"Say 'ahhhhhhh'." Mina held the spoon of rice porridge up to Harold's mouth.
"Mina, I can feed myself. You don't need to-"
"No!" Mina squeaked with a pout. "I am your caretaker, and you're going to sit back and heal properly." The spoon of porridge slid into Harold's mouth, and he instinctively ate it. After Mina saw him swallow, she gave a tender smile before pulling back the spoon. "Here, let's go on a walk now. Come on, Harold, let me help you get in your wheelchair." It felt embarrassing to get coddled, but he followed through.
She took his hand and placed her other hand on his back to guide him into the wheelchair. "Careful now." The cold seat pressed against his back, and the moment he settled, Mina began wheeling him away. "Mina, I have a question."
She navigated carefully through the dormitory of Kane Academy. Movement could be heard throughout the dorms as she went into the elevator. "Yes?" She replied, pressing the button for the first floor on the elevator.
"So... uh, we've been friends for a little bit by now, and, if you don't mind, can you tell me more about yourself?" Harold turned his head back to look at Mina with a curious face. "Since we're pretty close now, I was hoping to get to know you more. After all, you're a precious friend to me." Her heart hitched at his confession before she held a tiny smile. "I understand. What do you want to know about me, Harold?"
The elevator doors opened, and their conversation resumed as she wheeled him to the front doors of the dormitory. Walking out of the dormitory building, they continued into the courtyard of the academy, where the front gates were visible. There was a big fountain in the middle, and blossom leaves scattered in the air from the trees that lined the stretch of sidewalk.
"To start, I want to know more about your past. I've lived in this city my entire life, beating up bad guys, but I want to know what it was like for you?" It was a genuine curiosity that Harold had always wondered about. He originally found Mina as a battered slave, and he didn't want to pry into her past too much because she might have had trauma. But since he felt he was closer to Mina, he wanted to get to know her more.
In their first encounter, she had lost many of her memories from the past. But with recent events from her battle against Hoddchin, those forbidden memories became unsealed to Mina. Having to remember those forbidden memories stung, yet she decided to embrace her past and move on.
"When I was a little girl, I was in a very nice family. I used to go outside in the fields outside our mansion and relax with my mama."
"Mansion?! Mina, you were rich? What family were you in?"
Her tone sounded pained, reminiscing about her past, but she kept a gentle smile. "I... was in the Sylvet house. My mother was Lattan Sylvet, and my father was Havel Sylvet. We were a very prestigious family far, far away."
Harold's eyes widened in surprise. Hearing the names of Lattan and Havel made the memory click of a past incident he saw in the newspaper. The Sylvet Incident was well known around the world. An entire line was completely obliterated by Eiden. By the time the Aegisbound arrived, there was nobody left alive, and all nearby cities were reduced to rubble. This incident caused Eiden to be known and classified as a major criminal faction by the Aegisbound. This was also the incident that apparently affected Mina the most, unknown to Harold.
"And n-now, my family is gone... and then after that I kept meeting so many nice people, and then they would be gone as well. Seeing you get hurt so much, Harold, I'm scared that you'll be another person that'll disappear from my life..." Her voice was audibly shaken at the thought, and her grip on the handlebars of the wheelchair trembled.
Seeing her eyes get watery, he placed a gentle touch on her fingers. "Mina, I'll never leave you, silly. You're my friend, and I care deeply about you. Trust me, Mina. Not even a dragon would be able to beat me!" Even with his little joke at the end, his genuine words to her made his joke almost believable. A cute and tiny giggle came out of her mouth as she wiped her eyes. "Y-Yeah... no dragon would beat you."
Going past the gates of the academy, Mina wheeled her to the city streets of Argon City. Cars drove by the intersection where they stopped, avoiding fallen debris from a lamppost from the recent attack by Nevality. Harold observed the nearby buildings and debris. Most of the buildings were a wreck, and nearby cleanup crews were still active on the scene.
Walking through the crosswalk, the park entrance was just around the block. And in there, Ryan and Kin were already relaxing on a bench. "Is that... Ryan and Kin?" Mina and Harold stared in awe. Ryan and Kin were casually chatting on the bench, having a fun time. Today, Kin wore a pretty beige toilette and a cat mask that covered her entire head. In her hands was a red purse that settled gently on her lap.
"Is that Ryan and Kin? Let's go see them." Mina said cheerfully until Harold held Mina's hand, putting her to a brief halt. "Wait, I—think they're on a date!" Mina gasped, and Harold's realization made sense. Usually, Kin wore her cool ninja outfit and a bird mask. This time she's properly dressed up and has a cat mask. Both Harold and Mina had no words and hid in unison behind a tree, eavesdropping carefully. Their faces piqued with interest as they listened.
"Ryan, are you really leaving?" Kin asked.
Ryan held a determined gaze. "Yeah. I'm glad I called you here today. I want you to tell Harold this before I leave."
"You don't need to tell me this when Harold is right there." Kin said, pointing at the tree that Mina and Harold hid behind.
Mina squealed in surprise. "E-Eh?! How did you see us?! We were hidden so well!"
Kin sighed. "You seriously tried hiding poorly behind a tree from me... My ninja senses caught your rysen ages ago!" She pointed at Harold aggressively. "And I could blatantly see his wheelchair sticking out from behind the tree!"
Wheeling up to them, Mina and Harold avoided eye contact, embarrassed to be caught in the act. Kin crossed her arms, expecting an answer from them. "Now explain why you two were stalking us like creeps."
Mina immediately spoke up in response to the accusation. "W-Wait, I promise we were not trying to stalk you both! Harold and I were walking in the park and..." Her voice dropped low, trying to talk under her breath. "We didn't want to disturb your date. That's when we got curious and eavesdropped. I'm sorry..."
Kin and Ryan froze at her words before Ryan snickered. "Mina... pfft... we aren't having a date. I was just asking Kin for a favor." Mina tilted her head at Ryan's change in demeanor. "Hm? A favor? What's the favor?"
"I wanted to ask Kin to give Harold a send-off message for me, but since Harold's here, I'll tell him now." Ryan explained, looking directly at Harold.
Harold held out his bandaged arms, cutting him off before the reveal. "Wait, Ryan, before you say it, I just wanted to say this. I'm sorry for what I did to your brother. I had no choice and... I wish things could've turned out better." He tensed up, awaiting Stephen's reply to his apology.
"That's what I was going to mention, Harold. I wanted to thank you for stopping my brother."
Harold's face averted to confusion as his arms slumped back to his side. "Eh?"
Harold expected rage, anguish, grief, all the emotions that were hard for him to stomach when dealing with his own guilt. Even when he made sacrifices to save others, he would never be able to handle the sorrow of others when it came to his own actions.
"Something happened to my brother to turn him into that. He caused all of this damage and killed many innocent lives. Even I wanted to stop him, but I was too weak to do so." He clenched his fist tightly in frustration. "So thank you again for stopping him."
"Oh... uh, you're welcome, I guess." Harold scratched the back of his head, not expecting a thanks from him. "So, why did you want Kin to tell me this anyway?"
"Because I'm going to be on an adventure to get stronger. I'll be honest, when I failed to stop my brother, I was scared... Scared of being weak. That's why I'll become stronger and catch up to you, Harold!" He had a determined grin, but it was a grin that saw light in the road ahead.
He saw the determination in his eyes, someone who was able to see a brighter world. In contrast to his own brother Stephen Lyhorn, Ryan's vision gave Harold hope that he would be able to build a brighter future for himself and others. And because of that hope, Harold smiled. "Alright, I'll be waiting for you. I wish you the greatest luck, Stephen!"
Stephen stepped out of the park, and the three of them watched as he walked off dramatically.
Suddenly, Kin's memory flickered. "Oh, and Mina, here." Kin then pulled Mina aside, away from Harold's view. Harold looked over his shoulder to try to see, but Kin and Mina faced the other way, their voices reduced to a whisper. "This is a thank-you for helping me. Have fun on your little date, you two~." Kin placed two movie tickets into Mina's hands. They were for a romance movie. Mina's eyes widened in surprise. "Thank you...!" Mina said, her voice trembling in excitement. Kin patted her on the back before setting off after. "Don't worry about it, I owe you one!"
As Mina jerked around, Harold saw the blatant attempt to hide her happiness smeared all over her face. "Ooo, what did she give you? I wanna see! I wanna see!" Harold's anticipation was like a child's, curious about what made her so happy. Upon hearing the question, Mina jerked around again, a blush growing on her face.
"I-I can't tell him it's tickets for a date with him!"
Sorrow then appeared in her grasp. "Mina, this is the perfect time to ask. You're going to be a lady, right? A proper lady must be firm with her decisions."
Mina took a huge gulp at Sorrow's words. She was right. She couldn't be flailing around like an idiot clinging to Harold. She needed to make her feelings clear and take a step forward. "O-Okay!" Determination filled her soul, and she was ready to make things clear once and for all.
Turning to Harold again, she steeled her resolve. "Harold, I!" Then the embarrassment flooded her mind. "I-I got m-movie tickets! Y-You wanna... go out with me to see it."
Harold saw how she was clearly excited moments prior, yet now she looked as shy as a cute hamster in this moment. Alongside the invitations to the movie theater, it only meant one thing.
"Ah, so you really wanted to see this movie? Sure! We can go! I'm just wondering what movie you're so excited about."
Realizing Harold didn't realize the invitation to be a date at all, a small part of Mina's heart deflated. "A-Ah... yes, let's go." she spoke with a defeated tone as she began wheeling him to the movie theater.
"Wow, it's almost like we're going on a date! I'm so happy!" Harold joked lightheartedly, yet Mina's reaction wasn't something expected.
Mina's face was scarlet red, and her hands trembled with embarrassment. "Nnngh..." she whimpered, as she couldn't control her accelerating heartbeat at Harold's words.
"M-Mina...?"