“So the guys who want to kill my niece finally showed their faces, huh?” Yong Guk frowned after N relayed all the information he had about the attack at the mall.

“Yes,” N nodded, “we didn’t hear everything, so we’re going to have to ask Hyorin when she wakes up what happened before we got there.”

“I could go into her dreams,” Hyuk offered, “then we can find out now.”

“No,” Leo frowned slightly, “she needs to rest.”

“Leo hyung is right,” Hongbin nodded, “she used up a lot of energy in that fight. We have to let her rest for now.”

“Nothing we can do until then,” Yong Guk sighed, getting up, “best to keep ourselves busy while we wait.”

“I’m going to check on Hyorin and Ken again,” N announced, getting up and leaving the living room.

“I’ll go with you,” Ravi said, following after the older. Hongbin and Hyuk were about to join too when Leo told them to help him make dinner. Pouting slightly, the pair followed the heat demon into the kitchen.

--

“It’s not your fault, hyung,” Ravi said as he watched N take a seat beside Hyorin’s bed.

“You weren’t there,” N sighed, “I was. I should have done something more. Then Hyorin wouldn’t have used as much energy.”

“You did everything you could,” the illusion demon tried again to comfort the older, “it couldn’t be helped.”

“If she used much more energy, she could have killed herself,” N tried not to yell at Ravi – it wasn’t his fault this had happened.

“Could have being the key words,” Ravi shrugged, taking a seat beside Ken’s bed, “she didn’t die, she didn’t get seriously hurt. You and Ken hyung aren’t dead. Considering all the things that could have happened, I think things turned out pretty well.”

“I know that,” the invisibility demon slumped slightly in his chair, “but I can’t help but worry. Our enemy is strong. Really strong. I don’t know if we’re ready to fight them yet.”

“We just need to work harder,” Ravi patted N’s shoulder, “the six of us and Hyorin need to train more so that we’ll be ready the next time they attack.”

“And what if they attack tomorrow?” N frowned, “we aren’t going to be ready.”

“We weren’t ready for three of us to take on four of them,” Ravi shrugged, “those weren’t good odds in the first place. The next time they attack, it will be our seven against their four.”

“Six to four,” N chopped Ravi’s neck, “I’m not letting Hyorin get into another fight against those demons. Not after what happened today. She needs more training before I’ll even think to allow that.”

“Fine,” the younger demon conceded, “six to four is still good odds.”

“I’m just worried that there’s more than four of them,” N turned back to Hyorin, “what if this was just a small taste of what they can do? What if they have a bunch of other demons waiting in the wings?”

“Then we deal with that when it happens.”

“But until then we have to train.”

“Hyung,” both turned to find Hongbin standing in the door way, “I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“How did Hyorin lose control like that?” Hongbin asked, frowning slightly, “and why was she even using her fire power in the first place? She’s terrified of losing control of it so she never uses it.”

“How do you know that?” Ravi asked, earning a shrug from the empath.

“She told me. Plus, ya know, empath.”

“She got mad,” N explained, “she saw what they had done to me and Ken and she got really upset.”

“Maybe there’s a connection,” Ravi frowned slightly, “between her powers and her emotions.”

“What do you mean?” Hongbin asked, sitting down at the end of Ken’s bed.

“The first time she used her healing powers,” Ravi told them, “she was really upset. Hyuk figures it was after some kids pushed her down the stairs at school.”

“What?” N turned to face Ravi, clearly upset at this news, “those brats pushed her down the stairs?”

“Yes,” Ravi frowned slightly, “and she healed herself. Then she healed herself again when a bunch of them ganged up on her. And when she healed Ken after he was attacked, she was really upset.”

“It does seem like her emotions and her powers are connected,” Hongbin nodded, “so we should try to remember that the next time the enemy attacks.”

“You’re right,” N sighed, reaching over to brush some of Hyorin’s hair out of her face, “the next time they attack, we need to get her out of there as soon as possible. We can’t let her get hurt or see us get hurt.”

“Right,” Ravi agreed, “Hongbin or Hyuk will have to get her out of there right away.”

“What about you?” Hongbin scoffed, not liking the idea of not being able to fight alongside his brothers, “it’s not like your power is that great for battle either.”

“I make up for it in physical strength,” Ravi laughed, flexing to show off his biceps, “see?”

“Quiet,” everyone turned to fine Leo glaring at them, “you’re going to wake them up.”

“Dinner’s ready,” Hyuk added before following Leo down stairs. Ravi and Hongbin rushed to follow, but N stuck around a little longer.

“I’m not going to let this happen again,” N whispered, eyeing the bruises that were visible on Hyorin’s face and arms, “I promise.”

A/N: I……actually don’t have much to say. Well, other than commenting about how sweet N is, but that kind of goes without saying. Hope you all liked this chapter!