel whined.

"Haha," Laurina backed up from him. "Teasing you is so fun."

"Not fun for me," Loganel said.

After that, Laurina finished washing Loganel off. She used the shower to wash away all the bubbles. Afterwards, she helped Loganel to the bath and helped him sit down.

"Why are you in here?" Loganel sat and held his legs close to his chest. He half submerged his face into the water and stared at Laurina who sat in the bath on the otherside with her clothes still on.

"It's fine," Laurina reassured him.

"If you say so," Loganel sighed.

"..."

"..." Laurina relaxed herself as she enjoyed the warm bath.

"Hey sis," Loganel spoke to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Yeah?" Laurina answered without opening her eyes.

Loganel looked at her, and his eyes wandered to her chest where the white cloth of her clothing clung to her body and revealed the colors underneath. Immediately, he looked away.

"What is love?" Loganel finally asked.

"Hmm...I don't know. I've never been in love with anyone."

"You've never?"

"Yeah," Laurina responded. "But I hope my future husband is someone like you."

"Why?"

"Someone who places others before himself and treats them with kindness and who's willing to sacrifice himself to save others. That's someone I want to be with." Laurina smiled as she looked at her brother.

"Is that so..." Loganel closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm water as the warmth transferred from his skin to the muscles and the bones underneath.

Author's Note:

An extra long chapter for you guys. I've been putting out new parts a lot more frequent lately. How bout some votes and comments as a return? Thank you!!!