CHAPTER TWO

The walk through Ryoko's shopping district was a long one. It was crowded during the afternoon rush, with many dragons lining out of shops and restaurants. Ryoko was well known as a port city with many people getting fresh items of the boat immediately instead of waiting like many other cities. Shiro's sense of smell was overwhelmed by the many aromas he walked past. Or more like dragged since Kurosu was taking him somewhere he wasn't sure of. 

So many dragons in one place, it was out of Shiro's mind how so many dragons could be here. It was more than what he was used to when he lived on the Crescent Isles. 

"-Oof!" 

Shiro bumped into the back of Kurosu as he stopped walking. 

"We're here." Kurosu said flatly.

Shiro couldn't get over how Kurosu towered him in size. It was impressive but rather hard to see where "here" was as he blocked the front.

"He'd make a great shield." Shiro thought to himself.

Shiro moved so he was beside Kurosu rather than behind him and saw that Kurosu had brought him a small but rather quaint building. It had two stories to it and a front panoramic window a few feet left to the door showing several items on display. Above the window was a small sign saying "Azalea's" on it in a fancy font.

"She should be open today; even if she isn't she lives here so I'll get her attention." 

Kurosu reached over to touch the door handle.

"Hey- wait! What if she's closed!?!" 

Shiro looked nervous when he stopped Kurosu.

"Then we still go in"

"You can't just force your way in!"

"Her door is always open!"

"Don't act like you know her!"

"And what if I do?" 

"...!"

"....I'm opening the door"

"No you're not!" 

Kurosu didn't listen and grabbed hold of the rustic door handle. With a flick of his wrist, it opened with ease.

"Let me guess, unlocked?"

"Perhaps" 

Kurosu walked in, Shiro following him swiftly. 

The inside of the shop was very well kept and tidy, with various tables full of bottles that had varying labels for different usages; some ranging from healing to poison. On the right side of Shiro, stood several racks full of herbs and plants; to the left was a shelf with books and Alchemy tools, some looked quite expensive for a small shop to have in stock. In the far corner, there was a wooden countertop with a bronze cash register and small assortments of gems and powders in cute colorful bags. Behind it was a doorway with a purple drape acting as a door of sorts.

"What are you trying to find here?" Shiro inquired of his partner.

"It may not look like it but this is an apothecary." Kurosu answered as he walked over to the countertop with a cash register 

Shiro huffed in annoyance, "If your foot was still hurting, you could've said something instead of walking all the way here, dumbass!" 

"I-It's not that, Calm down!"

"Then what the hell are we here for!?!" 

"Just gimme a sec and I'll show you!"

"Show who?"

"!"

"!"

The purple drape from the doorway behind the countertop moved as a tall dragon lady appeared. She was a green dragon, obvious clues to that were her dark gray horns that curled around his head like a crown, her long auburn hair tied in a loose braid, and her emerald green eyes. All dragons can't hide the marks of their clan. Every detail of their person gives away their heritage. Hers was no different.

All green dragons are nine out of ten to be born female for some odd reason but it was never told to Shiro. 

The woman stepped up to the countertop to speak to Kurosu. Shiro couldn't read her face, she had a neutral expression despite the fact that there were two male dragons in her shop after closing time.

"Kurosu," She spoke in a sweet and soothing voice, it was pleasant to Shiro. "I can't keep repairing my door every time you break the lock. You can knock you know"

Kurosu just shrugged, "I needed in, I'll pay you later a but now I need your help"

Shiro piped up in the back, "wait it was locked! Your dickhead!" 

"Kurosu, have you finally made another friend? Kade won't like this when he finds out" Azalea chided. 

Kurosu groaned, not really wanting to play into Azalea's teasing today.

Kurosu ready his hands on the counter.

"Look I just need to answer my question? And then I'll leave"

"An odd time to play 20 questions but I'll bite. You first"

"WAIT, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TALK TO ME!?! I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I'M EVEN HERE!?!" Shiro started yelling and started to shake Kurosu, who wasn't too happy by the grip Shiro was using to get his attention.

"Can you please not pull on me for just a second. I like my personal space." Kurosu groaned as he pushed Shiro's tiny hands off his shirt.

"You haven't even told me what the hell we're doing here! And I have respected your space! 

"...you held on the back of my scarf the entire way here."

"So I won't get lost! I didn't know where we were going!"

Kuro facepalmed as he realized he was dealing with an idiot.

He moved back to focus on Azalea as he held Shiro away from him with one hand.

"Azalea, answer me this: Is it possible for a white dragon, purebred or not, to heal a black dragon like me!"

Azalea was taken aback from his question and looked at him stunned.

"Kurosu, this is elementary. A white dragon's mana is basically poison to you. If such a thing were to happen, it wouldn't possibly work. The two forces would try to counteract the other." She answered, worried if Kurosu had hit his head too many times out on his job.

"That was I thought until today-"

Kurosu grabbed Shiro's wrist to get him to stop.

"-Because this idiot just healed me not even an hour ago." 

"Eh?" 

Shiro looked at the two of them surprised. He was also surprised that Kurosu's hands were still cold after the long walk in the heat. It was the afternoon when they had left the guild.

"...You're sure?"

"I'm positive"

Kurosu pushed Shiro forward to be closer to Azalea.

"Tell her how you did it, snowflake"

"I have a name!" 

Shiro pouted and looked at Kurosu annoyed.

"Is this some joke!?! I told you! I've healed guys like you before! It's nothing!"

Kurosu and Azalea looked at Shiro like he had sprung out two heads. 

"Wh-why are you guys looking at me like that!?!"

Azalea walks past the countertop and down the side to step over to the two other dragons.

"Young dragon, I'm afraid such a feat is impossible but if what Kurosu says is true then I'd like to see this in action." 

Azalea walks over to Kurosu and takes out his left hand and uses her claws to scrape a deep cut on his palm.

"Demonstrate for me, please" 

 Azalea walks back to observe as Shiro takes Kurosu's hand from her. He repeats the healing process he did previously with Kurosu at the guild with no problems.

He was confused by all the fuss. He's healed other dragons before and even if his mana couldn't mix with Kurosu, he could still heal him with no issues so there must be an error in such a notion.

The cut on Kurosu's hand was minor and took little time to heal; Shiro was sure it had cut some muscle but nothing as serious as his foot injury. 

His hand was as good as new.

"All done! Are you happy?" Shiro sighed as he felt drained. He hadn't eaten in a few days and was exhausted from all the walking. 

"Shiro?" Kurosu looked over to Shiro in mild concern as he noticed his partner wobble a bit.

Shiro felt his vision blur a bit and his body swayed.  Kurosu's reflexes were sharp as he quickly grabbed a hold of Shiro's shoulders to prevent from falling; He didn't want Shiro to make a mess of the store.

"Bring him upstairs!" Azalea yelled as she ushered Kurosu with Shiro in his arms past the door behind the countertop. A small living room with a staircase to the right was behind it.

"He's so light." Kurosu thought to himself as he carried a half conscious Shiro up the stairs. He felt like a ragdoll.

Azalea followed behind him. Her teal dress made a fast stripping noise as she walked in a hurry.

"My guest room, you know where it is" She spoke fervently to Kurosu. "I'll be right within a moment. I need a few things" She moved past him down the hall.

The black dragon moved quickly as he settled Shiro on the plush bed in the small room. 

Kurosu could see now why Azalea was in a hurry. Shiro's face was pale and he was hot to the touch. 

"He definitely wasn't sick when I met at the guild." Kurosu thought out loud, trying to recall if he had noticed anything off about him. Then again, this day was not a normal one to begin with. 

Azalea came back with a small bag in hand. She sat on a stool beside the bedside and with a small click the brown bag flipped open.

"Has he been irritable?" She inquired as he pulled out a small syringe.

"He stepped on my foot and broke it." 

"Fair enough" 

She felt Shiro's head. He didn't react as he had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily.

She pulled backed and let out a small hum in affirmation 

"He's suffering from mana depletion. Thank the gods he's here. I imagine if he had done anything else, he would be in coma by the end of the night"

Kurosu looked up at her in mild interest "Doesn't that sort of condition happen when someone is in a life or death situation?"

"With you, I imagine anything is possible."

"Azae, I didn't-"

"I'm teasing you. Judging by his clothes he's not from here. This is likely due to starvation and not enough sleep. Mana can be depleted quickly that way"

"So you can fix it is what I'm getting at"

"A small shot of gem residue should get him moving again but he'll need food and a good 7 hours of rest" 

Kurosu felt a sense of relief. He didn't want a dead dragon in his hands. 

"Koen would murder me with his bare hands if this guy dies" he thought to himself.

Azalea pulled out a small bottle with a light blue color. It had a white substance inside of it that glowed and appeared to be thick and oily.

She pierced the top of the bottle with the syringe to pull out the substance. Azalea inserts the syringe into Shiro's wrist, injecting the residue into his veins. 

"This residue should get him up and moving soon. It will kickstart his mana since he's low but it won't be a cure all. He needs food. Why don't you two stay for lunch. I have a lot more to ask him once he is better"

"...fine." Kurosu said flatly.

"...Kade is coming"

"Damn you"

"Hahahah!"

Azalea teases Kurosu for mere fun as his senior. 

"He's so serious for an 18 year old fledging" Azalea thinks to herself as she packs up her tools. "He's like an old grandpa, haha!"

Azalea gets the mental image of Kurosu all old and frail, using a cane to hit people he doesn't like, which to her is practically anyone. Even her sometimes. 

She giggles. 

"What are you laughing at, Azae?"

"Oh- Nothing" Azalea sits up from her stool to leave.

"Watch over your new friend for now while I start cooking. We're having Katsudon*!!" 

Azalea heads down the stairs, leaving Kurosu in mild annoyance.

"...I fucking hate Katsudon"  Kurosu thinks to himself. 

He is interrupted by Shiro shooting out of bed.

"Aah-!!" Shiro yelped as he felt his heart leap out of his chest.

"Damn! What did I do!?! I could run a marathon like right now! Do you want to run! I want to run!! " Shiro starts talking a mile a minute 

Kurosu isn't sure if he should move to catch the other or let him race out of here to blow off whatever drug Azalea administered. 

"Holy shit this feels good! What did you do!?!" Shiro yells out in excitement. "I feel brand new!

Kuros long elf-like ears flicked. 

"Too loud"  Kuro thought to himself 

"You'll thank Azae-chan later but you need to calm down a little. You're hurting my ears" He told Shiro as he sat down on the floor in a crisscross position. He doesn't want to sit on the bed for fear of Shiro jumping on him.

"WAIT that cute tall lady did this!?! SO COOL!!!" Shiro leaped to the edge of the bed, still jittery from the adrenaline rush with sparkles in his eyes.

"They didn't teach me that in Academia! No fair!!!" Shiro blurted out suddenly.

"What!?!" Kurosu looked up at Shiro in surprise and his ears quivered.

He sat up and grabbed Shiro's shoulders.

"You! Academia!?!" Kuro pressed the other and his grip tightened. Shiro doesn't understand the problem and happily confirms everything to him.

"Yeah! I graduated last year! I went for Alchemical Studies!"

"....Azalea must have overdosed you. That can't be real!" 

"Hey! I definitely didn't mean the past 5 years of my life up, jerk!!" 

Shiro sat up on the bed pointing a finger at Kurosu.

"I can prove it to you!!" 

Shiro starts to unbutton his teal robe. Kurosu's ears went red.

"I don't need you to fuck me to prove anything!" 

"Eh-!?! Why would I fuck you!?!" 

"THEN PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!?!"

"I'M NOT TAKING THEM ALL OFF! JUST LOOK!" 

"I DON'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK! I BELIEVE YOU OK!?!"

"JUST LOOK ALREADY!"

Shiro pulled his robes and shirt down far enough to show the upper part of his chest, revealing the sigil of the Academia: an unfinished circle, dissected by a vertical line. A sign of the limitless pursuit of knowledge.

The sigil is tattooed on students the moment they graduate with magic ink so it can't be faked. 

"I'm a bona-fide academy graduate, baby!! Ha!" Shiro exclaimed proudly, exuding an aura of arrogance. 

Kurosu couldn't believe his eyes, his new partner was an Academia graduate. Truly unbelievable.

"Only dragons with unique talent are even allowed to step foot in Academia. The fact that this guy is really a graduate…"

Kurosu saw dollar signs in his head

"Academia students are supposed to be super smart! This guy could rack in enough munny I would never be in debt again!" Kurosu thought to himself as he realized he had an answer to all his finance issues.

"...what's an Academia student doing here?" Kuro was still gripping the partly naked Shiro on top of the guest bed. 

"Wh-wha-?" Shiro looked at Kurosu nervously, "I'm looking for a job! I just need something quick! Ok? This was the only one open!" 

"And you got here how? Academia is west from here and it's a 2 week trip"

Shiro tried to shrug off Kurosu's death.

"That's because I came from the Crescent Isles! I graduated a year ago" 

"...what?" 

"Do you actually listen to me when I talk!?!"

Shiro pulled at Kurosu's scarf.

"I walked here for 4 days!"

"Did you even eat or stop to rest?"

"No, I just walked here."

"..."

"...what?"

Kurosu was dumbfounded. 

"An academy graduate decided it was a good idea to walk here. Non-stop. No rest or break...us that what I'm hearing"

".. .yeah?"

"... I'm doomed" 

"Huh!?!"

A loud thud was heard outside of the room.

The door opened as a young, scruffy red dragon came through. 

"Oi! Kurosu!! Long time, no see! Azalea wanted to get you guys for-"

The red dragon froze as he saw Kurosu holding another dragon by the shoulders with the robes half down on top of the bed.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone froze until-

"Kurosu!! I didn't know you got a mate! Why didn't you tell me!?!"

"Fuck off, Kade!!" 

"..."