Lazy Sleeping Beauty

When Sadao first saw Yuuma wallowing on a bench all alone with sweets stuffed in his arms, his first thought was wondering who would leave such a little kid alone. Where are his parents? Then he had spotted Kenji not so far away and finally knew the kid's identity.

Yuuma Oxblood. Sadao had never met him but had memorized all the heir's names and descriptions to each of the great families. He heard rumors that the boy was too spoiled and the mother was rotten. But seeing him dozing off innocently as if not caring about what's around him he had decided to introduce himself. Although Sadao was ten years old he excelled in intelligence and magic so most kids his age never seemed to match him when it comes to brain wavelength.

Sadao had realized Yuuma was different. He didn't act like a seven year old and even got the air of maturity on their first encounter. He admits he may have acted childish with declaring to spare with the little boy but something about him made Sadao a bit agitated. Maybe it was the fact he acted smarter than everyone in the room with just a glance of his calculating eyes! Or maybe it was the frosty glare he gave like you were the stupidest insect in the world! Either way, Sadao couldn't choose to be more afraid or angry but felt anger was the safer option.

Therefore he declared Yuuma as an enemy. Later he realized maybe having someone like Yuuma as an enemy is a terrible decision so he decided to just watch Yuuma from the sidelines.

On the day Kenji contacted him telling Sadao of Yuuma's favor to bring cookies to him during his exam Sadao felt sour. But the initial feeling was gone as soon as he saw him during the exam, he had dozed on the table and looked like a doll, melting his agitation, Sadao wished he had a little brother like Yuuma at that moment. Sadao also made a discovery on Yuuma's intelligence and that was he was extremely smart! He had thought Yuuma wouldn't be able to get into Vermillion academy but somewhere in his heart he always knew Yuuma could do it with a snap of his finger. it was incredibly scary to know such a person exists but for them to also be so cute- Sadao didn't know what to think. His friend was so cute he didn't want the others to see him but with his accomplishments it was almost impossible, increasing his vigilance.

The day after Yuumas exam Sadao was doing morning homework when he got word of Yuuma's condition. Kenji had contacted him telling him the school transferred Yuuma to the hospital in the academy because he couldn't be woken up. They did several checkups and methods to wake him and find a cause but just like before he was deep in sleep.

Sadao also didn't want to admit he was extremely worried. His leg bounced frantically and couldn't focus on the paper in front of him full of scribbles and crossed out words. He knew this had happened before where he stayed in a coma-like sleep for many days on end but what was the cause? Could it have been his disappearance of magic? It had never been seen before so that would be the most likely.

A few weeks later Sadao walked the hallway of the hospital ward and into a small white room with a small child wrapped up on a bed. Yuuma's family had permitted him to stay in Vermillion academy under their care since it was probably the best place to be if you're ill. Sadao frowned and sat on a stool next to him and felt a little awkward. After a long pause of silence, Sadao lowered his head before straightening his back and looking at the open window letting fresh air in, "Yuuma.." he began but then stopped and shrank back with a deepening frown. "Why won't you wake up? I still have unlimited favors that you haven't requested yet."

Sadao took out some strawberry candy and stretched his hand to Yuuma's face lowering it to his nose. He waved it around with squinted eyes, "I know you like candy, just smell and wake up quickly~." After five minutes of failed attempts, he sighed helplessly withdrawing his hand and sat the candy in Yuuma's open palm. Hoping he would wake up to the feel of it.

Sadao visited the room every week with new ideas as to how to wake him up, but they never worked, even so, his spirits never diminished. The academy was buzzing with news of the genius but with his coma, it started to morph into elaborate legends and everyone wanted to take a peek at sleeping beauty. Sadao would always try to drive the leech-seeking attention wanters away!

The Oxblood family was devastated as one can imagine. An heir that can't use magic and was sickly, their reputation died down and some even scolded the family. Yuuma's mother was the angriest and didn't even have the heart to see him because of all the trouble he's caused. Sadao couldn't possibly imagine having a mother a vile as that...

To help with Yuuma's recovery all the professors in different subjects gathered to discuss theory on Yuuma's condition, and hopefully a cure. Of course, his strange phenomenon was a first in the world so many wanted to study him especially the medical professors/majors. but with even the head of medicine not finding a solution like before it felt like a lost cause. The only suggestion was patience and time and maybe one day Yuuma would crawl out of his coma.

But Sadao wasn't satisfied with this outcome. Unfortunately, something else was brewing in the kingdom. Something most hadn't expected was laying under wraps. A storm had come but not just any storm, a storm of monsters.

A monster era began.

And war ensued.