Costly, he opened his eyes. He had no recognition of his surroundings, whether it was day or night, he had no way of knowing. Clearly, a considerable amount of time had passed since he lost consciousness, he was sure of that, he felt like he slept for days and days uninterruptedly.

—Where… Is this... Where?

The last thing he remembered was trying to hide with the transfer student on his shoulders. Carefully observing his surroundings, he did not see the girl anywhere; it was daytime, at least that's what he could tell. He intended to go looking for her, but he did not have the strength to get up, much less to go looking for Maika, or so he thought.

—Eh? I don't… It doesn't hurt. My body doesn’t hurt so much anymore.

Aiden checked himself curiously, his clothes were a mess of cuts, scratches, dirt, even some parts looked somewhat burned. He thus confirmed that what he lived yesterday was not a dream or an illusion. He could not believe that after all that pain, with a little rest, his resistance had returned. Then he heard her voice.

—You were about to die, you know? If I hadn't taken emergency action right now, you'd be dead.

Now he had no doubts, while he was unconscious, she had healed him and that was why Aiden could move, that was why he still breathed. He also noticed that the voice was accompanied by a clumsy and heavy walking. She had saved him, but she was in that state, Aiden could not help but feel pathetic.

—Good thing you woke up.

A genuine expression of relief appeared on her face. Maika had gone to check the surroundings and find a route to leave without being seen, to her surprise when she returned Aiden had awakened.

She tried to approach him to check his condition, not noticing a pile of leaves on the ground. Normally, something like that would have made nothing more than an embarrassing small slip, but the moment she slipped she felt as if gravity had increased. Maika prepared for the impact, it was shown by an expression of pain on her face, but the pain never came.

—Are you okay? —Said Aiden. The instant her body leaned back, he ran towards her and managed to grab her hand, which he pulled towards him with all his strength, while his other arm held her mid back.

As if it were a scene from a romantic drama, Aiden held Maika, he could almost feel her breath quicken from how close they were. Maika's face turned a deep red. Her expression was one of surprise mixed with embarrassment. Once her body had stabilized, she pushed Aiden away abruptly and said, “What, what do you think you're doing!?”

—Uh, what am I doing? You were about to slip and I helped you.

—An injured person shouldn't move so abruptly!

—Ahh? —Upon hearing Maika's hostile tone, Aiden couldn't help but feel a little irritated—. Here, the injury, obviously it's you!

He hadn't realized that Maika was still a pure-hearted and sensitive young girl, after fighting with her this small detail had been overshadowed by that other image of her. He didn't understand why he received such treatment after helping her, it was probably because they had just fought a short while ago, at least that's what he thought. Obviously, he couldn't read the atmosphere, if there was a perfect word to describe Aiden in this situation it would be clueless.

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—Ahh, shut up!

After saying things like “I won't abandon you even if I have to face a monster” and not understanding that words have power, especially in a situation like the one they were in, Aiden was certainly foolish.

His lack of tact in these situations and his incredible ability to be clueless would lead him to a major crisis at some point. The young maiden-hearted Maika leaned against a tree to catch her breath and calm down.

“Right now, there's no one on the bridge where you called me yesterday, it's your chance to leave, I'll do the same, unless you want to be arrested and charged for causing the fire.”

Certainly, listening to her is the best option, but Aiden still had questions for her, new questions, and he couldn't afford to miss this opportunity to ask them now. Plus, he was concerned about Maika's weak state.

—Wait. Why did you heal my wounds, and you are still in this state? And why do I still remember everything?

—Letting you die was never an option. I have enough on my conscience as is. I would rather not carry someone as foolish as you on my conscience, I'm sure you would find a way to bother me when I go to sleep, that's all. When I saved you, I also received some healing effects, so I'll probably be fine, it's just that I don't have the materials or the strength to do another healing spell, much less to erase your memories. Keep in mind that I would have done it if I could.

Aiden moved away slightly to take a brief look around in case someone suddenly appeared while they were talking. Even in this state, Maika's determination was striking.

—Are you still going on about that? —Aiden took a moment to think and then add—. Why don't you want to accept my help? There must be something that I can do too.

—Foremost, I do not know where you get the idea that I need your help. I never asked for it.

Then; why was she doing it? Homunculi, demons, angels, vampires, magic, extraterrestrials; any of that craziness like what he saw today scared him. He was scared, petrified. It was also true, however, that he felt an emotion without equal, something he had never felt before, but that excitement was not comparable to fear. The warm sensation in his stomach was stronger.

—Don't you have family and friends who are important to you? Think of them before you throw yourself into an abyss.

Of course, he thought of those things now that he had the luxury of doing so. If getting involved meant that someone significant to him would suffer, second thoughts ran through his mind. He was no saint who spends his time saving and relocating people to the right path.

In the past, he couldn't abandon someone suffering once he had heard their story. Unlike those times when he was forced to act, this time he himself wanted to enter that world. In this particular case, Aiden yearned to hear Maika's story.

—You're right, maybe it's just my ego, bigger than my fear. Perhaps, it's solely a silly idea from my fantasy; but, even though that makes me selfish, there's no turning back —Aiden took a firm step forward and put his right hand in front of his chest, then added—. Because I've already made up my mind. Besides, I'm not going to enter a world where I could die at any moment, only a fool would do that.

Following those words, the young man pulled out of his pants pocket a small piece of paper with a drawing on it. A confident smile appeared on Aiden's face.

—I'm not going to do it unless I have weapons.

Maika recognized the drawing of the piece of paper that Aiden pulled out of his pocket as soon as she saw it, it was her very own creation after all.

—That's why, help me to be useful, please!