The pain was a burning reminder that he was still alive, but Zakeri would rather be dead. His mind was fuzzy and his blood seemed to run slowly in his veins as gentle fingers poked and prodded at him.
“Your head is fine, ääliö,” a sweet voice told him.
Zakeri frowned; there was something about that voice that seemed familiar, like something he’d heard in a dream, but he couldn’t quite remember it.
“Now, your shoulder is a whole different story. I told you getting cocky would get you killed.”
“K… Kissa?” Zak’s eyelids fluttered, and the name was more a moan than anything else, but her ears pricked up and her tail twitched across the bedspread.
Kissa leaned in close to him; she had her arms around him, and he was propped up against her chest. “I have you, ääliö.”
“W-what… happened?”
“What do you think happened, kusipää?” Kissa snapped in his ear, the tip of one of her sharp canines grazing the cartilage. “You let that girl with the orange hair stab you, and you lost enough blood that you slept for a days after I patched you up!”
“Days?” Zakari repeated, “But, that thing was hot?”
It was a high-ended question that Kissa was more than happy to answer. “It was only temporary- hot enough to burn it, but the wound would only hold so long as it would take the average demon to heal.”
There was an entire unspoken conversation between them when their eyes met, dark to light. Kissa called him an idiot, blamed him for everything- but she begged for his forgiveness for not helping, and apologized for not getting to him sooner. She worried about what the other students would think and hoped the wound would heal quickly and cleanly. And Zakeri, he begged for her to forgive his stupidity, told her it was only his fault, and thanked her with all his heart for taking care of him. But he worried too, because it wouldn’t be pretty if the demons learned he wasn’t healing like they did. Nobody was supposed to find out, not until he graduated.
“Forgive me?” Zakeri asked, tipping his head back onto her shoulder so he could smile up at her, that same old playful smile that meant everything was going to be okay.
Kissa’s expression softened, her crystal blue eyes warming with an emotion Zakeri had always refused to recognize. “You’re the worst master I’ve ever been stuck with, ääliö,” she groaned, knowing it would make him laugh.
“What does ääliö mean?” Zakeri asked her, realizing that she called him that more often than she used his name.
Kissa flushed; not the pretty pink of a girl who was flustered, but the mottled tomato red of someone who’d been caught doing something embarrassing. “It- uh- well,” she stammered, looking away from him, “It means idiot. In Finnish. I wanted to get back at you for using google translate to name me, so I used it to name you.”
Zakeri was silent for a second, and Kissa peeked down at him through her lashes. That was the last straw- Zakeri let loose the laughter he’d been holding in, shaking with it, not caring that it made his shoulder blaze with pain. “Oh my god,” he chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes, “That’s just brilliant, Kissa.”
He reached up to rub between her ears, and a purr rolled out of her very human mouth, surprising him into laughing again. The laugh turned into a cough, and concern bloomed on Kissa’s face. “Are you okay, ääliö?”
“My throat is just a little dry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. Just let me get up and get a glass of water from the bathroom.” Zakeri smiled gently at her, really apologetic for making her worry about him. Again. He really did put her on her last nerve most of the time, but she still cared about him, and that warmed his heart.
Zakeri winced as he sat up, stretching out his arms and legs, trying to shake the numbness of long sleep. His first step was a little wobbly, and he pressed a hand to his forehead; he was going to need to take some aspirin to avoid the coming headache, too. Maybe ibuprofen, since that would kill two birds with one stone- the oncoming headache, and the pain in his shoulder, which seemed to get worse with every step he took toward the bathroom until he felt dizzy with it.
Kissa watched him struggle with a frown, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. If she tried to help him, it would only make him angry. She knew because it had happened before; she’d tried to help him when he cut open both his arms when he locked himself in the bathroom, and he hadn’t talked to her for days, sitting in the hospital alone. It had taken Rahil shouting at him to knock him out of it, and even though they had access to Rahil at nearly any time they wanted, Kissa still didn’t want to risk it. So she sat on his bed, watching him guzzle down a glass of water before brushing his teeth to get rid of the nasty taste in his mouth.
“Rahil said you have to go to class today,” Kissa said, her ears perking up as she heard him rinse his mouth out. She loved the smell of his breath in the morning, freshly minty from the toothpaste, but still sort of sweet in a way she knew was as unique to him as his natural scent. Kissa couldn’t help the way a purr rumbled to her throat, threatening to give away her happiness and condemn her as a familiar- because familiars weren’t supposed to love their masters, not the way Kissa loved Zakeri.
Zakeri dug in the bag he still hadn’t unpacked for fresh clothes, making a face at the way the black button down had wrinkled. At least the jeans weren’t as bad, and he hopped from foot to foot getting them on- oblivious to the way Kissa’s eyes eagerly devoured his every move. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he said, a hint of outrage in his voice. “The other students are probably suspicious enough as it is; does he think it will help for them to see me looking so… weak?”
“It’s what Rahil said,” Kissa shrugged, checking her nails for dirt, a nervous tic she’d picked up from the girl Zakeri ‘dated’ the longest, “And if you don’t go to class, I’m telling him it was all your fault. I did try to convince you- almost managed to drag your sorry butt out of bed before class started. . But you just refused to go, and he should punish you instead of me.”
Zakeri stopped, half of the buttons on his shirt still undone, and stared at her with eyes wide as saucers. “You wouldn’t dare,” he breathed.
“You wanna try me, ääliö?” she asked, an eyebrow raised, a smug smile turning up her soft pink lips.
Zakeri sighed his frustration, finishing buttoning his shirt with his head drooping; he already felt exhausted just from getting up and getting dressed, and couldn’t imagine how he would make it through a full day of classes. But if Kissa was threatening him with Rahil’s punishments, which usually involved very unpleasant and charitable tasks, he had no choice. “Fine,” he groaned, “If you’re going to be like that, we’ll have it your way. But you’re carrying me back here when I pass out!”
“Yay!” Kissa cried, jumping off his bed with a bright smile- one that was forced, because she saw the exhaustion not-so-cleverly hidden in Zakeri’s eyes, and she knew the threat of him passing out was real. And she, like him, had no idea why Rahil would risk that when any weakness shown could give the boy away, and that was the last thing they wanted before Zakeri succeeded in graduating from the Daeva Institute and was offered a role as a teacher.
“Kissa,” Zakeri said her name softly, his voice full of amusement and exasperation.
Kissa turned back to him, her hand on the knob. “Yes, ääliö?” she asked, cocking her head to the side, her ears pricked.
“Clothes, Kissa,” he reminded her.
Kissa looked down at her bare form and flushed a soft red; so used to her animal form, she’d forgotten the human rules of modesty. Even worse, Zakeri hadn’t been affected at all by her indecency. Disappointed, she forced that bright smile to stay on her face and skipped over to her little pink backpack to retrieve a pair of panties- a good thing nobody investigated a student’s bags, or Zakeri would have been in trouble- and scooping up the shirt she’d taken off of him the night he was wounded.
“Ready!” she chirped, even though she wore nothing but her underclothes, his shirt, and a pair of pink and white striped socks. Without waiting for his reaction, she ran out the door, leaving him to follow her with an exasperated shake of his head.
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