9

Chapter 9

Yuri sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through his hair. As much as he wanted to focus on what the ravenet was saying, he found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror. He studied it critically, frowning thoughtfully as he tried to figure out exactly what it was about his appearance that was troubling him.

He looked almost the same as always, although there were slight changes to his face that weren't noticeable unless you were looking closely at it. There was a scar which marred one side of his forehead, one that was slightly wider than the other. It was also slightly shorter, almost to his chin, and slightly curved to the left so that it came across his forehead rather than his hairline. On the other hand, there was another scar which was slightly higher than the first one, running across his nose and splitting vertically across his face.

There were also several scars that had previously been hidden under his clothing – although they were less visible thanks to his lack of a jacket – covering most of his upper torso. Some of them were faint but they stood out against the pale complexion that covered nearly all of his skin. He knew that they weren't visible, although he had no doubt that they would cause people to notice them eventually. They were reminders of his life prior to meeting the Ravenette; proof that he was no longer human. That was why the scarring wasn't particularly noticeable.

His clothes looked relatively decent, apart from the fact that they were far too loose for his current condition and were therefore far too large for him. But they weren't filthy like they usually were when he wore his normal clothes and the material of his tunic appeared to be reasonably clean. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised if the fabric was actually made of silk.

That wasn't the only thing that was different about his clothes, however. The colour that surrounded his arms and torso was completely different, too. Not only did his sleeves seem lighter than ever, as though made of a different material altogether, but his waistcoat seemed to have become much thinner and looser than usual. If it wasn't for the fact that it still fit perfectly, Yuri would probably have assumed that he had lost quite a lot of weight. In fact, he was surprised he even felt any weight at all when he was standing there before the mirror.

However, there wasn't much time for Yuri to contemplate about his physical appearance for the time being. All his attention had been drawn to what the ravenet was doing now. Even though he had been sitting down, the ravenet was now leaning over Yuri as he moved closer to the blonde boy and lifted Yuri's arm up high in the air. After doing that for about three minutes, the ravenet released his grip on Yuri's arm and lowered his hand, causing him to lower his own arm and turn his body around. His body felt stiff and heavy as he lowered his arms from the side.

When he faced the ravenet once more, the ravenet grabbed his wrist lightly. Yuri stared at him inquisitively as the ravenet placed Yuri's hand on top of his shoulder blade before wrapping the arm around his shoulder, moving it up and down his back lightly. He could sense the ravenet moving his shoulder slightly, as though he was trying to relieve pain he was feeling.

"This will help a bit" the ravenet informed him quietly as he pressed his forehead down onto Yuri's shoulder, breathing in deeply through his nose. He then moved his hand down his arm, pressing on top of the bandaged wounds he was supposed to remove. Yuri felt the sharp pinch, followed by the sensation of blood slowly flowing out from where he'd been stabbed in the back by a sword earlier. The boy tensed up, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily before clenching his teeth together tightly and biting his tongue. The pain quickly disappeared and the warmth spread throughout Yuri's entire body as his muscles loosened up once again. The blonde boy opened his eyes and stared at the ravenet's shoulder for a long moment.

"Are you ok now?", the ravenet questioned softly.

Yuri nodded and forced himself to breathe normally. A few seconds later, he finally responded with a short nod. He swallowed, unable to form a coherent sentence, and averted his gaze to look instead at the floor of the library. A small smirk spread slowly across the ravenet's lips; he understood perfectly how it felt like to be overwhelmed by fear and shock. It was natural for everyone. The only exception was the person who had survived it. The ravenet couldn't explain how he felt when he'd seen Yura, and the others, lying lifeless in a pool of their own blood. He still felt somewhat guilty about it, even though he didn't regret killing the Dark Knight. He simply regretted the fact that he hadn't done anything to prevent the death of the rest of the group, or of the young woman whom he had helped save, when he'd seen them.

If only...if only he had been able to stop the Dark Knight from killing anyone else, he would have been able to go through with it. He would have been able to keep Yuri safe from his father, and from everything else around him. Now the younger boy was trapped here, and he needed help, and he would never get it if he kept ignoring him like the way he was doing right now. He had to show Yuri his kindness. Otherwise, Yuri would never forgive himself.

The ravenet exhaled loudly and closed his eyes, letting out an exhausted sigh and leaning back a tiny bit. He let go of Yuri's hand, making the latter's fingers twitch, and opened his eyes. After opening his eyes, the boy turned towards Yuri and held both hands on top of each of his shoulders. A serious expression crossed his features as he gazed directly into Yuri's eyes, silently telling him to listen to him.

Yuri glanced away awkwardly, trying to appear indifferent even though inside, he was extremely nervous and anxious. He had never experienced such intense emotional connection before. This was the closest to having feelings towards another person that he had ever been in his life, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Nevertheless, there were still things which he couldn't let go of without at least discussing it with the ravenet. He had learned enough about his friend during his journey, about his family, about the events that had taken place. He knew that they couldn't continue like that indefinitely.

So, with an unsure, but determined heart, he slowly pulled his wrists out of the older boy's hold, placing them back onto the desk before replying in a low voice, "Yes?".