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The quiet in the dorm room was no longer cold.
Kiori pulled back slightly, her golden eyes soft with concern as she gently wiped the wet tear tracks from Yukiri's cheeks. Without saying a word, she stood up, walked over to the small bathroom cabinet, and fetched a roll of fresh white gauze and soothing ointment.
She knelt back down beside the bed, setting the supplies down softly.
"Can I?" Kiori asked, her voice barely a whisper, holding her hands out gently.
Yukiri hesitated for a brief second, her wolf ears twitching nervously. But looking into Kiori's warm, steady gaze, she slowly extended her arm.
Kiori's touch was impossibly light, far gentler than the cold hands of the estate family or the harsh grip of the Guardian Knights. She carefully dabbed the cooling ointment over the fresh, inflamed red marks where Yukiri had been desperately trying to tear off the metal tracking band.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Kiori murmured softly, unrolling the gauze.
"Not... not as much as it used to, not much as I wanted it to" Yukiri whispered, staring down at her lap as Kiori began wrapping the cloth smoothly around her forearm, carefully covering both the fresh irritation and the faded scars beneath.
"We're going to take care of it," Kiori said, tucking the end of the bandage securely into place before giving Yukiri's hand a reassuring squeeze. "No more hiding it, okay? Whenever it gets too loud in your head, you come find me. Or maybe anyone else"
Yukiri looked down at her neatly bandaged arm. For the first time, the white cloth didn't feel like a mark of shame, it felt like protection.
"Thanks, Kiori," she murmured, her voice small, but genuine.
Kiori gave a bright, small smile, her tail giving a gentle thump against the rug. "Now, stay right there. I'm getting spoons, and we are finally eating that strawberry cake."
Yukiri smiled as Kiori went to fetch the spoons, remaining in the exact same spot until she returned.
"Hey, Kiori? Do you think we act mature for our age? Or did we just grow up too fast?"
"Nah, adults are just old fashioned, and society changed," Kiori replied, already taking a bite of her cake. She shrugged, adding, "Or maybe we did. Boarding school, independence, it's all the same thing."
Yukiri let out a faint, quiet chuckle, the soft sound surprising even herself. She looked down at the slice of cake in her lap, the sweet aroma filling the small room, before her gaze drifted back to the neat white bandage wrapped snugly around her forearm.
"I guess," Yukiri murmured, setting her fork down. The lingering warmth of the tea in her hands felt grounding, but the cold reality of why she felt so "grown up" settled back into her chest. She took a slow breath, realizing there was no point in wearing a mask in this room anymore.
"Kiori... this," Yukiri said softly, using her thumb to gently tap the edge of the smooth, cold metal band peeking out just above the white gauze. "It's not just some weird bracelet. It's a tracking, suppressing and a lot of shit band."
Kiori paused mid bite, her golden eyes lifting to meet Yukiri's. The easygoing atmosphere in the room shifted, turning quiet and still.