[Ch. 23] A Silent Victory

That night, Panzram came to realize just how annoying it was to share a bed with Ryu. Not only was Ryu's body emitting an uncomfortable chill while he clung to him, but he was also flailing around and moving constantly.

Once, he would lay across Panzram's body perpendicularly. Then, he would lay on his legs. Then, he would cling to his arms so tightly, Panzram lost feeling in it.

Panzram was extremely irritated by this and even considered tying him up so he would stop moving.

Although Panzram grumbled out his irritation, he didn't hate the situation completely. Ryu's body may have an uncomfortable chill to it, but Panzram's body was used to the cold. After all, he had spent most of his time in cold prison cells and had been a wanderer before that. The cold didn't bother him.

Plus, Panzram didn't mind a beauty holding on to him.

Even if the beauty was some kind of idiot.

Ryu, on the other hand, had never encountered such good sleep before. It was as if Panzram was his personal space heater. In his sleep, he sought out this heater since he hated feeling so cold. Only when his heater left his side did he finally stir from his slumber.

As soon as Ryu woke up the next morning, he was overcome by a terrible hangover. He didn't dare move from the bed all day. Annoyingly enough, his body could heal any wound except a hangover.

The Madame entered the room and threw open the curtains. Ryu let out a groan and crawled under his blankets. She shook her head at Ryu as she watched him try to hide from the sunlight, "I told you. You can't handle alcohol."

Panzram stood in the corner, readjusting his clothes while keeping a watchful eye on everyone. Ryu could only grumble in response.

The Madame looked at Panzram, "Young master Pan, do you think you could help me in Ryu's place?"

Panzram hated people, but he was more or less polite to women as long as they didn't anger him first. He gave her a small nod but didn't try to hide the ruthless tone in his voice, "What do you need?"

"I need help carrying a few things. I'm far too old to carry them now."

Panzram agreed and helped the old Madame around the house while Ryu slept off his hangover. After a few hours, Panzram brought a dish over to Ryu's room and placed it on the table.

Ryu was awakened by the mouth watering smell and crawled over to it without ever opening his eyes. His messy hair was worse than usual and his face was no longer smiling brightly. The bump he had on his forehead had already disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.

Ryu took one bite and grimaced. Then he pushed the plate away. "I'm not hungry." He laid his head down on the table and enjoyed the soothing cold feeling on his forehead.

Panzram glared at him and ordered, "Eat."

Ryu pouted, "But I'm too nauseous to eat."

Panzram grabbed Ryu's body roughly and pulled him over to his side. His large rough hand clamped Ryu's jaw, forcing it open. Ryu's eyes opened wide as he stared back at the feral cat in surprise.

Panzram growled, "Eat before I shove it down your throat."

Ryu nodded quickly, "Okay, okay! I will eat."

Panzram grunted and released him. Ryu started eating the meal in a dejected manner. He was surprised to feel better after eating. He grinned at Panzram, "I actually don't feel as sick now."

Panzram responded indifferently, "Eating helps."

Ryu smiled at him, "You are very knowledgeable on these things."

Panzram responded meaningfully, "And you're not."

Ryu frowned from his pride taking a hit from the insinuation. He responded defensively, "I try not to drink because my chaos energy tends to get a little harder to control."

Panzram leaned towards him with a scowl, "I noticed that too."

Ryu's face instantly blushed. To be truthful, he didn't remember how he acted. He could barely remember anything after the third cup. Really. Why did his body not process alcohol well at all?

There was a saying: A chaos user can be impossibly strong, and yet they can be impossibly weak.

Just like how every Tamashii energy user has a weakness, chaos users do as well. When it comes to mind-altering substances, chaos users become extremely weak and have a harder time using their Tamashii energy. For chaos users, since their greatest strength is their minds, it's also where their weakness lies. Reality is what they make it, but if their reality is altered then naturally, they wouldn't be able to alter others.

Other Tamashii users had simpler weaknesses. Fire Tamashii users had a weakness towards the water. Likewise, since heat is their strength, the users tend to favor warmer climates.

On the other hand, water Tamashii users had a weakness towards extreme temperatures. If they were too hot or too cold, they found it harder to control their Tamashii energies. As such, those users tended to live in mild climates.

For Earth users, their weakness was fire. Since animals and the plants feared it, naturally they did too. Earth users also tended to be nomadic and didn't consider any certain place their home.

Wind users were weak against places where wind could not reach. If they are in an enclosed space with no airflow, then they had a harder time being able to use their energy. Thus, they preferred wide open areas with no restrictions.

For metal users, their weaknesses could include not having stable footing and even losing their sight or hearing as such things made using their energy difficult.

Life users were considered the most human out of all of the Tamashii energy users. Their strength lies in healing, so they don't really deal with combat situations.

On the contrary, Death users are weak to sunlight and are incapable of being healed by a Life user. Thus, the Life and Death users were natural born enemies. Life users tended to be loved and exalted as irreplaceable doctors, while death users were considered the scourge of the earth and were forced to hide in the shadows.

There were naturally exceptions to these rules. Those who were powerful were able to find a way around their weakness, although this was extremely rare. In fact, Ryu was considered heaven-defying for even being able to use his ability while drunk.

Even if he did have little control over it.

Ryu cleared his throat awkwardly, "I didn't do anything bad… Did I?"

Panzram frowned at Ryu as he recalled the events from the previous night. He clenched his jaw, "You made everyone feel as if the building was shaking and spinning."

Ryu turned pale, noticing Panzram's sudden hostility toward him, "I… I did?"

Panzram continued, "Then when I shouted at you to stop, you started crying."

Ryu's face turned from pale to bright red. Ryu was aware that when he was drunk, he could be too emotional or too playful. He never cared about it before… But knowing that he had shown this embarrassing side to Panzram, he felt that it was too much!

Ryu pretended to play it off, "Oh, I did? Haha… I've been told I can be a little emotional."

Panzram couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Ryu's face twitching in embarrassment, "A little? The Madame was sure you would end up drowning us in tears. It makes me wonder if that's happened before."

Ryu cleared his throat feeling flustered, "Ah, well… I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

"You cried because you thought I hated you and that I thought you were ugly." Panzram pointed out with a deadpan expression.

Ryu's mouth hovered open. For the first time, he was actually rendered speechless instead of Panzram.

Panzram silently enjoyed the victory.

Ryu turned his head trying to act proudly, but in fact he looked more childish, "And… What did you say?"

Panzram's bemused expression disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He answered apathetically, "You don't remember?"

Ryu's face blushed darker, "Uh… Not… Really…"

"Then what do you think I said?"

Ryu scratched his cheek awkwardly, "Well… I think you should find me beautiful since everyone else does."

Panzram scoffed.

Ryu's face dropped in shock, "You don't?!"

Panzram ignored Ryu, "And what about whether or not I hate you?"

Ryu thought for a moment before answering definitively, "You definitely hate me. I'm a chaos user and I'm also a Taira."

Panzram's face grew darker.

Ryu gulped at the sight of his dark expression, "Perhaps you… Despise me with every fiber of your being?!"

Panzram really wanted to hit this idiotic man. He couldn't explain why he was so irritated to hear that Ryu thought Panzram hated him, but he also didn't care to say otherwise. Panzram stood up in anger and went to the door.

This only made Ryu further believe that he was right when he thought Panzram hated him.