S.H.I.f.T

Silent pain

Nagisa walked back toward his dorm, shoulders slumped. The past week had been hard. Now it was Friday. Yet, that didn’t mean he had a break. Exams started on Wednesday. He was in pity mode for himself.  He hadn’t seen Collin or Coldar since their last class. The two had run out to get away from him. Nagisa just felt done with everything. Seeing Ryu smiling, laughing, and acting like his life was better without the little vampire in it hurt even more.

“Naggeeessssaaaaaa!” A screaming cry split the air.

Before the vampire could even lift his head up, an arm came down against his shoulders. Fingers pressed on his cheeks, trying to make his mouth smile. He slapped the hand away. He hadn’t been alone. He still had two second years keeping him company, most of the time he wished they wouldn’t.

Leon leaned on him hard while Fenn trotted beside them. Nagisa glanced between the two. Now what? He thought. Leon still tried to get him to smile. Instead of touching his face, he attempted to tickle his sides. Nagisa managed to get away from the dancing elf.

“What do you guys even want?” he complained, slapping at Leon’s groping hands.

“Mid term exams.” Fenn muttered.

“Yeah I know.” Nagisa huffed.

“We want you to help us study.” Leon beamed.

“You do know you’re a year ahead of me?” Nagisa asked.

“Yeah, but according to Xavier, you’ve been helping your mom since birth!” Fenn pointed out as he pulled a stick from his mouth that he had been chewing on.

“That better not be fairy root!” Nagisa snorted. Fenn quickly hid the stick back in his mouth.

“See, you know medical stuff!” the centaur cried.

“Fairy root isn’t exactly medical. It makes you high if you have fey blood!” Nagisa shook his head when Fenn winked at him.

“Come on, you know your mom! You can help us!” Leon cried. “Remember I transferred in here!” He begged.

Nagisa let out a tiny giggle at their antics. Rolling his eyes, he agreed to help them. He told them they could meet in the library the next day. They set up a time, then the fey left the vampire alone.

“You know he misses you too.” A deep voice spoke from the trees. Nagisa blinked. A shadow moved.

Stepping out was a thick, muscled teen. His arms were about the size of Nagisa’s legs. He wore a black tee shirt with silver v lines running through it. It set nicely against his hips, where his pants hung a tad bit low. His red hair off set the dark colors. Green eyes watched the boy inquisitively.

“I’ve seen you around.” Nagisa admitted. He still couldn’t say he saw him around Ryu.

“Yeah, names Theron.” The teen stated. Nagisa was about to say his name, but the guy interrupted him.

“I know who you are. Look, Ryu is an old friend.” Theron rolled his eyes. “We fought together, ok.” He added, seeing Nagisa’s skeptical look.

“Why are you even telling me this?” he asked.

“Because Ryu finally agreed to defend his title. He will have a caged, no hold bars match against four others. Winner takes all.” Theron said.

“You’re one of the four?” Nagisa asked.

“Yes, but I want to win fairly. I need his head in the fight, not on you. Make amends. the guy is a mess.” He turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Nagisa cried out. Theron turned his head to look over his shoulder at him.