"Saito, wake up soon..."
Saito's eyelids twitched softly as he began to wake up. He felt a weight on his left side and turned to see (Name) clinging to him, sound asleep. She had one arm wrapped around his and held onto his shoulder with her other hand.
He hadn't moved much yet, so he could enjoy the view before she woke up. The human Familiar smiled at his master as he quietly scooted closer to her. 'Let's see what she does,' he thought to himself as he positioned his face to be much closer to hers. Then, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep again.
A few minutes passed before (Name) woke up. She blinked slowly as she saw how close she was to Saito's face. She didn't want to wake him, but his head was rested on her hand, so she couldn't move without jostling him some. She leaned her head up a little to whisper in his ear, "Saito."
"Hm?" The young man turned his head and accidentally caused them to touch cheeks. The embarrassed teens jumped away from each other as Saito sat up in his bed and (Name) plopped back in the chair she had pulled over to his bedside.
With a nervous waver in her voice, (Name) told her Familiar, "I-I'm glad to see you're up!"
"Mm-hmm!" He nodded quickly, pursing his lips. 'Geez, that was a bad idea! Now I'm all embarrassed and whatnot!'
She tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked off to the side. "Y-you were asleep for so long, I was beginning to worry about you. I-I mean, I was worried anyway because of the fight." (Name) cleared her throat to try and calm down. "The nurse checked you over and you don't have any broken bones or internal injuries from Guiche's Valkyrie."
He sighed in relief. "That's great."
"Speaking of Guiche..." (Name) started cautiously. "He told me what he said about me. He told me everything he said to Montmorency and to you, and he even apologized for it."
Saito played with his fingers as he asked, "D-did you forgive him?"
Her shoulders tensed. "I told him that I needed some time to think about it. After all, he lied to me. He made me think that he might've actually cared, but in reality, he thought what everyone else did... He thought I was nothing." The mage gulped down the sadness in her throat and continued, "And, he had no right to challenge you to a fight like that. He was in the wrong, and as a noble, he should have just taken responsibility for it."
Saito sighed before shrugging, "Well, I suppose I should apologize, too. Guiche wouldn't have challenged me if I'd kept my temper in check, and then I wouldn't have worried you so much."
(Name) blushed before shaking her head. "No, no, you have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong."
"Still, it was stupid to just rush into a fight like that. I'm sorry that I made you worry."
"Saito..."
The two sat in a comfortable silence before looking at each other. They unknowingly moved a bit closer together before urgent knocks sounded at the door. From the other side, (Name) could hear Kirche demanding, "(Name)! Let me in so I can check on Saito! The nurse said he should be up by now; don't hog him!"
As she stood up, she whispered a warning to Saito. "Careful, Hiraga. I do believe she has a crush on you."
"C-crush?" Saito questioned as she went to the door.
As soon as (Name) opened it, Kirche ran inside and over to his bed. Tabitha calmly walked in behind her, reading one of her many books. The busty redhead straddled one of Saito's legs as she climbed up on the bed to hug him, pressing his face close to her chest. "Oh, my poor darling~! Are you alright?"
(Name) glared at her. "Kirche, get off of him! You're gonna suffocate him with your stupid boobs!"
Kirche stuck her nose up at (Name) as she leaned back to give Saito some breathing room. She put her hands on her hips, jutting her chest out a bit as she quipped, "Those who are jealous can't help but hate."
"Who's jealous of some flippant floozy who can't decide who she's in love with?!"
"How dare you! You're just trying to make me look bad in front of Saito!"
(Name) smirked at her. "You did a fine job of that yourself in class, remember? And, it's true! You've been with nearly every boy here, and I'm sure you've been with plenty of Germanian men."
Kirche growled angrily under her breath at the mage. Then, she turned a lustful glance to Saito and purred, "Saito Hiraga... I came here to ask you something."
"U-um," he became momentarily distracted by Kirche's ample cleavage on display. "W-what is it?"
"How would you like to accompany me into town tomorrow? I have some errands to run, and I could use a strong, handsome man like you to protect me~" The redhead girl gently fluttered her eyelashes at Saito, working her charm on him slowly. "I'll even buy you something while we're out."
(Name) pursed her lips angrily. She could see that Kirche's flirting tactics were working on her Familiar, and she didn't like it one bit. But, if Saito wanted to trail behind Kirche like a dog, then that was his choice. 'It would be the wrong choice,' (Name) thought to herself as she crossed her arms, 'but it'd be his choice.'
Saito blushed and waved his hands in refusal. "Uh, well - y'know, I already -- I mean--!"
A soft hum floated from Kirche's lips before she reached for one of Saito's hands. "Maybe a little incentive will help you decide~" She pressed his hand against her breast, letting him feel its lush smoothness. All of the air escaped from Saito's body as his face flushed red and his jaw dropped.
"All right, that's enough!" (Name) shouted, furious with the scene on display in front of her. "Kirche, leave! Now!"
"Hmph." She scoffed at the other girl's jealousy. Then, she winked at the boy underneath her, knowing now that he'd had a taste, he'd be back for more. "It looks like we've made your master mad, Saito. I'll be leaving early in the morning tomorrow. I hope you'll come with me~" She blew him a kiss before floating off of him and toward the door. As she left, she smirked victoriously at (Name).
She slammed the door shut behind Kirche and Tabitha. Then, (Name) took a small breath and tried to stay calm. She hadn't figured that Saito could potentially feel attracted to any of the other girls at the Academy, even if only physically. She wasn't sure how to respond to this situation, even if she wanted to reprimand him for not immediately turning down Kirche's offer.
They weren't dating, or in love with each other, so why did it matter if he liked her or any other girl?
'It matters because Kirche's a bully! He knows that she bullies me, so he wouldn't dare to go with her.' (Name) tried to reason with herself. She turned to Saito and looked at the floor for a moment.
He chuckled nervously as he scratched behind his head. "So, that's what you meant by 'crush.'"
"Hiraga, are you a swordsman?" She asked, changing the subject. "You should have told me before; you must have felt so insulted when I said you weren't skilled."
"Oh, no. I-I'd never picked up a sword in my life until that fight." Saito stared at the ceiling as he thought back to his battle with Guiche. "When I picked up that sword, I felt... different. My body moved on its own as if I'd been training with a sword since birth or something."
(Name) blinked in thought. "I see. I've heard before that some Familiars can obtain new abilities once they've been contracted, such as a cat learning human speech. Maybe it's like that with you, Saito."
He shrugged, crossing his arms. "Could be..."
Then, (Name) decided to bring the topic back to Kirche's offer. "I-I had planned..." she hesitated, only continuing when her Familiar looked at her. "I had planned on taking you into town tomorrow to buy you some clothes. B-but, if you would rather go with Kirche, I won't stop you."
Saito frowned. "Well, we'd already agreed to go out to buy clothes before Kirche asked me to go with her. So, I'll go with you."
"Really?" She beamed, relieved. Then, she tried to recover and not seem so eager. "O-okay, then. We'll leave around 8 in the morning."
"Okay." He nodded. 'She really is cute when she smiles like that.'
(Name) pointed toward the door with her thumbs, still looking at Saito. "W-well, I have to go to my classes now. They only let me stay as long as you were asleep, so... I want you to stay here today, and relax. Don't let anyone in unless it's Siesta. Bye." She bumped into the door before opening it and going out. Then, she peeked her head back into the room and told him, "I won't be long!"
Saito smiled at her and waved. "See ya later." Once she had left, he sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He couldn't help but think back to Kirche's action toward him. 'Where did all that come from?' he wondered. Laying on his back, he held his hand up to look at his palm. Never in his life had a girl let him touch their breast, let alone put his hand there themselves! He blushed a lewd shade of red and smirked a little.
Then, he remembered what kind of mean girl Kirche was. She was one of the main people who called (Name) useless! '(Name).' Saito gulped as he realized that she had been watching them the whole time and was probably furious with him for not stopping it. 'And, right after we had a moment, too... What kind of cad am I? She must hate me.'
The peasant Familiar nodded to himself in resolve. "I'll apologize to her once she gets back from her class." He frowned and muttered, "But, I'm sick of apologizing all the time... This place is so strange, and I keep making mistakes."