The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 73: Fox Fire

Chapter 73: Fox Fire

Kir awoke from his dream to near-complete darkness.

The infirmary was filled with a soft glow of greenish moonlight, coming from the windows.

Experimentally, Kir tried to reach up and touch his chest, only to realize there was a weight on his right arm. He looked over and saw Kordia’s cheek resting against his wrist, a small dribble of drool working its way down his wrist and onto a small puddle on the sheet.

He reached with his left instead, finding his ribs blessedly whole and the flesh only a little tender with pain. He tried making his tail shift a bit, and was rewarded with painless movement. Only then did he try to pry his arm out from under Kordia, gently pulling and rolling it up his hip as he tried to let her down gently.

He succeeded, the act eliciting a mumbled phrase that Kir couldn’t make out, before proceeding to leave his bed in search of the bathroom. He found it across from the infirmary. After he took care of his needs, he went to the mirror and stared at himself, taking off the basic robe he’d been covered with. There weren’t any overt signs of his fight left, but his eyes were drawn down to the place where Lugh had stabbed him when he was twelve.

He touched it, feeling nothing but still remembering what it had been like to be unable to use magic when he was stabbed. It wasn’t an experience he planned on repeating, but getting himself armor would be a costly solution, based on what it cost for his helmet alone.

A better solution was to get his magic back as soon as possible. Maybe play with magnetism once he was able to; a subject he’d avoided given how disruptive it had been to his household environment. One oil lamp fire was enough of a lesson in generating unconstrained magnetic forces.

After spending a moment contemplating the past, Kir looked down at the sink. He had a different sort of problem since most of the school’s facilities worked on the ability to feed mana into them, and just turning on the sink’s rune for water would be painful.

"Kir?"

Kordia’s voice made Kir turn.

"Kordia... Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you," Kir held the robe around his hips, covering himself. The nurse and doctor both would have seen him naked, so he really hoped that they had some version of doctor-patient confidentiality or he would be dealing with some very uncomfortable rumors. It was bad enough that his own familiar had written smut about him as he is in order to harvest the residual lust of his fellow college students.

"Rain was around earlier. He’s not in the healer’s course so he got sent back to your room," she yawned, coming over and waving her hand over the rune Kir had been staring at. A gentle flow of lukewarm water began, and she stepped aside and watched as Kir cupped his hands under it.

"I appreciate you staying with me," he said before raising his wet hands and scrubbing at his face. Very quickly the last grime of sweat and the remaining dirt from his battle with Lugh came off, just in time for the rune to lose its light as the water flow stopped. "Sorry, I made you both worry."

"Come down here and kiss me," she demanded. Only after Kir complied, one hand still on his robe for cover, did she address his apology. "You’re okay, and that’s what’s important."

Kir blushed a bit at her words, "A bit better than okay, actually... I think I finally figured out mana enhancement, thanks to that fight. He gave a brief explanation as they returned to the infirmary where they both sat on the bed, concluding with "Somehow, enhancement magic works off of concepts... but I don’t get why I couldn’t grasp that before."

Kordia shrugged. "You have to need it and you have to want it. That’s what I learned. If you don’t have both, then it won’t happen."

"But I was stabbed before and that never happened." Kir rubbed his chest where it had happened.

"Uh, yeah, you were stabbed. Getting your mana disrupted would defeat trying to grow with it at the same time," Kordia replied. Her tone was loud enough that it made Kir look around nervously, in case they were being disruptive.

Now that he looked, they were the only ones there. "I, uh, don’t suppose you know where my clothes ended up?"

"Probably down on the laundry floor. Why? Were you thinking of trying to go back to your room?" The look on her face told Kir that was an idea she disapproved of.

"I’m pretty healed up. I just thought..." He decided to change the subject. "What was that fire that appeared over me? Was that you?"

"It was," Kordia said. "Turns out my fox fire is white... which makes it good for healing."

"I’m glad it does... that healing session was one of the most painful things I’d ever felt until you came along," Kir said, making her blush and wag her tails happily.

"I only focused on trying to soothe the pain... the potion did everything else. I’m still new to it, but having any fox fire is kind of a big deal for my people. That and getting my third tail so young. I might earn a license to practice healing soon... publically, that is. The witchery course and healer’s course heads both requested a meeting with me." Her eyes drifted for a bit, like she was imagining something. Then she shook her head. "Sorry... um... I know it’s thanks to you and Rain. You’ve already done so much for me, so I want to show my gratitude."

Kir’s pained state had kept him from remembering the proper titles, and so he’d thought of his caretakers as doctors and nurses. Compared to witches and healers who used magic, medicine on Earth was a series of patch jobs and flesh hacking.

Sure, there were limits to what magic could do, and so there was room for medicine, but major needs like surgery were largely taken care of with proper setting and regeneration magic to quicken the body’s natural pace. Infections and other hazards like choking couldn’t be healed, but plenty of plants existed that were enhanced by mana to be even more effective than they would have been on Earth. Witches in this world often filled the roles of pharmacists in that regard.

Blushing a bit at where his mind had wandered, Kir came back to the present and said, "Hey, it’s okay. Three tails was a very nice surprise, but not one you need to pay me back for." Kir touched her under the chin. "I’m glad we helped you so much. Once I get back-"

Now it was Kordia’s turn to change the subject. "I’m not supposed to let you out until Witch Grayheed has a proper look at you," she said.

"And we’re alone so... I thought maybe we could cuddle or something... maybe talk... or..."

Kir didn’t hesitate. He turned to lie down fully before reaching out for Kordia and pulling her on top of himself. The bed was pretty narrow, but she was relatively light and he didn’t mind her weight and warmth against him.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, one hand coming to rest on her back, just above her tails where he massaged her spine a little. The way her platinum-furred ears twitched from his touch was adorable.

"We heard about the fight... while you were unconscious. Why did you just go along with it?" she asked.

Kir sighed. "I... it’s hard to put into words." He took a long moment to think before continuing. "People like Lugh... they have the privilege of being human... of being people to everyone. But they choose to punch down at people who aren’t that lucky. I just... I want to punch back when that happens. Let them know that I’m not someone who’s just going to lay down and take it..."

He watched her tails. In the moonlight, they were a little hypnotizing. Then he continued, "And the way he was trying to control his own sister irked me."

"I didn’t hear that part," Kordia said. "What happened?"

Kir told her about encountering Ann in the elevator and how Lugh treated the situation. Towards the end he suddenly recalled, "I think she was trying to tell me something, but I can’t recall..."

"If it’s important, I’m sure it will come up," Kordia said, a little too quickly, looking away as she lay her cheek on his chest. He felt a bit of heat flush in her cheek and saw her tails sway perhaps a little aggressively. Then she continued, "Rain said something similar a while back... about all those duels you fought... I... don’t know. We’re still trying to figure you out, and... well..." She looked up, her eyes locking onto Kir’s. They were filled with held-back emotions. "I want to know if you’d fight for Rain... if it came to that..."

"Of course I would! And I’d fight for you too," Kir said without hesitation, though in the back of his mind something about what she was saying seemed ominous. "He’s our boyf-"

His next phrase was cut off as Kordia kissed him, full on the mouth. At first, he was startled, but soon he was kissing her back with enthusiasm.

When he was finally allowed up for air, Kordia pushed herself upright and started pulling off the blouse to her uniform. The sight of her fair skin was immediately arousing to Kir, and he held her steady at the hips while she finished lifting her clothes free of her head.

As soon as they made eye contact, Kir asked, "Are you sure you want to do this here?" He was concerned about getting caught and how sanitary the infirmary was.

"Hush. Rain gets you most of the week." She yanked at the blanket under Kir’s legs and he shifted to let her pull it over them both.

She kissed him again, and then they began...

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