Shadow Author

Stifling my urge to complain I resorted to sighing deeply.

"What are you sighing about when you have a beautiful girl laying next to you?"

Looking to the left my face was mere inches away from the golden-colored hair.

Charlotte had woken up a few minutes ago and she was facing the opposite direction having her back to me.

"That's not the reason, it's because a professor at Griffin of all places is unable to control herself."

"Humph, so you're saying I'm not beautiful?"

"Are you a child?"

"…"

"Okay, yes, you are very pretty."

"Hehe, I know."

"Did you get head trauma?"

This finally caused Charlotte to turn over and face me.

She had an angry expression on her face and looked ready to throw a punch.

Not allowing her to do what she wanted I reached my arms out and pulled her body down onto mine.

"Let me go."

"If you really wanted to get free I wouldn't be able to stop you."

"You ruined the moment."

"Just accept the hug."

"Fine."

'This girl.'

After laying together in silence for a few minutes Charlotte repositioned herself so that she was against my side and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"You're not lying are you."

"No."

"Then I can leave?"

Barely moving my body an inch I was instantly locked down.

"Stay… please."

"Okay, I won't go anywhere."

"Good."

"So how are you really feeling?"

It took a few seconds before Charlotte let up.

"My head is buzzing and my body is really sore."

"Then you should get some more sleep."

"But…"

"But what?"

"… then you will leave."

"I already told you I won't."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"You are."

I let out another sigh fully knowing I was developing a bad habit.

"What if I promise I won't leave."

She paused.

"How can I believe you?"

"I never let you go before."

"You tried!"

"You remember that? Well, after the nurse told me not to, I didn't."

​ "My point exactly."

"You have trust issues."

"You're one to talk."

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong."

"How about this, if you tell me how Miss Smith's killing intent didn't affect you I'll believe you."

"You want me to explain myself in order to prove myself for something you want?"

"Yes!"

"You're so spoiled."

"Well, you know who raised me."

"Fine, I'll tell you. When you go through something dark and I mean really dark, something like a wisp of killing intent means nothing."

"What was it?"

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"Humph."

"What are you mad about, I told you, now trust me and get some sleep."

Repositioning herself for the third time Charlotte got comfortable and whispered something inaudible to me.

"That's not what I was mad about."

Nearly immediately after closing her eyes Charlotte was deep within the dream realm and I was left to silence in the room.

"You can come in now."

Pushing open the door the nurse from before came into the room.

"I was waiting a long time."

"I'm sure she knew of your presence and even now she does."

"Yet she kept me waiting."

I wasn't completely sure of Charlotte's capabilities but I was more than positive that if I could sense the nurse she could too.

That meant Charlotte was far more concerned with keeping me near her than sucking up to the nurse.

"She did."

Although we were talking as if Charlotte wasn't laying on top of me I wasn't concerned about being disrespectful. Unlike someone with a powerful background, I couldn't mess with one of the faculty members — at least not without proper preparations.

Wanting to take the lead in the conversation I started with the first question.

"Why did you come?"

"To check up on my patient."

"Yeah right, you and I both know she only needs some rest. What do you want?"

"Then I'll get right to it, how did you not suffer any injuries? Not even the first-placed student could do something like that."

"Again, we both heard what I told Charlotte so I'll ask once more, what do you want?"

"I don't believe it! There's no way someone like you could do what others couldn't."

That annoyed me.

"What do you mean by 'someone like me'?"

"Someone who's ranked 993rd."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Are you discriminating based on rank?"

I didn't want to create any more problems for the time being but if someone was going to push and insult me I wouldn't take it without pushing back.

Luckily this seemed to click with something in the nurse's head as she carefully thought about her next words. That meant she wasn't as dumb as the last person who tried to accuse me.

"There's something up with you and it's not right."

"So?"

"I will find out what it is!"

"Good luck detective."

The conversation didn't go in the direction I wanted it to and the nurse seemed to have some underlying objective that she failed to articulate.

Although weird, the situation with the nurse was the least of my concerns.

Recounting the last few days I knew I had to deal with the fallout of Miss Smith's unpredictability, the eventual effects of my letter, and the dungeon from Charlotte, and prepare myself for future events.

With a plate full of important topics I couldn't bear to waste time on superficial things.

Yet as I thought this while watching the nurse leave I didn't dare to break my promise. Therefore enjoying the comfort of the person next to me I continued to train with Mana Breath.

Many hours passed by with the only interruption being a meal. All this time Charlotte continued to sleep and it didn't seem like she would be waking up any time soon.

When the second meal came and the natural light began to fade I began to get annoyed. It was true that I swore I wouldn't leave Charlotte but I didn't have hours to spare.

Unfortunately, my worries were not cleared as the sun completely set and Charlotte had yet to so much as stir.

When one of the other nurses came into the room to tell me that visitor hours were up I was quite pissed.

Technically since I hadn't received any injuries and Charlotte was stable there was no reason for me to stay with her — at least for the night.

Thankfully the nurse allowed me five extra minutes before I had to leave.

After starting a timer and telling me to be quick she left the room.

"You heard her, I have to leave, there's nothing I can do about it."

"…"

"Stop pretending like you're sleeping."

"…"

"Fine sleeping beauty if you want to be like this maybe I should give you another kiss."

That woke her up.

Shooting up like a rocket Charlotte practically leaped off my chest. Although she tried to hide her face by turning away, I knew she was bright red.

"… I'm awake."

"Yes, I can see that. Now it's time for me to go; I kept my promise."

"…"

"Are you too embarrassed to say goodbye even after I spent the whole day with you?"

"…"

"Okay."

Pushing off the blankets I climbed off the medical bed. Giving one last glance at Charlotte who still had her head turned, I took my first step toward leaving the room.

But that was the instant when Charlotte sprung forward flying out of the bed to wrap her arms around me from behind.

"Hey."

She whispered quietly as she tried to sink into me.

"Yeah?"

I whispered back.

"D-did y-you?"

"Did I do what?"

"Did you really- did you really mean it?"

"Mean wh—"

"You know what! That thing you said in class!"

"How am I—"

"Yes or no, be honest while I still trust you…did you mean it?"

"Are you prepared for my answer?"

"I- I- I don't know."

I smiled.

With comically perfect timing the timer that the nurse set went off.

"When you are ready, to be honest with yourself you can ask again. Goodbye and get some real sleep."

"You knew?"

"Good night Charlotte."

When I left the room I gave a thankful nod to the nurse before making my way to the exit.

Along the way I caught the head nurse (who was the one that took Charlotte and me) glaring at me.

Ignoring the provocation I left the medical bay and opened the door to the outside world.

Breathing in a deep breath of fresh oxygen I smiled in contentment.

'Did that girl really think she could trick me when I have Mana Breath? I knew the instant when her breathing changed and she woke up hours ago. But I guess she was right because I would have left if she opened her eyes.'

Knowing I was in for a long week and now down a day I made my way toward the dorms to get some real rest.