—This is a kind of super first aid, okay? Then, a team of doctors will come to treat you properly. Hopefully, there will be no sequela in your leg. Now close your eyes and don't open them without my permission, understood?

—U-Understood.

Following the specialist's orders, Aiden closed his eyes tightly to make sure he didn't open them accidentally. He heard Maika murmur some words for almost eight minutes, at that moment a warm light flooded the room, he could tell by how the light filtered through his eyelids with force.

At the same time, he felt a warm sensation on one of his hands, as if someone was holding it and that gesture told him that everything will be okay.

«What is this!? It's wonderful! I can feel the pain starting to fade away».

The whole process lasted several minutes. The burning caused by the scratches on his arms disappeared completely; the blows and bruises in the stomach and torso area, the torn flesh, even the coagulated blood that hung from those wounds disappeared.

«But what kind of trick is this?»

And finally, lastly, the terrifying pain coming from his leg, this took considerably much more time than the other wounds, but now all that could be considered a wound had disappeared.

His body had already been healed; Aiden could feel it. Some millionaire in the city probably have tanks full of a regenerative liquid and cellular stimulants. That would make them look like new in a couple of weeks, Aiden thought, but it definitely did not compare to this in terms of speed.

«I see! This is magic».

The incredibly bright light had not yet disappeared and Maika had not indicated that it was okay to open his eyes again, but he couldn't hold back anymore.

More than the impulse of curiosity, it was the need to understand the unknown that all humans have, Aiden unconsciously lifted the eyelid of his left eye just a little.

What he saw was, floating a few centimeters above his hand, a tiny sphere of bright light.

The white light sphere which in turn was surrounded by a beautiful green light was spinning curiously in place.

At first glance, Aiden was not quite able to tell, but at the center of the mythical creature shaped like a sphere of light, he believed, had seen what seemed to be two sets of six wings. More than moving, it gave the impression that they were vibrating, or maybe they were just simple flashes of light created by the fairy.

Due to the surprise, both eyes jumped open completely, then the small sphere turned a few times faster and abruptly than before. It gave the impression that it didn't know where to go to hide.

A bright light forced Aiden to close his eyes and open them again a second later, even though the pain from the bright light was still engraved in them. This time, breaking his expectations, there was nothing hovering over his hand.

The fairy had disappeared, the silence of the room flooded Aiden's heart along with a feeling of disappointment.

It was then that the disappointed boy realized something that would put all the recently rusted gears of his heart to work as new.

The warm sensation in his hand didn't stop when the fairy had disappeared, that was because something else covered the young man's hand.

Petrified. Petrified, would be the correct word to describe the second-year student known as Aiden.

—Ah Hah..A-Ahg…! —These were the only sounds that Aiden's throat could emit, which was in a state of dehydration and suffocation. As if he had been walking in the desert for hours without water, because of the dryness, the air itself couldn't flow normally.

At some point that Aiden ignored, Maika had sat next to him and taken his hand.

If it had been in any other situation, anyone would think that this was a necessary part for the spell to work on both. Maika had been the one who called the fairy after all, but for Aiden now, thinking about anything was an unthinkable fact.

If a psychic read his mind at this exact moment, the only thing he would achieve would be the same level of information as trying it with a plant.

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It also didn't mean that it was his fault. From a more analytical standpoint, after all, anyone in Aiden's position, because of everything that had happened, it is natural that his mental state is not in the best possible state. And that was without considering the fact that Aiden is a healthy boy who is at that age when a simple touch with the opposite sex and the 'appropriate conditions' would cause a chain of chemical explosions in the body.

Furthermore, after seeing Maika's slightly blushing face, Aiden reaffirmed his determination to want to protect her. But he also remembered how useless he was if not until the end something happened, and even then, everything was beyond, leagues above, his control.

The desire to be part of something and the impotence of not being able to fight directly to protect those at his reach, or even those important to him; how weak he has actually been his whole life, and how weak he still is.

Because of those conflicting feelings, he couldn't help but think about all the lives that had been nothing but excuses for him to feel alive, and all the atrocities that may have occurred leading to today’s events.

—I'm sorry —murmured Aiden. He didn't count by any means as a remedy for everything he did or for what he made Maika go through; however, it was true that he could feel every drop of his feelings in those simple words.

At the same time, Maika opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Aiden looking at her fixedly and murmuring something only centimeters away from her.

And of course, the reaction was…

—W-What, what do you think you're doing!?

Maika threw her fist directly at Aiden's stomach, who barely managed to stop it.

In unison, both of them got up from the bed and stepped back a couple of steps. The first one to speak was Aiden.

—What's your problem!? Is this the pattern where you want to erase my memory again now that I'm fine!?

—Same to you! What were you trying to do to me a moment ago!? And… And what's this nonsense about the pattern where you erased my memory?! Don't play dumb! You… You tried to…

—Ah? What are you talking about? I never tried to do anything to you.

—Then why did you open your eyes even when I said to wait until I said you could do it? Furthermore, you were murmuring something, probably strange. It was almost like you wanted to K-! Ki-ki-! Aghhh! Never! Mind! That! What matters is that you disobeyed me!

—I don't understand anything you're saying. I was thinking about how pathetic I am, how useless I feel and the suffering I made you go through. I only thought that if magic can do such incredible things, maybe there was a way to save those people who were turned into 'containers' of those monsters. Just look at me! I'm like new, despite the wounds I had! But I can't do any of that.

Aiden unconsciously clenched his fist, despite being in front of Maika, he couldn't help it. The weight of his conscience was beginning to feel.

—…I'm sorry.

It wasn't Aiden who apologized this time, it was Maika.

—I understand that you can't help but feel guilty and don't want to accept what happened, but this is not the first time this kind of tragedy happens. This story is just another painful memory that I would rather forget. It's the same story every time magic gets involved. Magic is not made to save or help others —downcast and avoiding eye contact, those were the words that came out of Maika's lips.

For Aiden, who could only understand a little how she felt, it was painful to see Maika's face, he felt like hundreds of daggers were piercing his heart, shredding it mercilessly.

—I see, sorry, for making you remember painful things.

He didn't say it just for her, he couldn't stand it either. There are things that are pointless to continue torturing yourself with, that he understood perfectly.

—Don't worry —said Maika—. You won't have to go through that again, I'm going to protect you.

—I don't —Aiden made a gentle movement with his head, shaking it from side to side, in time with his words—. No. It's not that. Of course, I'm terrified of knowing that that kind of monster exists out there, but that doesn't matter to me right now for some reason. Maybe it's because I know that you're here, I feel good and calm. I'm sorry, I can't understand myself very well. In the end, I still have fear and I end up hiding behind you, I just know that with you here, I feel like I can find reasons to overcome those sad things and smile like I am now.

Maika looked around the room and shrugged slightly, she didn't expect that kind of reaction from Aiden.

Any man would notice with those signs that something is happening, everything about that act was obvious, the blushing face and the tender (but useless) attempt to hide it.

Even a child in front of such a scene would notice at least the sudden change of behavior, but Aiden was apparently that “unique” case that is quite cliché in juvenile fiction works.

—You saved me many times with your magic, and I'm sure you've saved many more. Thank you.

Maika clenched the edges of her skirt with both hands with all her strength, she inclined her head, closing her eyes, biting her lips lightly, all simultaneously. What she thought was the following.

«That's unfair!» Thought Maika.

Aiden's words, but above all, the honest look filled with gratitude, admiration, respect, and affection at that moment had pierced the girl's heart. As if they were one of her own explosive bullets embedded in the ice wall she had put, the frozen fragments shot out in all directions, making it impossible for Maika to collect them all, revealing her true feelings.

«It's so unfair, why do you have to do this for me, why do you say exactly what I want to hear? If you say it like that, don't you realize that I won't be able to contain this happiness?»

The heat of those words, that violently pierced the rigid frozen block that kept her protected from her own emotions until now, melted that frozen armor, shaping a beautiful human heart.

And soon the emotions trapped under the cold layer, like ice and hard as steel, melted, unable to be contained, turning into tears.

—Why is it that since I met you, you keep saying all kinds of things that want to change my world, turn everything upside down? I don't know if I said it before, but just in case, I'll say it again: You're going to pay for this later! —She said and stuck her tongue out, for a moment, in a strangely sweet and childlike way.

Aiden opened his eyes as wide as they could go. What he was seeing at that moment couldn't be from this world, the young man thought.

Framed in tears, the most beautiful scene of this world that he had ever heard or read until that moment, her bright and fragile smile overshadowed the light and colors of Aiden's world.

At that moment, only the warm feeling that filled his chest and pure good memories that came one after the other to his mind remained.

All the negative thoughts that he had had minutes ago were erased from his mind and replaced by others that were the exact opposite.

Certainly, treasuring a moment can make you realize how many good days you've had.

What Aiden was experiencing was exactly that, and all of it was carried out by a gesture.

«Hey, hey, that's a dangerous expression», Aiden thought.

Both were silent for a brief moment that for the flow of time seemed eternal, looking at each other.

—What's happening? —Aiden said and unexpectedly approached her. Clear as day, were his intentions to annoy her.

—It's nothing! NOTHING!

And like many other stories, this scene ends with “that cliché pattern of development” in the relationship of the main characters.

—You're an idiot —murmured Maika.