[S1] Chapter 16: Farewell

As I spent the whole day lying down, at some point, I lost all sense of time. But after the sun went down and Miko crawled into bed with me, I fell asleep.

I have to pee. With this thought, I wake up with my eyes still closed and leave the bed. Slowly but surely, I begin to see a little. My first glance goes towards Miko, who is curled up in her blanket, breathing calmly.

Today is our last full day at school, and it is the first time I've woken up before Miko. For the first time, I actually caught her sleeping, not that this was ever my goal.

She looks so cute with her slightly open mouth that I want to take a photo and hang it up somewhere. I wonder when I'll ever get the chance to share a bed with her again. It's funny how this makes me sadder than most things that happened to me in the past.

I watch her for a moment longer and then make my way to the bathroom, leaving the door slightly open, take care of my little business and wash my hands. Something is strange, but I can't remember what it is. When I step out of the bathroom, my eyes meet Miko's.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"I had to pee."

Before I can explain myself any further, Miko jumps out of bed, turns on the light, and kneels on the floor in front of me.

"Which one was hurt?"

"Ah, my shin. It was the right one."

Without asking, she runs her fingers over my leg and gives me goosebumps.

"Can you stop, please?" I hold out my hands to her and pull her up.

"There's nothing left to see. Nothing at all, like it never happened."

"Maybe the magic lagged a bit."

"No, that's not possible. I have another suspicion."

"And what's that?"

"Do you often have bruises?"

"No, never really."

"How often do you have a cold?"

"A cold? With a runny nose and all that?"

"Exactly."

That is a really good question. I even got through my whole time at school without missing a single day, and I've never called in sick at work, either. I would remember that.

"Maybe in kindergarten?"

"Excuse me? You're telling me you haven't been sick for fifteen years?"

"Seems like it."

Miko sits down on the bed and just looks at me in disbelief. "I'd love to try out a few things with your body right now."

"I hear your words, but I don't think you mean what I have in mind."

"Definitely not."

"What's wrong with my body? Are you telling me that I don't have a super immune system but that my mana has always healed me before I even got sick?"

"That's my current theory, yes."

"So you'll never be able to nurse me back to health and confess your feelings to me while I'm feverish, making me wonder if it was all just a dream?"

"You read too much manga."

"But you know what I mean."

"Shut up."

"Aha! As soon as I feel better, you're mean again."

"I'm not mean. I'm just being extra nice to you when you're feeling bad."

"Don't I deserve the lovely Miko when I'm feeling well?"

"Apparently not."

◆

"I didn't see the injury, but if you ask me, your leg looks great. It is very soft but has shapely calves."

"Hannah… can you stop fondling my leg?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

After Miko and I had breakfast, we headed to the school nurse's office, where we happened to bump into Hannah, who is helping out there today.

"With a real patient, you should avoid this kind of physical contact." explains the teacher, while she also looks at my leg in disbelief. Miko's theory about my body was neither confirmed nor denied by the two other healers here. In the end, I don't really care. I'm fine, and so far, it doesn't seem to have done me any harm that my mana just automatically repairs me as soon as I break.

The fact that I can't seem to be healed immediately by myself or anyone else may be a downside, but it forces me to continue being careful and considerate. Positive thinking is the way to go.

"And what else are you sweeties up to?" Hannah asks.

"Sweeties?" Miko speaks for what feels like the first time in ten minutes, as she still can't cope with how my body works. Still, I'm happy that her interest in me has grown so much, even though it seems to be for all the wrong reasons only.

"I don't know, probably packing our things already. Wash our uniforms, hand in our guest passes, put most of our luggage in the car, that sort of thing."

"I see, I see. But would you be free tonight?"

My gaze wanders to Miko, who just shrugs her shoulders.

"Looks like it, yes."

"Then let's meet in Elliot's room this evening."

"Huh?" Miko reacts with disapproval, and the teacher also looks a little questioning.

"He's got a huge sofa in his room and a bunch of games. He's the best place to celebrate your farewell." Hannah crosses her arms and puffs out her cheeks. "I don't know what kind of reasons you guys are imagining."

"Whatever." Miko hints that she wants to go now, so I get off the daybed and put my shoes back on. By the way, the infirmary is in the basement of the main building. So, we head up the stairs and head for the teleportation room at the eastern end of the second floor. From there, we land near the dormitory.

As convenient as teleporting is, I find it just as scary. Nobody has yet been able to explain to me exactly how it all works. It's magic is the only answer I got.

"Go on, take your clothes off," I say as we arrive in our room. I'm already unbuttoning the shirt of my school uniform and throw some glances at Miko. She leaves my request uncommented and starts to undress as well.

"What are we going to do when we're done?"

"I don't know. Should I ask someone?"

"Nah, that would be kind of embarrassing."

I exhale deeply, look over at Miko, and open my palm. "Come on, give it to me."

And on my command, she throws her shirt and skirt over to me, I put them into a pile with mine and disappear into the bathroom to stuff them into the washing machine.

I stay in the bathroom for a moment to calm down again. Why the hell did Miko play along with this stupidity of mine? She just stripped in front of me, threw her clothes at me, and stood there in her underwear with a confidence that frightened me.

"Are you okay?" Miko calls out while I'm still squatting on the floor with a bright red face.

"Everything's great." An obvious lie.

"Are there any clothes left in the laundry basket?"

"I'll take a look." Said and done. I open the basket, look inside, and discover a pair of lonely white panties. I take them out and realize relatively quickly that they're not mine.

Wait, did she put them in there on purpose? The way she deliberately asked if there was any laundry left was quite conspicuous. But when would she have done that? And what did she hope to gain from it?

"What are you doing?"

I look to the side and see Miko standing in the bathroom doorway, looking at me in disgust. My eyes wander to my hands, in which I hold her panties spread out, which I only did to see who they belong to, I swear.

"Nothing?"

"They're mine, aren't they?"

"Exactly."

"And do you like them?"

"I think so."

"Do you think you could just put them in the washing machine after all?"

"I was going to."

"Thanks."

"With pleasure."

◆

We dismissed the panties episode as such and never mentioned it again. We've packed our luggage in the car, and all we have left in the room now is a backpack, sleeping clothes for the last night, and outfits for tomorrow.

"Shall we get going?"

"Do you know which room we have to go to?" Good question, Miko.

"Nope, but we'll find it. If not, we'll ask someone."

And so we set off for the forbidden zone. Although I'm pretty sure the boys and men aren't quite as sensitive to the opposite gender in their wing of the dorm as the girls were to Elliot the other day.

Once on the other side of the building, we face our first obstacle. The lounge before you get to the dorm rooms. Four students are actually sitting there, and as we enter the area, we are inevitably making eye contact with them.

"Good evening," Miko says, more friendly than I thought possible from her, and just tries to move on before one of the guys gets up. It was only at that moment that I recognize him, the student who confessed his love for me at the festival.

"Hello Kayla," in his greeting, he ignores Miko, which is fine as he seems to have only eyes for me anyway. Somehow, the situation is awkward. What can I say now? What would be the best way to resolve this situation?

"Hey, can you tell me where Elliot's room is?"

Even if it wasn't intentional, what I just did is probably called murder. I even feel a shocked look from Miko on the back of my neck, not to mention the faces of the four guys in front of me. It's okay, I'm sorry.

"At least now we know where we have to go," I whisper to Miko after we've gotten the information we need.

"I didn't know your game yet. Quite brutal."

"Oh, come on, what was I supposed to do?"

"Almost anything but that, I guess."

I just sigh. What else can I say? Somewhat unmotivated, I knock on the door that should lead to Elliot's door, and as if she had already been waiting on the other side, Hannah opens it for us.

"Did you read my message?" Hannah asks with an expectant look. Meanwhile, Miko walks past me and stops abruptly.

"Why is the whole floor made up of mattresses?"

"We're having a sleepover," Hannah announces happily before I pull out my cell phone to read her message.

"I didn't sign up for this." Miko mumbles but walks into the room anyway. I follow her and discover Elliot sitting on the sofa with Nada, the little blonde girl with her pigtails, next to him. Alex is also there, lying on one of the mattresses. The entire student council is there to see us off with a sleepover party. I don't know how we earned this much attention, but I'm happy either way.

"I couldn't do anything about it, I'm sorry," Elliot says slightly dejectedly, looking only at Miko.

"No problem, thanks for your efforts," she replies as if she understands all his struggles.

Without much thought behind it, I go to the sofa. "Can I sit with you?" I ask Nada and smile a little awkwardly.

"Sure," she says quietly while I take a good look at her face and see that the area around her eyes is reddened as if she's been crying. I have the feeling that it is none of my business, but now I can no longer ignore it.

"Don't ask," it's Alex who jumps in as if she knows what's going on in my head. "We had a little talk before you got there. It was tears of joy. I promise you."

Hesitantly, I look back at Nada, who smiles and nods, "It's true."

Relieved, I sit down with her, Miko finds a spot on the floor, and Hannah takes on the role of hostess and hands out glasses to us. I have no idea how tonight might turn out, but I'm ready for everything.

In the end, it is much more relaxed than expected. We talk about our time at the school, the tournament, the festival, the food in the cafeteria, Elliot's fan clubs, Nada's creations, Hannah's hard life as a student representative, Alex's experiences with her lectures, and Miko also shares a few stories from her time in her old guild.

Time literally flies by, and Nada is already fighting her tiredness. Although we are talking loudly, I notice how her eyes keep falling shut.

"Shall we sleep?" I ask the others, and they all gasp in relief as if they had just been waiting for someone to make this suggestion.

"But we're not sleeping here," Miko meanwhile decides for the both of us. It makes sense that we didn't bring any sleeping clothes because I hadn't read Hannah's message.

"Nice to see you again," Alex says, raising her hand to say goodbye. The last time we'd spoken was at her lecture a few weeks ago. After that, we didn't even manage to run into each other. Nada fell into the land of dreams when I mentioned the word sleep, and I couldn't bring myself to wake her up again straight away.

"Say goodbye to her from us," I quietly say and get up from the couch. Elliot follows me, overtakes me with long strides, and opens the door for us. Without making any arrangements, Hannah and he walk out of the room with Miko and me, leaving the other two behind.

I notice Elliot staring a little too conspicuously at Miko. Hannah sighs, slightly annoyed, and finally asks the question we're both thinking about. "Shall we leave you two alone for a moment?"

"No," Miko says, rolling her eyes. "If you want to get something off your chest, do it now." She turns to Elliot and taps her foot on the floor over and over.

"I just wanted to say thank you. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you again, especially not under these circumstances. Thanks to you..."

"All right, big guy, I was happy to help you." Miko interrupts him, pats him on the shoulder, and marches off. I look at Elliot briefly, almost apologetically, and bow my head a little.

"It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise, take good care of Miko."

"I'll do my best."

Hannah and I follow Miko and come back through the lounge, where no one is sitting anymore. We take the stairs down to the entrance area of the dormitory. There, we find Miko waiting for us with her arms crossed.

"As I have to get back to look after the other girls up there, I'll say goodbye to you here. I'll keep it short, I'm really happy that you visited our school, and I'm sorry that I didn't take nearly enough time for you."

Before I can answer Hannah, she takes me in her arms and hugs me tightly. When she lets go of me, her eyes wander to Miko, who just shakes her head.

"I thought so," Hannah says, giggling. "When are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Right when we wake up."

"All right, drive carefully."

"I will. And thanks again for everything you've done."

"Hey, that sounds a bit ironic after I apologized."

"I'm serious, though, thank you very much. I hope to see you again someday."

"Me too." And with that, Hannah walks away. Miko was strangely quiet during all the goodbyes. I don't know if she is tired or just doesn't feel like saying anything, but somehow, her mood weighs me down.

Once in our room, we change into our sleeping clothes without a word and lie down in bed. The question of what's wrong is on the tip of my tongue, but it's Miko who speaks up.

"This may seem completely random, but what do you feel for me?"

I feel a little cold and sick for a moment, as if she's caught me doing something bad.

"I'm in love with you," I say as I stare at the ceiling in our dark room.

"Thank you. I don't know exactly what love is for you, but I have the feeling that I know what kind of love you feel for me."

I listen to her. The gloomy feeling I had before still lingers. I never expected her to react differently to my confession of love than she did right now. But although I'm relieved to have finally said it, it's depressing to know that she doesn't return my feelings.

"Kayla... I want you to know that you are important to me. I had the feeling that you wanted more from me than I could give you, and I thought it would be good to clear this up right here so we could move on to another chapter back home."

"That makes sense. Great idea." My voice is weak and shaky, but I'm surprised that I can get any words out at all.

"I'll continue to be there for you, yes? We can keep training together and go out to eat, and if you just want to relax, that's fine too."

Does Miko's bad conscience make her say that? Does she really want to hang out with the person who is in love with her? Does she think my feelings are different now that she's rejected me?

"Thank you." With these words, I close my eyes, and the next time I open them, light shines through the window, and the new day has begun.

The drive back home was quiet but not as depressing as I had expected. In fact, we just have nothing to say to each other. Time flies, and I pull up to the guild building.

Miko and I get out at the same time and walk to the trunk, she hands me my suitcase and backpack. I hear the door to the guild building open, and I look over briefly to see Eliza and Lilith coming out.

Without another glance, I start walking away from the car, away from the house, away from Miko. I wasn't planning to leave, but I didn't want to see or talk to anyone. Being alone is just as awful, but it feels like the only thing to do right now. And even without saying goodbye, it feels like a farewell.