Sarman rubbed his temple between his fingers as he sank into the couch. Aria and Nic had just gone into the room where Sarman and Nic had their beds, saying they needed to talk about something privately. Well, Aria did. Nic was too tired from their “study” session to say or object to anything.

They had started just past noon and it was now well into the night. No breaks for Nic. Sarman had spent hours drilling magic theory and languages into his brain. Yuuki had taken over for arithmetic and had spent hours herself teaching him formulas and properties that he needed to know.

It was then that Sarman and Yuuki learned that Aria herself had failed the Arithmetic exam by a few points. So she had joined in on the lesson.

Albeit, she had been much more enthusiastic about learning than Nic had been.

“It’s gonna be rough, this term, but I’m sure we will be able to at least drill enough in for him to pass them.”

Yuuki walked over and handed Sarman a cup of tea before sitting down next to him herself. Sarman noticed that she was still wearing her beanie, even in their dorm room.

“You know, you don’t have to keep wearing that in here.”

“Aria and Nic don’t know about it…”

She reached up and grabbed one end of the beanie and pulled it down a bit, almost like she was trying to keep it from being yanked off.

“I see. You’re afraid to tell them?”

Yuuki nodded her head as she curled up on the couch, nursing her own cup of tea. Her fear of telling anyone the truth would be a problem considering they were living in the same dorm as two other people.

“What about sleeping?”

“I’m not changing. I’ll sleep like this.”

Sarman felt uneasy about this. Surely she wouldn’t get good sleep like that.

Currently, they were split by gender for the bedrooms. So Yuuki was sleeping in the same room as Aria.

“Well then,” Sarman put his tea down on the small table next to the couch and stood up. “What if we just switch the sleeping arrangements then?”

“Wha-wha-what!? But we’re- I mean you’re a guy-” Yuuki stammered as her face turned a deep crimson red.

“I love you.” Sarman could hear the words she had said to him just a few months ago.

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“But we’re just friends.” Sarman’s heart already belonged to someone else. Even if they didn’t know it. It was what he told Yuuki when she confessed to him. It was because she understood who it was that he longed for, that she accepted and they continued to coexist as they always had.

“But Aria is-”

“They are just friends.”

Sarman cut Yuuki off, knowing what it was that she was going to say. She was wrong. Sarman knew she was wrong. She just had to be.

Sarman gave Yuuki a soft smile before walking to the door that led to the bedroom where Aria and Nic were. He reached out his hand to knock, wanting to give them privacy, but stopped mere inches from the door.

“... since that day?”

The door was slightly open. None of them had realized it. Even standing at the door, Sarman could barely hear them whispering to each other.

“Nope. Though, I still haven’t been told what exactly was done to my body then to get it to act that way. Of course, I have my theories, like say… a kiss?”

Nic was messing with him. That was the only thing that made sense. There was no way that he was telling the truth. He had to know that Sarman was right behind the door.

“I… Yes, I did that. I didn’t want to lose you. When Mr. Chapman said I had to make your body feel intense emotions, it was the only thing I could think of to do.”

Sarman’s chest tightened up to the point that it hurt. His arm fell, landing on the door with a thud, causing it to open slowly. Sitting on Nic’s bed, Aria had her head resting on his shoulder. The two were intimately close to each other. Emotions broiled in Sarmans chest as Aria realized the door was open and sat up.

“Sarman, did you need something?”

“I, uh, um. I, um… You, me, we’re switching rooms.”

It was all he could say before quickly shutting the door. His brain was buzzing and he couldn’t think straight.

Turning back to the couch, Yuuki was already standing there, her hand half reaching out towards Sarman as worry clouded her face.

“I’m… I’m gonna go rest.”

Sarman quickly walked across the living space into the other bedroom. He shut the door behind him and fell to the ground, sitting against it.

“You know, if you had just listened to me back when Yuuki confessed to you, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

A haughty, old voice rang inside Sarman’s head, cutting through the buzzing. Sarman simply grabbed his head and banged it once against the door.

“Shut up old geezer.”

“Fine, fine. But before I go, I did want to let you know something. Those two, Aria and Nic, I can feel the presence of Aerial around them.”

The older voice seemed to disappear, leaving Sarman alone to think by himself.

Aerial, the Wind Spirit Progenitor. It had been absent for nearly three centuries now. If it was finally back, then the world was about to experience a shake-up in its power dynamics. After all, Aerial was considered the strongest of the Spirit Progenitors by the other seven.

Eventually, he moved from the ground in front of the door to one of the two beds in the room. When he did, the door opened and someone walked in.

They closed the door behind them and sat down on the edge of the bed Sarman was on. They started simply stroking his head, petting it as he lay there.

“You don’t have to do that, Yuuki.”

He could tell it was her just by the feel of the hand on his head. They had been by each other’s side for a decade. Of course, he knew what her hand felt like. He knew everything about her.

“Just friends, right? Well, as your friend, I want to do this. So shut up and accept it.”

Sarman couldn’t argue with her on that. He could only do as she said and accept it.