After Somin had left, the rest of the spectators got up to leave as well. Ara could overhear some of the students’ conversations, and each one made her heart sink even deeper.

“Who did that newbie think she was engaging in a battle with Somin like that?”

“She should’ve known that she stood no chance.”

“I heard she only just entered the Academy because she got her first card so late.”

“And she thought she was the just because she got an S-ranked Warrior? What a loser.”

“I know right? She didn’t even know how to control him. She just got lucky.”

Their whispers were deafening, and Ara couldn’t take it. So she got up, legs shaky, and made a sprint towards the exit, too hurt to remember that her Warrior was still there. The blonde had regained consciousness after a while and managed to get back up on his feet, only to see his Master running away, tears in her eyes.

Ara ran as fast as her legs could take her, because she wanted nothing but to go home and curl herself up in bed. Yuna had tried to run after her, but seeing as how the blonde chased after his Master, she decided that Ara needed time to herself right now.

It was hard trying to run after his Master given the severity of his injuries at the moment, but the blonde pushed himself to do so. Something about the way she looked so disappointed and heartbroken made his stomach churn, and the only thing he could do right now was to follow her.

Ara slammed her bedroom door shut as soon as she entered, finding it even harder to swallow now that she was in the comfort of her room where she couldn’t hear or see anyone. She slid down against her door, burying her face in her arms as she propped up her legs. She was a mess.

How could I have thought that I would ever be able to beat Somin?

The sheer looks of disgust from the students earlier, as well as their never-ending whispers replayed vividly in her head like a broken record.

They were right. I am a loser, a disappointment. I can never be like them. I’m only here because I got lucky.

She didn't know how long she sat on her bedroom floor crying, until her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on her door. A second knock was heard after a few seconds, and then another. As if the person on the other side was hesitant to do so.

“…Master?”

That voice...

The voice of the person on the opposite side of her door sounded muffled in the background of her own thoughts, as if he was calling her from the surface of the deep waters of her heart that she was currently drowning in. She had almost dismissed it as just another voice of her imagination until his voice rang again, this time a bit louder and less hesitant. Slowly, as if the voice was pulling her out of her own troubled waters, his callings continued to resonate in her head, each becoming clearer in her ears. It took a while before the girl finally registered the person's identity in her head, and upon doing so, did she force open her swollen eyes in realisation. Guilt immediately devoured her entire being, and she forced herself to stand despite the constant trembling of her own two feet. 

She had forgotten about him.

With shaking hands, Ara twisted the doorknob. The sight before her almost made her want to puke, and she could feel her eyes well up with fresh tears.

The boy that had ran after her was battered all over, his cheek swollen and bruised while dried blood decorated the side of his face. Ara let her eyes fall on the large bruise that was growing darker across his arm, the colour spreading from just before his elbow all the way to his wrist, which she noticed looked slightly crooked. Her vision was blocked by his tattered shoes, but she could still spot the crimson red colour that was seeping from his ankle.

"I..." her voice cracked. Ara's shaking hands cupped the sides of the defeated Warrior's face, her eyes darting everywhere to pick up all the little cuts and bruises before finally working the courage to look into his eyes. "What have I done?"

The Warrior felt two arms wrap across his shoulders, and a bit of wetness drenching into the front of his shirt soon after. The girl's sobs resonated throughout the hallway while the boy just stayed still, his orbs seeing nothing but the crown of the girl's head. It would be an understatement to say that the blonde was surprised. 

He was absolutely stunned, and his brain took a while to register that she was hugging him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Ara hiccuped between her words as her voice was muffled by the shirt in her face. It hadn't occured to her that the boy's shirt was being drenched with tears and snot, as she could only focus on how stupid and selfish she was. "I just...left you there. Oh my god, I just left you there," saying the words out loud made her even guiltier than when she just thought about it.

"I'm so sorry. Oh my god, I'm...it's my fault that you ended up like this. What was I thinking?" her mind was a mess, and she had so much to say. "I could have just ignored Somin. I shouldn't have challenged her, I shouldn't have dragged you into this. Now you're like this because of my stupid pride. And...oh god, I left you there like this while I wallowed in self-pity. How selfish can I be?"

Her words were proving to be even more astonishing than her actions. What was she talking about? Wasn't his reason of living to be used as just a mere weapon to battle with? A toy to play with? It was normal for a Warrior to get hurt based on the Master's decisions, no matter how life-threatening the injuries were. Why would she think of herself as selfish?

But then the Warrior's thoughts went back to the pained and worried expression on his Master's face when he was still gasping for air. It was almost like, she was genuinely scared for his life. But why?

"I made you train like crazy. I ordered you around like you were an animal, I made you get hurt for my sake. I left you there to die, jesus christ," a shaky breath made her pause before she removed her face from his shirt and looked up at him with red and swollen eyes. "I said that I wanted you to be a friend but I slapped you."

Her last confession made the blonde stiffen, and his mind went into a whirl. He would never forget the stinging pain of her betrayal, just when his heart had slightly began to falter. Just when he thought that she was different from the others. 

Ara moved her arms such that she was gripping onto the sleeves of his shirt. “They were right. I never belonged here, and I can never be like them," his eyes never once left hers, even when hers tried to look at everywhere but his. "All my life, I thought I could fit in once I got a card. But I was stupid to think that my family would ever accept me. My aunt and uncle were right, my cousins were right, everyone was right. I am a disappointment, a joke, a shame to my family. I was naïve to think that I could ever get their recognition," Ara continued to ramble, cracks evident in her voice that were similar to the ones in her heart.

“I tried so hard to be like my classmates that I hurt you. I loathed my cousins so much for treating me like dirt, but I became just like them, power-hungry and treating my friend like trash,” her head was heavy and her chest hurt. “I’ve become the very person I loathe. I’m...I'm weak.”

The wind-user hadn't said anything the whole time, although his head was noisy with all his thoughts. It wasn't like he could say anything in this situation either, because he was just a Warrior after all. He absorbed all her insecurities and confessions, but there was one particular word that made him pause.

Friend.

She could have just said she treated him like trash or treated her Warrior like trash, but she...referred to him as a friend. The devil on his shoulder was reminding him of her betrayal just a few days before, but he couldn't help but think of all the times that he was absolutely confused at her actions towards him. 

She treated his wounds with concern and worry. She didn't yell, she didn't shout, she didn't torture or punish him. She discussed with him about the little things, she gave him options. He remembered her little actions to make him feel included, to make him feel more...human. He had never had a Master think so much for him, to be thought of as a human and not just a weapon.

To be thought of as a friend.

His heart softened a little at the crying girl in front of him, and he knew that at that moment, he was ready to forgive her. He was a little hesitant to do what he was going to do, because she was still his Master, but deep inside he knew that she wouldn’t punish him for what he was about to do.

Because he also wanted to be friends.

He slowly brought his arms up, slightly wincing at the pain that immediately shot up, and wrapped them around the girl’s shoulders. He noticed how she had stiffened slightly at the unexpected contact. Ara’s eyes doubled in size, and she froze.

“You…are right. You’re not like them,” the blonde thought of his words carefully, but didn’t forget to speak what was on his mind. “You’re not arrogant, conniving, or treat us like toys,” the blonde said as he recalled all the times she had expressed her concern over other Warriors.

“You’re different," the Warrior was sure of his impression of the girl this time. "A good different. It's...been a while since I felt this human," Speaking out his feelings after having them supressed for so long brought a certain comfort to his heart. "And it's okay to be who you are."

The blonde released his hold on her then, staring straight into her eyes. He hadn’t spoken so much in a while, and if you had told him in the past that it was because he wanted to comfort his Master, he would’ve blasted you to smithereens.

Stupified, Ara found herself not being able to speak, as if his words had rendered her the inability to talk. No one had told her that before, that it was okay to be different, that it was okay to just be her. All her life, she thought that she had to be someone else in order to fit into her society, so that she belonged. No one had told her that it was okay to not fit in, and she never would have expected to be comforted by the words of someone that was so mistreated by her people. That constant ache in her heart dulled a little.

He was right.

Ara was snapped out of her reverie when the blonde in front of her suddenly doubled over in pain, the effects of the battle earlier starting to kick in. She didn’t know how he had managed to drag his body all the way here in this state, and immediately ran for the first aid kit once she helped him sit down.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“That looks pretty damn painful.”

The blonde winced as Ara softly poked the bruise that was growing on his ribs. They were broken after all.

“It’ll be alright once I have rested in my card, Master.”

After settling him down and grabbing the first aid kit, Ara had disinfected and treated all the open wounds that his body had, spending a longer time to wash away the dried blood on his head and wrapping a bandage around it. She couldn't do anything about the dislocated wrist, but the boy reassured her that it would heal within a few days, along with his busted ankle. As for the minor injuries, the blonde didn’t know why she bothered to clean and treat them since those smaller wounds would heal on their own after a few hours. His head didn’t even hurt anymore.

“It was nice not hearing that word when you were giving me a pep talk,” Ara said as she wrapped a bandage around his torso. Her eyes were still swollen from before, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore.

“What? Master?”

“Yeah,” her voice dropped a little. She continued to focus on the white bandage circling his torso. It was silent for while, before the female's voice broke through again. "Thank you."

The injured Warrior raised a brow, and Ara didn't have to look to know that he was staring at her. "For comforting me. I treated you horribly, but you didn't do the same," her eyes were downcast. "I'm sorry for everything."

"You're confusing me again," Ara's actions stopped midway as her eyes met with the Warrior's. "A horrible person wouldn't have apologised and thanked me," He broke eye contact and stared at his fingers. The bruise around his wrist had gotten darker. Silence befell them again, until the Warrior decided to break it.

"It was a horrible action, but you weren't a horrible person," he paused. "It hurt. That day," the boy didn't have to elaborate further for Ara to know what day he was talking about. Her fingers twitched in remembrance, and she recalled the sting in her palm. "And I hated you for it. Not because it was a typical punishment from a Master, but because for a while, I thought, and hoped you were different," the Warrior didn't know why he was suddenly so open about his thoughts and feelings towards his Master, it was all so new to him. But he couldn't stop. "I was...happy that you were different."

Ara gaped at his confession. She never would have thought that someone would be happy that she was herself. The blonde continued, "And even though I felt betrayed, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be friends too."

The doubt and insecurity in her heart seemed to die down a bit with his words, like they were the treatment for an open wound. Ara’s eyes twinkled when she thought of an idea. “Call me Ara. Kim Ara.”

Ara didn’t miss the way the blonde’s eyes seemed to have bulged from his head, and she stifled a laugh at his expression. “You’re my friend. And I don’t want friends to call me Master.”

“But, its against the rules-”

Ara waved a finger in front of him. “No one said anything about what we can address each other as,” the blonde wanted to refuse, but Ara’s words cut him off. “And...I don’t want to care about what others think of me anymore.”

The blonde withheld from expressing his disagreement at the girl’s words as he saw the solemn smile on her face. Looks like his words did affect her after all. He sighed in defeat.

“Yes, Mas-Ara,” the blonde cut himself off in the nick of time, the name still very new on his tongue.

“Great!" Ara let a smile grace her face. "And I’m tired of addressing you without a name," the boy's eyes grew large as he predicted what she was about to say. "It's about time you told me your name.”

“But Mas-I mean, Ara-”

“Nope, no buts,” Ara said as she waved her finger again. “Like you said, you want to be friends. Friends address each other by their names."

The Warrior still looked a little hesitant to do so. Ara sighed.

“Its part of being human.”

The blonde froze at Ara’s words, his brain in thought. She was right. if she was giving him the choice to tell her his name, it could be the first step of feeling human again.

Taking his silence as reluctance, Ara then compromised. She didn’t want to force him to do anything. “If it makes you that uncomfortable, then just tell me any name you would like me to call you.”

The blonde gave a tiny, barely noticeable smile at Ara’s thoughtfulness. That simple sentence of hers was enough to make him want to trust her.

“I’m Sehun. Oh Sehun.”

At the mention of his name that he hadn’t used in thousands of years, Sehun realised that the words sounded almost foreign on his tongue, like he almost forgot it. It felt good to have his identity again.

As soon as his name left his mouth, his card began to glow a goldenish hue. Ara whipped out the card just in time to see the name ‘Oh Sehun’ engrave itself below his picture in cursive. Ara gave a dimpled smile.

“Nice to meet you, Oh Sehun.”

____

a/n: and finally sehun is revealed! his power was a dead giveaway, but I can finally use his name without referring to him as just a warrior XD