SORA

After finally being discharged, I decided to look around the academy for either Gambit or Sekai. I figured I wouldn't find Gambit, but I still had hope that she might be here. At the very least, Sekai might be. As of now, I've still had no luck, and the only thing I can do is keep replaying what happened last night in my mind. I need to tell Akari as soon as she gets back from her mission. I would've told her and Merrick before they left, but Isabella wouldn't allow me to leave or for anyone to visit me so that she could be certain I was resting.

"What?" I hear Kaito's obnoxiously loud voice coming from up the stairs and near the area where he usually trained, which was ran by Gambit. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"I'm sorry, Kaito," Shae sighs. "I'm just as upset by this as you are. I don't know what happened, but Gambit isn't at the academy anymore."

"And how do you know that, loverboy?" Kaito scowls and I notice Sander glare at Kaito as he stands next to his brother.

"Hey, don't take your anger out on Shae," Sander snaps. "We're all just as confused and as upset as you are, so knock it off. Would you? It was probably Carmin being up to his shit again."

"You don't know that," Kaito crosses his arms. "Besides, how do you even know she's gone in the first place?"

"Because Gambit would never purposefully leave, not when we still need her," Sander scowls. "You should know that. Sekai is gone too. Nobody's seen either of them all day."

"Oh, so you don't actually know then and you're just speculating. I see," Kaito sighs and shakes his head. "They probably just ran off together, did you ever think of that?"

"And why would they do that whenever Sekai literally just got hired here?" Shae frowns. "That makes no sense. Besides, they're not the type to run out on people and they both loved it here, especially Gambit."

"Hey, Sora!" Sander shouts whenever he spots me and I swallow nervously. "Come over here for a second!"

I jog over to where the three of them are standing and Kaito rolls his eyes.

"What's up?" I ask, as if I hadn't been eavesdropping for the past five minutes.

"Did you hear about Gambit?" Sander asks and I frown.

"No..." I swallow thickly, deciding to keep the information I saw last night to myself until I get to talk to Akari. "What happened?"

"Gambit and Sekai are missing," Shae frowns. "They would never leave, especially Gambit. Something isn't right here."

"Or, you know, she left to start a family," Kaito suggests. "Gambit is in her late twenties and she isn't getting any younger. She always did want children."

"You know she wouldn't do that," Sander scowls and shakes his head. "I mean, eventually, yeah. But she wouldn't just up and leave."

"Well, whatever," Kaito throws his hands in the air. "Don't ask me if you refuse to listen to a damn thing I say."

"Kaito—" Shae starts and goes to reach for Kaito's shoulder as Kaito goes to storm off.

"Fuck off," Kaito snaps and Shae frowns, hurt evident in his features.

"Oi!" Sander shouts angrily, but Kaito keeps walking away.

"Leave him be," Shae sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "He's just upset. We all are."

"Still, he should be able to see clearly. He looked up to Gambit with everything he had. He should know her by now. And he has no reason to be an ass to you," Sander scowls.

"It's not always easy to see past your emotions, especially for someone like Kaito," I offer.

"Sora's right," Shae nods before he places a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezes gently with a sad smile. "In any case, we should try and figure out what happened."

"I agree," Sander sighs. "I just...I really don't want anything bad to happen to either Gambit or Sekai, and somehow I feel like that's exactly the case."

"We'll figure it out," I smile sadly at the both of them. "I promise."

"Yeah," Shae smiles in return. "I'll go ask Carmin if he knows anything."

Sander and I exchange a worried glance as Shae heads off towards Carmin's office and it's then and there that I decide with certainty Sander is definitely someone I could trust in the long run.

***

Later that night, I'm busy checking in with Isabella in the infirmary while Reverence is off in the shower just as Kaito enters the room in a pair of black joggers and black Vans, holding his left bicep with his right hand and a scowl on his face, his brown hair in his eyes. My eyes trail down his left arm and over the trail of scarlet running down it, Isabella gasping as she sees Kaito as well.

"Take a seat on a cot next to Sora. I'll treat you immediately," Isabella says and Kaito nods, silently walking over to the empty cot beside me and sitting down to face me, his red eyes cold.

I try to refrain from awkwardly staring at Kaito as he sits there, instead glancing around the room and watching Isabella as she gathers bandages, antibiotics, gauze, soap, and a wash cloth with a water bowl.

"What happened?" Isabella asks as she places the materials down next to Kaito before she goes back around the room for more.

"It's no big deal," Kaito shrugs. "Some kid didn't like my attitude when I was correcting him in training, so when I went to retrieve his arrows he shot another one and it grazed my arm."

"Well, it probably serves you right," Isabella hums and Kaito opens and closes his mouth, choosing not to say anything. "Have you had your tetanus vaccination within the last ten years?"

"Probably six or so years ago," Kaito shrugs. "Yeah."

"Okay, then I'll just clean your wound, dress it, and give you antibiotics to use just so that you don't get an infection," Isabella says as she comes back over and leans in front of Kaito, picking up the wash cloth and soaping it up.

Kaito simply nods dully in response and removes his hand before he watches Isabella clean his wound thoroughly. Isabella dries the wound before she places antibiotics on it with a q-tip and then places gauze and tape over it.

"Stay right here. I need to go check on Reverence to make sure he's doing okay and doesn't need any help. Don't cause any trouble, either of you," Isabella smiles softly before she heads out of the room to check on Reverence.

A few minutes of silence pass with Kaito staring ahead and boring his gaze into my skull while I glance around the room while my hands rest in my lap and my right leg bounces anxiously.

"So..." I start, meeting Kaito's gaze, seemingly snapping him out of his trance as his eyes focus more on my face than beyond it.

"So, what?" Kaito snorts.

"Are you always so hostile?" I scoff. "No wonder people don't tend to like you."

"People like me," Kaito scowls defensively.

"People put up with you," I correct him. "Maybe they actually would like you if you didn't act like an ass all the time."

"You think I don't know how I act? I know how I act. I simply don't care. That's the difference between you and me. I don't need everyone's approval. I don't care for everyone's opinion. I am the way I am because that's just how life taught me to be. You can take it or leave it. It's honestly all the same to me," Kaito snaps. "This is what you get and if you don't like it, you can walk away."

"You think I want everyone's approval? If that's what you think, then you really don't know me at all," I sigh and shake my head. "I don't care what other people think of me either, but I'm a decent human being who genuinely cares about their well being."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not one," Kaito says bluntly, "and I refuse to pretend to be something I'm not. I'm rude, I'm aloof, I'm arrogant, and I'm critical. That's me. That's who I am. I refuse to pretend to be anything but that. Now stop sticking your nose in my personal life and let me bleed in peace."

"That's a shame," I shrug, my eyes meeting his, "because I honestly don't think that's all you are deep down."

Kaito's eyes widen a slight fraction at my words just as Isabella walks back in with a smile on her face.

"Alright, we're all good. You two didn't break anything, did you?" Isabella teases.

"No," I say, my eyes still locked with Kaito's as Isabella checks his wound, "but maybe almost."